The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-10-27
THE SNAKE LIAR.
He Breaks Loose in tn eNew York sun.
rpSton RpDublican

He Breaks Loose in tn eNew York sun.
Preston Republican.
The snake hunter has broken loose
again, and this time he must be draw
ing his last breath, for the liar in him
is doing its utmost to challange Ana
Mas of old to competitive examina-
ton in the lower regions. The lie
that caps the climax comes from the
Neao York San of October9, 1898, and,
as usual, takes for its text Shaggy
mountain and Josiah Summers.
Listen, all We people, and hear how
the snake liar breaks forth in all his
glory. Here's the way he starts:
When Il stranger alights from u
railroad train at Terra Alta, W. Va,
it causes q sensation, for such ar
rivals are more than infrequent, and
furnish the everpresent loungers with
conversational topics for weeks to
come. But there is never any idle
speculation as to the strangers mis-
sion. No sooner is his foot upon the
platform of this tiny, neglected little
station than up steps friendly
native and says:
All s'pose We want team to drive
up Shaggy Mountain, don't ye?''
Nine times out of ten the stranger
answers in the affirmative, and the
friendly native volunteers to escort
him to where the desired team may
be obtained for a small consideration,
but not however, before he has asked
the stranger, Ever seen Josiah
Summers befOre?''
Then the snake liar continues and
describes q journey from Terra Alta
i to the heights q of Shaggy noun
tains, over roads which can be found
only in the imagination of the insane
He goes on and paints pictures that
can be found only in Dante's Infer
no, " and, when he hits the hut" OF
| Josiah himself he taxes his lying
proclivities to the utmost to ade
quately describe this wonderful being
who actually lives on rattlesnakes
He describes Josiah as follows:
He is a fine specimen of the hardy
mountaineer. His age is about Co.
but his physique suggested the vigo1
and activity of a youth. He is big
and blonde and broad-chested as a
draught horse His face, which is
burned to a deep bronze by sun and
exposure, is intelligent, an attribute
emphasized by a clear blue eye and a
| strong mobile mouth. Like most OF
| the adult mountaineers he sports q
| tuft of whiskers beneath his chin.
The more than 800 residents OF
Terra Alta will recognize in the above
only the wandering vagaries of in
sanity The whole article occupies
| nearly two columns of closely set
nonpariel, and the entire thing is
composed of lies from beginning to
end. We don't believe that the man
who wrote the article ever visited
Terra Alta; we know that he never
visited Josiah Summers, and we pre-
sumo that when the fOOl-killer was
about this year, this particular news
paper writer was confined in mad
HOuSc OF WAS an ll1ILdIt VI IL HOlle lOf
incurable idiots and in some manner
escaped after the fool-killer made his
usual rounds. If the man who wrote
the article will kindly drop into Terra
Alta and register at one Of our
numerous hotels we will guarantee
him free ride on rail, coat of
Shaggy mountain tar garnished with
goose feathers and dump into the
first frog pond that can be found.
Such articles as the one referred to
are becoming nuisances of the worst
character, and the man who writes
them is either an idiot or New York
dude.