The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-20

10 strike terror TO the StOuteSI hedrt.
As if presided over by cunning devils,
and to enhance it's treacheTy, the trav-
eler is treated TO delusive mirages.
Green lands and sparkling springs of
water appear temptingly in his path,
only 10 recede or vanish as he adj
vances into the hopeless tomb.
But when night comes countless liz
ards squirm out of their burrows, rat
tiesnakes wriggle across the alkali
dust, horned toads creep about and
scorpions and tarantulas of enormous
size sharpen their claws and hustle
around in search of prey. All of these
are abnormally armed with weapons
artfully contrived to aid their master
in this terrible kingdom of death.
Here are also the headquarters of that
most hideous and horrible of American
reptiles. the deadly ella monster.
OF birds there are very few in the
neighborhood of Death Valley. Though
that funeral fowl, the raven, may be
here in the woods that skirt its edge,
crying with mournful notes for the
many travellers whose dried and mum
mified corpses are scattered over the
burning plain, he rarely, if ever. ven
lures down to the fatal torrid level.
Some few specimens Of animal life con-
trive to exist in this desert. but they
are of a unique species, and essentially
freaks. As if in sympathy with the
uncanny nature of the place, they have
impish habits and distorted anatomies.
such as Ingoldsby attributed to the
fantastical devils family conjured up
by satan for the temptation of the good
st. Anthony.
One of the most curious rodents pc
culiar to Death Valley is the scorpion
mouse,'i which lives wholly on scor-
pions. and gets fat at that. By instinct
probably evolved through generations
of unpleasant experience, it knows
enough not to tackle its prey at the
business ned. Then there is the grass
hopper mouse" which has a strong
taste for centipedes, and pocket
mouse" with huge wallets outside their
threats to store provisions in. Not for
a rainy day, though, for it never rains
in these Internal regions.
All these little creatures are in them
selves harmless to humanity, yet they
play a part in the diabolical scheme for
the destruction of life in this den of
the destroyer. 1t seems as if they were
merely placed there as food for the ter
rible reptiles with which the gorge
abounds. and which are the true ruling
spirits of this valley of desolation and
death.
The snakes are not said to grow to
any enormous siZe.s They are not the
snakes of the conventional storyteller.
But they are the most ACCOMPLISHED
snakes in their particular line of bust
ness that the whole continent can pro-
duce They are sudden death snakes.
A little RATHER about two feet long
is the champion lightweight of the COM
munity. 1t is claimed that he can put
strong man to sleep in one round,
and in less than five minutes.
During March and April a species of
gnat, which can give cards and spades
to a Jersey mosquito, takes hand in
the game. It swarms so thickly that it
could probably sting a regiment of sol
diers to death before the bugler had
time to sound the signal for retreat.
After three months the heat kills off
even these insects. Scorpions and ia
rantulas are plentiful as blackberries,
and very poisonous Lizards often
measure as much as two feet in length
They are eaten and considered a great
luxury by the Digger Indians, who live
on the mountains adjoining the death
pit Half starved coyotes prowl around,
afraid TO enter and feast upon the hui
man and animal flesh which fries and
frizzles in the sun.
A man named Bennett. one of the
survivors of to Inflated caravan of
1850, was responsible for the story
which drew many prospectors to the
valley and lured not few to their
death. 1t is said, as he stumbled along
in a canyon of the mountains west of
the valley. he found a spring of water,
and stopped to drink. His life was
saved, and, sitting idly by the stream,
he broke off a bit of exposed rock,
and was surprised to find it of metallic
substance. He afterward asked
goldsmith to make a musket sight of
it as a memento. It was found to be
silver. and the mythical story of the
'.gunsight lead" caused many to rush
to the spot in the hopes of finding a
rich seam. In 1861 a party of eight
Mexicans found a gold vein near the
river bed. east of Death Val
ley, but the Piutes, or white Arabs of
the desert. came along and killed every
man CT them.
In 1871 Lieutenant Wheeler, on an ex-
ploring trip, ordered his guide to cross
the valley on foot. The guide declared
this impossible. So the lieutenant
called two soldiers, who. with fixed
compelled the guide to start.
Within two hours one of the soldiers
back to camp, just able to
walk. A relief squad found the other
soldier and carried him out, but the
guide had become insane, bad strayed
away and was never found again.
In Death valley there is no humidity,
which. however unpleasant when in
profusion. is nevertheless necessary to
life. Curious effects of the arid air are
recorded. Chairs transported TO this
region of eternal heat Immediately fall
to pieces Water barrels incdutiously
left empty, lose their hoops within an
hour One end of the blanket that has
been washed will dry while the other
end is being manipulated in the tub
A saturated handkerchief held in the
sun become dry in a fash-quicker than
il would before a red-hot stove.
Surveyor McGillicray, attached to the
bOrax company which operates on the
brink, says:
THE heat is intense. A man cannot
20 an hour without water without be-
coming insane. One man died from the
heat while lying still within the adobe
house. Another. while riding with
santeen in his hand on top of a load OF
borax fell over and expired He was
so parched that his head, .cracked over
the top
a Frenchman named Isidore Daunes
had a terrible experience in and around
The valley In 1880 he with six others
attempted TO Cross. bound for Arizona
he was a strong, vigorous, healthy
nan. and secuted the idea of danger in
so narrow a strip of land. The party
started. and before they realized their
condition their water was gone. Half
Wild with suffering, they cut the
.hroats of their pack animals and
frank the squirting blood, as tigers
night have done. Daunet and the
strongest Of the band escaped with life.
Three persisted. Some time afterward
he Frenchman tied UP his head in a
f., fs.5@. 4 lyay 1i down a
mirror and nut a bullet in his brain.
The Indians and whites who dwell
n the woods at the border OF Death
=, lla,. q NJ r.astr-icra.l To q rlaculias der