The sun., 1896-10-25

that the snRke-bte victim was not registered
upon the list OF voters, the jury list. or the tax
list OF the township in which the incident was
located by the writer OF the story.
"In five cases where death was said to have
resulted the victims were cured by liberal po-
tntiOns OF the usual snake bite remedy, which
In New Jersey is almost invariably applejack.
probably because the venomous snakes and tho
slightly less venomous stills generally To-
Gated in the same Wild sections of the country.
The counter poison exists III too great quantities
IN New Jersey to make IL possible for the venom
TO get in its work. No Jerscyman Is ever caught
more than an hours walk from cider brandy,
and 1t Is said that this liquor can travel from a
mans mouth to the tip OF his toes quicker than
coppcrheRd or ratticsnake venom can reach his
knees from the ankles. BE that as it may
must insist that nobody ever died OF snake bite
in New Jersey.
Not even dog dies of the venom Steve
Garrison, the veteran guide at Greenwood Lake,
had a dog which was addicted TO getting bit by
rattlesnakes. II became Il confirmed habit with
his coon doE SPOT. and the dog died OF old age
after being bitten eighteen or twenty times On
( almost every occasion the dog ran away and
buried himself In the mud Of u swamp for three
or four days. Once he was tied up and treated
, at home with external applications of wood
ashes and washing blue and such Internal doses
| OF whiskey as Steve felt that he could spare at
the time. for then the Keeey cure had not been
discovered. and Steve not SO strict tenn
perance man as he has been for the last year or
two lie would not give rum to o dog now, or
| 70 any other creature.
~ don't object much to the vilirrn,ion OF
! crotntdT," continued Wallace Iap.;ng into
scientific terms for the first time. "but have
got kick coming when anybody says or writes
anything dcrogatorv 10 the chnracte- OF tho
t1.rfIr iatl,
| the black snakes. OF which we have two repre-
| sentative species in our state. It makes mo
| sick TO hear people up In the country talk about
| the bincksnHks and call them blue racers pilots
at Green Pond when lot OF girls and boys
| from BOontOn arrived at John STATS little
Ihanty was taking to Mrs. STAFF when one
".Oh. Charley. come here and kill this snake
- jumped to my feet In an instant and
Don't you kill that snake! That belongs to
| me- Then ran To the spot and picked up tho
| finest specimen OF the CrscGnium couStif''0r
| ever saw That means nl ain blacksnake. That's
| tho nnme tho snake sharps gave it years ago,
but the constructor part is what object to- |
| will tell yOu why later.
~ picked that snake up and it was quite
natural mature mat II should turn hn9 6Ite me on tho
Half an hour later it was Rs tame a kitten,
for ! d!d not hurt it in the least 1t was coal
black and lustrous. and measured six feet and
an inch. which. let me tel! YOU, is rs long any
hlacksnske ever grows i my experience with
and measured over two hundred of tho kind in
my time. When ANYBODY tells you OF seven
| footers you can put 1t down TO excitement. You
can putt down hat seventy, htee inches is the
! top notch: Here is picture OF that snake taken
| the day after caught IL:
An hour after picked II up a countryman
told me That ought to he careful because the
! snake would squeeze the life out OF me II 1t got
around my throat. Then | took two turns of
neck, being careful not TO pull hard enough To
ulslocate its yertebrn. which arc extremely
! tender in ALL That I,ld hnc
when pulled, anl il had two coils around my
neck but VIII tel ynn candidlv that all the
least. have had not only ono hut more tilan
one hundred big bincksnak kcs about my neck
under any circumstances have found as great
pressure ns the URINARY nand-sha.s or exerls
n constructor is n failure, and | am compelled
10 doubt tnat he can squeeze the lite out of
II hale to upset ali traditions. and especially
that one wh!cn credits the blacKsn.ike and the
fSingsnaks win bSinE St nhie 70 Whip ira rat.ler to
snake is speedy, and therein his safety lies. for
nearly all OF the venomouss reptiles IN this coun-
! try are broad. short and sluggish. There il one
execution, howeycr, and this IN the poor timd
/ adder known asthe hogsnake one of the most
innocent reptiles in mis- world, Out protected by
Its stmi!itude to the hOrrll c0pprrhead and
rattiesnake. OutOf 100 reports oi the lingof
90 per cent. are inoifcnsve adders, poor timid
creatures which have no teeth am are easily
%"s taS n'S ar" ' w Of S s~ some
have lost their buttons, hut as pun adders.
blowing adders, spreading udderF, md vipers
they exercise sufficient terror over the ignorant
rustics. who do not appreciate the fact that
they positive b"nrtL to all who grow seeds
of any K ind aid suler Tram the depredatons VI
mice ana mOles.
"Thc black makes, CdScdnfilm and CJlilIrr OH
soletus. which latter Is, by the way almost cX-
, tinct in this state are both accused OF robb ng
birds nest- but what few eggs they may get In
year are far onthnlanced IN value by the nun
ber OF mice they catch. A black snake can ClimD
i u tree. There Is no doubt nbOuL that IL is not
generally known. however, thar blarXs snake
can 90 straight mp q rough ed tfer which he
cannot sncircle. haye caught two big black
perpendicular 70 the sides Of oak trees which
they are seen In the branches uf bu-hp, and low
/ tTeca summing themsclve-. and IL careful y ap.
preached can be piucked like ripe fruit THO
bite OF the biggest blaCksnake is perfectly harm
less. even though II may break tie SKIN.
II will tell you what started me ON this mat
ter. IL was that story frdIn Washington. y. L..
4 about JOhn Osmun nf Port Murray havirg u
thrilling experience with n hug" hin HsnnKr.
Nov. don't know John ObInun hut ,yrry L.aly
in Newark knows Sylvester WGlnrc al - Wal
lace place. and am willing to make one O" Two
propositions IN detence OF the blacksnakr. The
hrst Is qualified. will wager thai there is no
John Osnnh In Fort Murray. and that II there