The times., 1898-11-28
NOTHING BUT SNAKES.
They Are the Sole Product of n
FIouri-hirg Oregon Town.
(From The S,n Francisco ChrOnicle.j

fFrnm the S,n francisco Chrunicle.I
.I.inkvilie." or klamath Falls is sit
uated in an obscure corner over the Cali
fornia border line in Oregon. and may
be reached in twenty-four hours travel
from San Francisco. You have only TO
take the northern-bound train for Aser,
thence u stage line of about twenty
miles conducts you 10 your destination.
IL is impossible 10 associate snakes
with the he~btautiful and varying scenery
through which you pass as far as kla-
math Hot Springs. Trees aud streams
and all the glories OF mountain scenery
greet you on every hand. You drive
through a luxurious growth of ever
green's and shrubbeIy: you cross and re-
cross numerous streams You breathe the
soft air OF Shasta and Siskiyou- But
when you have left klamath Hot Springs
few miles behind, there is an spprecia-
be difference in the landscape. Sparsity
OF vegetation is The first observable
change. At every turn Of the road the
aspect becomes more barren, more for
lorn, and more desolate. Finally, you
seek in vain for a tree = shrub. and at
last. dust-coyered and weary, you pull
up at a dry, wirhered village that p:o-
duces nothing on its hard. rocky soil but
revolving snakes. You have reached Link
vile, the haunting retreat of serpents.
There is a bridge IN LinkyIiIe ihIt
spans Klamath River. From this bridge,
which is u vantage point as far as Wow
is concerned. a mosl extraordinary sight
meets the eye. Along the river banks
at irregular intervals of Il few yares.
are seen dark balls ranging from foot
To three feet in diamter. they are sta
rionary and as passive as L boulder,
which they resemble in color. But If a
stone is hurled at any OF these strarSe
spheres. 10 your horror snakes will crawl
off in every direction, and the ball Will
melt away as lard meits in frying pan.
The repulsiye creatures that have thus
been coiled up in a perfect sphere glide
away under rocks. and one minute later
not 4 snake is to be seen i'll that psrtic
ular spot But the other balls of snakes
in the vicinity are little disturbed by the
stone. \ close inspection will reveal only
a moving head or twirching tail in the
mass that before looked like an i'm
movable boulder. Those that were
scattered. however. mas later seek the
neighboring spheres or in few minutes
sink out Of their hiding places and re-
assemble themselves in balls.
AS has been said. Linkville is very bar
rem district Nothing whatever grows up
oil the rocky soii. not even sagebrush. And
so the river banks, which are a mass of
driftwood and rocks, seem befit-
ting place for snakes But it is surprising
that they should develop in such great
numbers When not rolled in balls, they
may be- seen slipping in and out among
the rubbish. and the ground for yards
will be squirning, wriggiing mass
These snakes are perfectly harmless. In
deed. if 1t were not for this fact, Linkville
would not be habitable, for. while the i'm
mediate neighborhood of the river is their
favorite haunt, they roam for many hun
dreds of yards away. and may be seen
along the roadways and around the
houses and creeping over the porches.
They possess marked degree of tame
ness. You may pick them up with i'm
punity, and children play with them on
the doorsteps.
The Linkytlle snakes are dark in color.
with two yellowish stripes on their backs
The average size is about an inch and 4
half in diameter, and a yard in length,
though many are smaller and some attain
much greater proportions.