The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-19
SNAKE STORIES ARE RIPE.
A Good One From Washington Il
Start the Season.

/ start E1e EeGECn.
Washington Star: The snake edtto-
of the Star was perambulalng through
Center market the other morning. when
he was suddenly overcome by the sight
of most familiar bale Of wliskers.
BY gravy" exclaimed the geRelema 4
| connected with the wtliskeqs, extend
ing his horny hand of toll and accom-
panying it by CLEAN Of pleasure in
his face, 'howd'y do? I'm dern glad
to see you. Where you been this long
time?"
Right here in town." replied the
ophidian editor. Glad TO see you, I'm
sure. What's the good word in Lou
doun counTy?"
Times mighty hard up there, but no
harder than they are everywhere else,
reckon. We're kinder seatin' on the
fences waitin' for the cry of prosperity
TO come along our way
You ought to be doing as we'll as
usual in snakes, arena you? 1 never
saw the time when 1oudoun wasn't
right in the front when it came TO real
downright truthful snake stories.'
The gentleman connected with the
whiskers caught the opilidian editor by
the arm eagerly.
Come over here with me-" he said,
and set on this ice box fer a minute
VI lNO OlO YOU see, he went on
when the ice box sofa was fully occu-
pied, in the Leesburg papers any
thing about my losin' a fine dog ten
days ago."
No. 1 don't fancy it has got into the
Leesburg papers yet
''Mebbe it hasn't, but I heard it was
goin' to be put in Anyway, it hap
pened and I'll tell you, so you can make
a note of it down here You know how
l.,
their young around with 'em like a
possum, and when they stretch out in
the sunshine they let their whole brood
come out of their mouths and play in
the grass or the warm dust. Well, an
old mother snake was doing this with
her brood on my farm one of them
warm days about ten DAYS ago, and
my big mastiff pup comes bouncin'
along and scared her off before she had
time to open her mouth and let the
brood Of young ones jump down it, as
they always do when there's danger of
any kind. There was "a little fellers,
from about to II inches lcng, and
when the dog chased off the mother
snake they kind of scattered, too. only
they didn't have sense enough TO know
what TO DO next.
AS for the dog, he laid down by the
roadside, dead tired from chasin'
do and stickin' his head down on his
forelegs stretched out in front of him,
laid there with his mouth open, pantin'
fit to kill. [ was settin' on the fence
watchin' him, and in about two min
uJes I seen the grass begin to shake
in front of his head, and before he
could get over his surprise at what
was happenin I'll be doggoned if
everyone of them little snakes didn't
took him for tneir mother and gone
kitin down his throat
And you ought to seen him a min
ute later. He knOwed something was
wrong, and 1 guess the snakes inside
of him did, too, for the way he wallered
and ciawed and howle6 was a caution
TO behold. and it got so bad that he
begun TO have fits, and then We had 10
shoot him. Fine dog he was too, and
I'd been offered $50 for him by the
sheriff Of the county
And the mother snake?" inquired
the editor
''Dern her to pieces replied the be-
reaved owner of the dog. Il did hear
she went off down TO the Potomac and |
drowned herself for grief, buzz some !
how l don't more'n half believe it,