Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1896-12-10
THE CHA MONSTER.
1 sTOCKMAN TELLS THE STORY OF
WALTER Walls EXPERIENCE.


tho Race For Life Of Bitten Man on .
Bitten Pony-No Recollection Of . Twen-
ty-f,ve Mile Ride-Ths Only Man Who
Evey Survived Monsters Bite.
"Of all the crawling or creeping things
Of the great alkaA deserts" said an old
time stockman ct the Midland, nothing,
not even the dreaded RATHER, IL 20 greatly
feared by plainsmen as the ella monster.
The bite Of this reptile Is considered 20
deadly that men on the plains into whose
veins its venom has been injected have
been known to blow out their brains to
avoid the agony Of the inevitable death,
attended with excruoiating torture, which
they knew must ensue.
II know only one man." continued the
stockman, "who suffered the agony Of
body and mind consequent upon the bite
of a Gila and lived to tell the story Of his
experience.
las some of you gentlemen are aware,
am Yale man. When came west and
Invested my capital In stock, a. you will
probably remember, was about As callow
q tenderfoot as was ever spilled by bron-
L
good q Judge Of a steer rs most Of my
neighbors. Six years ago, when Walter
Vail came out from New York city and
told me that he intended TO buy cattle,
saw no reason why he should not succeed
In tho light Of my own experience, and 40
I encouraged him to 60 in and win. He
was then an aggravated case OF dude, but
If there Is now man on the range who 10
better or harder rider, moro expert with
tho rope, or better all round bowman In
the southwest than Walter Vail, want to
see the color of his eyea
zone day, several years ago, Walter was
out on his range, looking over the grass.
He had been In the saddle several hours
and was about rs miles equidistant from
Pautano station on the Southern Pacific
and his home ranch when he saw, sluggish
" creeping through clump OF cactus, q
ella monster The reptile was fine spool
men OF its kind, and Walter, remembering
q promise he had made to send ono Of the
creatures to friend In New York, deter.
mined to kill this ono and ship him east
in alcohol. Now, ella will simulate
death like a spider when attacked, and as
Walter struck this one several times with
his quirt, 1t closed its eyes, rolled over on
Its back and lay with Its legs sprawl,ng
incrtly at right angles to Its body-a dead
alligator In miniature. Walter picked the
thing up, tied one Of Its hind legs to
leathern string behind his saddle sprang
upon his pony and started for home.
ITO all appearances the monster was as
dead as picked herring. The pony had
not gone go steps. however, when he snort
ed loudly, gave furious plunge and
bucked like mad. Walter, startled grasped
tho horn Of his saddle with his loft hand,
iuvoluntarily throwing his right hand be-
hind him, bracing against the skirt Of the
saddle. AS no did go, the ella monster,
which had been no more dead than the
pony was, caught Walters wrist with q
snap and fastened its jaws upon 1t.
~ don't believe u Drawer man than Wal
tor Vail ever rode the western range, nnd
he has told mo that as he felt tho vicelike
snap Of the monsters jaws upon his wrist,
he shrieked aloud in abject terror In
second, however, as II the venom which
had been injected into his system had
crazed him, he was consumed with q pas-
sionate anger, and tearing his hand free
from the monsters mouth, he threw him.
self from the buck Of the plunging pony and
still holding to the bride rein drew his re-
volver from his hip pocket and as the pony
continued 70 plunge and rear put bullet
through the elias head. With bis knife
he then cut the thing free from bis saddle
skirt, and as 10 fell to tho ground full
sense Of the horror Of the situation came
upon him.
"Then, Walter told me, an sgonizing
pain shot through him, wrsnching At his
heart az II some hand wsrs striving to tsas
It from his breast His brain seemed on
fire, and tho hot, poisoned blood rushed In
surges upon his heart, burning its way
through the aching lungs, only to return
like molten lava through his already swol-
len arteries. Still he retained conscious
ness, and, In a measure, reason.
"He was fully Is miles from human
habitation. Above him an unolouded sky
reached down Oh overy side to a blistered
DESERT glaring white with nlkali The air,
still and hot, was throbbing In mirage
upon the horizon. Not a sound broke tho
stiffness Of that arid desert spot, and Wal
ter says he never before and has never
since realized the full horror Of solitude.
He considered himself a mortally injured
man. In half an hour, at best, he thought
no would DO dead. But he determined to
make \ ride for his life.
Throwing himself upon his pony, he
headed for Pantano, and driving his spurs
into the poor beasts sides went racing for
tho station. He remembers very little Of
what occurred after his start but when he
dashed up to the door Of the station he was
delirious His arm was enormously swol-
len and discolored and II needed only q
glance to tell the agent that some venom
Gus reptile had fastened It's fangs upon
that wrist The agent quickly wired to
the division superintendent OF the South
cru Pacific at Tucson, 40 miles away, who
was personal friend Of Walters, and
light engine, with the surgeon Of the road
aboard. was soon flying to the rescue.
Walter was for two months under the care
of the best physicians Of the southwest,
but he pulled through finally, none the
worse for his brief encounter with the Giln,
except, as you gentlemen know, his hair
and mustache are as white a. snow and at
certain seasons Of the year he is afflicted
with outaneous trouble that is very an
noyinR. The pony died within an hour
after Walter dismounted from his back. "
-Kansas City Star.
DIAMOND ROMANCE.