The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-04

| of the hot alkali desert of Arizona or the
| Panhandle of Texas makes the most pow
| erful poison. There is no more hideous
| and deadly serpent in America than the
| bloater RATHER. 1t is terro even TO an
| Apache Indian, and If there IS one thing
| that is worse than rattlesnake in the
| opinion of plainsmen and settlers in East
| ern Texas and Southern Arizona, it is an
| Apache Indian. The Piutes although Il
| more cowardly gang than the Apachea,
hold this bloated rattlespake in less hor-
ror but they give it plenty of room. rhe
| PiuteS draw on the snake for their poison
| after the reptile is dead. The Apache,
| in spite of their fear of the snake, make
it contribute its venom to them while it
| is alive.
THE rattlesnake of the Arizona desert
grows to a length of six feet, and at
tains girth of five inches at the thickest
| part. They have tremendous sets of rat
| ties. ! saw one once that was over live
feet long and had twenty-three rattles in
| 1t, and l heard of a snake being killen
that had string of twenty-seven rat
| ties. The head of the desert RATHER Is an
| enormous triangular thing, often five
| inches long from the thin neck to the
| blunt nose, and three inches wide, meas
uring at the base of the jawbone. This
| snake has fangs an inch long, and is fire.
quently fitted with two sets. The poison
sacks at the base of these fangs are as
| big as hazel nut The snake is q bright
| yellow in color.
THE desert rattlesnake is a dreadful
enough customer and day in the year, but
| during August takes on the fulness of its
frightfulness, both in appearance and in
| conduct. About the middle of August,
when the weather is insufferably hot, this
| snake becomes bloated from some cause
until 1t is a third larger than its normal
size. Its appearance is as If the snake had
been blown UP like a bladder or charged
| nit 1,1l1 lie, > to
always sluggish and slow in its move
ments, and, like all of its kind, usually
makes an effort to get out of the way of
intruders, but in August it simply lies
still in bloated responsiveness and will not
move for anything, being ready at all
times to strike at everything that comes
near it. At that time of year 1t is simply
a swollen reservoir of venom, and its bite
| will then send even an Apache Indian to
the happy hunting grounds, and quickly
at that.
"A Piute Indian who wants to lay in a
stock of poison for his arrows kills at this
time of year enough of these rattlesnakes
for his purpose. He cuts off their heads
and takes them to his lodge. He places
in one of the rude earthen vessels that
are among the Piute household effects
ten or dozen of these snake heads. To
| them he adds perhaps pint of tarantula
killers, as the big hairy Texan or Mexican
spider is called; or, rather, he puts the
| abdomen of the spider in with the snake
heads. This spider has a sting that in
jects a poison powerful enough to kill al
most instantly a tarantula, which is itself
about as poisonous member OF the anu
| NAL kingdom as one would care to meet
The poison sac of the tarantula killer IS
in the lower abdomen of the insetc, and II
is this that the Piute brave mixes win
| his rattlesnake heads. He then pours IN
a pint of water, seals the lid of the YES
sci on with moist clay, and places the
! vessel In a pit, where he has mace
bed of red-hot Goals. He buries the yes
sci in these Goals, and, besides that, Dullos
a blazing fire on top of it. rms nre -
kept burning fiercely for several hours,
-, a. is swent away, and the Indian digs
his vessel out of the Goals. win lohs
noIe he knocks the lid off, and does not
ven+ure near the pot until the steam that
arises from it has entirely ceased 10 ap-
pear. ,.Lo1a tbe
"The Piutes say that to lnnale tne
| smallest quantity of that steam "ouiu pe
instant death. Whether TINS Is true Vi
80 am not able to say as never saw
N nut TO the test. After the merry oroedi
| n which the snake heads are put,
| hrownish residuum is found at the bottoIh
| Of the kettle. That is certainly the oou-
| HE ouintessence of poison, II lts actloh
| on numan blood or, at least, indian plood'
| this noison before trusting his arrows 10
| ~ He cuts a cash in the fieshy part OF
| his leg and draws the blood, whlch sle
allows to trickle down his leg. When the
read stream has run down SIX or seven
| inches he dips a stick into the poison ana
| touches il to the lower end OF the blooqy
| streak II the poison is all right 1t ac-
| tually burns the blood almost like not
iron touched to water and rapidly runs
| nm the trickling stream The lndlan mas
| his knife ready and scrapes the poisoned
blood off dry If it was permitted to reach
| the wound it would be all up with the
! Piute The arrows are dipped into the
| po;son. and the Indian feels that what
| ever such an arrow hits had much better
| not have been born.
s'The Apache collects his poison in
! much simpler way. Dreading the Staked
| Plain rattIesnakes as he does he never
| theless makes it his business to go among
| them at the very time they are most dead
| w. He places the liver or heart of deer,
| freshly torn from victim sometimes not
| vet dead, in front of a snake, within easy
| striking distance. The snake protests
| against the presence of the object, and
! quickly sticks it's fangs into it again and
| again. In a few seconds the heart or
| liver will take on a purplfsh black hue,
so quickly does this poison affect 1t.
| When the Indian thinks the receptacle
has drawn all the venom from the snakes
| head 1t Is removed and hung up IN the
sun. II is left there until it is almost
ready to drop to pieces from putridity. If
| the Apache feels like testing its deadly
qualities he runs a stick into the poisoned
heart calls his squaw, and makes her
cash her leg or arm as the Piute does his
leg. As the blood runs from the wound
the poisoned stick is touched to it, If the
venom is active the blood will coaGu-
late and turn black and change to a dry
powder The squaw has to look out for
her own safety, and wipe away the poi
son before it reaches the wound, for the
brave walks away to steep mis- arrows
in the poisoned heart as ne sees the ven
oms action on his squaw's blood. After
he has jabbed his arrow heads into the
putrid and poison-charged heart or liver
they are ready for use"