The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-02
MEN AND AXES IT'S FOOD.
THE WONDERFUL SERPENT THAT
LIVES IN CHAIN LAKES.

stones In tho Lake TO Furnish GrlnuerS
fer Its G~IzSard-Reborts OF Its Deprcdntions.
KossuTn, Me-. Dec. SOTO an outsider who
Is not familiar with the story, the pride which
tho citizens Of Washington county exhibit when
they are telling about tho great sea serpent which
dwells in Chain Lakes seems an unwarrantcd
presumption. indicating that the residents arc
unacDuaintod with the natural history OF these
reptiles. Though not more than ono citizen
in n thousand ever saw the serpent, and though
not one half of these favored few ever lived 10
describe the creature. there is hardly n person
in the county who has any doubt about its ex.
istence. Tho little evidence upon this subject
which Is available for uso Is practically unanl.
nous in stating that such n snake does oxist,
that IL is from forty to nifty feet long and that IT
is MS big around rs u barrel. Outside of these
visible facts, which a dozen reputable witnesses
arc willing TO swear to, the people have fire.
quently heard strange sounds upon Chain Lakes
that no other living thing but q big snake could
make, and have seen the great muddy wallows
along its shores indented and grooved with
tortuous impressions such as q snake rs large as
a pine log would naturally make II he should
escape from the water and get mircd.
II Chain Lakes were n place of summer resort
for wealthy persons from Boston or Now York,
or IL anybody along the shores conducted sport
ing camps or hotels where homemade whiskcy
was SUN, lllG w po-oNb oNSt WIN
out further comment; but the territory in that
vicinity is q continuous bog for three townships,
where nothing but black flies and mosquitoes
care to dwell in the summer season and where
the snake eScrts such q powerful sway during
tho winter months that casual visitors who
drop down that way make haste to get out by
tho next stage. As all tho witnesses agree upon
tho main features, and as the snake was not
placed in those isolated waters for advertising
purposes. the practical residents argue that the
terror Of tho swnmps is an actual creature of
flesh and blood. In support of this hypothesis
they relate several tales Of adventure, all of
which differ widely from anything which has
boon said or written about any of the monsters
that are alleged to inhabit the salt waters Off
the New England coast.
The native Passamaquoddy Indians knew
more about the Chain Lakes serpent than they
cared to tell. years before u white mar went into
the woods looking for beaver skins. Members
of the tribe who had stolen goods or cheated or
committed an unprovoked assault which ended
In murder were always taken to Chain Lakes
about New Years and left to their fate. AS
none of these outcasts ever returned to the
campires of the tribe it was inferred that the
snake had faithfully performed his part of the
contract. In addition to the malcfactors who
were carried to the lakes against their will. a
few Passamaquoddy fishermen went thither in
February and March to enjoy pickerel fish
ing. The lakes. being surrounded. by intcrmin-
able swamps. never froze over entirely, but were
full of blowholcs. where the muskrats came out
and summed themselves, and whore the fisher
men could drop their lines among great schools
OF pickcrel without going to tine trouble of cut
ting through the ice. Though the Indians who
fished here invariably made great catches OF
pickrrcl, the big snake always made n counter
assessment, taking an Indian or two every week
as chance or hunger prompted, until tho sur
vivors were glad to make a hurried retreat.
mr. thp truppdipS in which the male fl need
squatters were tho sufferers more, than a score
OF tales are told by the old settlers. Most of
these stories date back to twenty years ago, 50
that the persons who knew tho victims are
nearly all dead, and particulars are either vague
that have come to light within the last four
years in which the alleged victims were well
which there, arose many peculiar details that TO
discrcdit the, stories would be equivalent
to giving the !, lie h. direct to SONG E.h of the
1924. Hamilton Wass OF kossnth Went
to Chain Lakes swnmps to cut hoop poles. taking
q horse and q hired man with him to help about
the work. The first Sunday after reaching camp
the horse was turned loose to browse about the
shores. and. failing to come up at nightfall, the
two men started out to hunt it up, Wass follow
ing the animals tracks on the snow. and Me-
Gregor, the hired man, going to the head o. tho
Mass tracked the horse among the underbrush.
r roaa to ~ t sp opeo o" bloW vi. zee be ana T Which fW fSers
was no track OF any kind: Believing his horse
had fallen through the hole and drowned, Wass
lhtlt " hiiI an iioul L
came in, bringing such, n tale AS no sober man
who wishes to be credited should tell. He. too. had
he stood over it. running n long pole into tho
opening. q fearful creature had arisen from tho
until it was fifteen feet in air. The head, which
was as big as n half hogshead tub, was shaped
like y snakes. having n wide mouth with teeth,
q forked tongue. and small eyes placed wide
apart, The visible portions of the body were
coated with great horny plates, like those on the
back of a sturgeon. McGregor had noted these
details as no ran away. Wnss laughed Mt him,
calling him q coward and asking him where he
TO go out the next day and find the dead horse.
Though MGGregor tried to dlssuade hin from
line. and a repeating ri6fe: Nobody has ever
seen him sincS; When MsGregor reported the
up, The men found the ice about the hole
broken up in great cakes. as If a keg = of gun;
blotches of blood were spattcred about, indicating
that somebody had been hurt. After listening to
other evidences Of the snakes, work, the party
concluded that WaSs had met the serpent at the
bblowhole; had fir fired the IYo,r rife ,i ihtG it. no and ma "a
could get away. rhe broken leo cakes were
taken asproof that the snake had been wounded.
Wass or from the injured snake or from the
missing horse. which had no doubt been de-
voured the day before.
Though there were n few men bold enough to
believe that McGregor had made away with
he had invented the snake story to conceal his
crime, most everybody took the tale literally.
and the hired man continued to carry on VASES
| farm for n year. when he married the widow.
sold out all the property and moved away to
Nova Scotia, where he is now living.
Having eaten a good.sized horse ana a fat
man inside of two days, the serpent got along on
what muskrats and pickercl ii could catch until
December of last year, when 1t broke out In n
new spot and carried off II man under, such pc
culiar circumstances that nobody could longer
doubt its mnlevolent disposition.
John Benton was a simple: minded town
| paupcr. who boarded around with the residents
who would keep him chcnply, the town paying
| tho bills. In December, 1896, he was employed
by Henry Drisko to go 10 Chain Lakes swaInps
ana cut cedar timber for fencing. AS DriskO
lived less than "A mile away, from tho cedar
swamp, Benton boarded and slept Mt the house.
| taking his dinner in the woods. He used two
axes about his work, u heavy ono for telling the
trees and u light one for cutting the limbs. Be-
fore he had worked a week he had lost two new
axes. He had stuck them in n stump near the
lakes while he lugged the poles, ont on
his back. and when he hau come back the
axes we're gone. His story received littlc Gre
denco among the people, because. they knew ho
was simple, and though a few believed that tho
serpent had taken the Tools, the general opinion
was that Benton had lost them. At the end Of
iwu weeks Benton WAS paid off. receiving SO. 30