The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-11
THE KING SNAKES PRowMss.

NSAiN NLCNilOuS Ol kALLetSh ooSo s'tS
 Grass as a Handkerchief and Eats
 Mouse or Toad After Each Battle.
 The distant murmur of the waterfall, the hum of the bees among the flowers, made me feel lazy, and, laying aside my fishing rod, I stretched myself on the soft spring grass under a weeping willow and watched the blue, cloud specked sky. had almost fallen asleep when I was aroused by a voice inquiring, 'Kotched enny fish, mis- ter?" Looking up I saw a typical mountaineer and assured him I had not. q say, mister, this here is powerful bad kentry for snakes. One bit Jim Sloans bay mare last night, an week afore last another bit Sally Milligan. Some on 'em air powerful pizen, specially the rattlers and cop pers, and that minds me, eff I wuz yourself I'd move little further from | that ere copper. He ain't 'zactly perty to look at, an eff ye was ter rile i'm with yer boot he mout git vicious" Long before that speech had ended had turned a somersault backward, which caused the mountaineer a great deal of genuine pleasure to behold. was about to exterminate the big, sluggish reptile with a stick that I had | seized, when my companion asked me | to wait a few moments, as king might come along. Not exactly un- derstanding whether he expected person of that name, and failing to see what that event had to do with my l laudable desire to smash the big, ugly | thing that had presumed to take my | leg for pillow, I asked him for an ex- | planation. "Air it possible yer town folks dunno what a king air? Why a king air the boss snake uv the woods He dol't do no harm U tuthin', 'cep- tin snakes, an he doan' poster them as hain't pizen. But he do love a cop per an a rattler, which is the wust snakes of these digging's, an he's | death on 'em.
 ''Tother day I was gwine long old road an all of a sudden I heered a singin' as tho a camp-meetin' had just tuck in. I knowed it were a rattler, and lookin' round I saw him on a knoll, an powerful big un he wuz. He wuz quilled up like a corkscrew and his rattles wuz a-mallin' the air 1 jingle But at first l couldn't 'scover the cause, and I knowed rattler nev- CT got ready fur business fur nothin. Presently I seed the grass a-swayin' and a-bendin', and then the rattler he gets nervius and skeered an. unquill- in hisself, he made a break to run. But it wuz too late, for on came the king like hurricane, and, putin his- | self just ahead the rattler, showed him his jig wuz up. Seein' he couldn't 'scape, the rattler pulled ag'in and showed fight The king, he commenced to run around his inimy in wide cir cle, the rattler watehin', licl1in' out his l tongue, and maxim his rattle sing like a banjer. Closer and closer the king drawed his circle as he dashed around, until he worn't more'n three feet from the inimy.
 Then the rattler, thinkin' he saw the last show to save his bacon. made a powerful spiteful lunge at the king, an thar is whar he slipped up, for the king he lodged, and quickern gunpowder wuz onto the rattler. Thar waren't nothin but ball of snakes in sight for few minutes as they fought and tussled over the grass, but arter lit tie could see the red and black striped king wound around the big rattler just like grapevine on tree. Then l seed the king hold i'm by the back uv the | neck, an I could hear him crushin' the rattler as he frightened on him. It wor all over in half an hour an the king, unwindin' hisself from his victim, got behind and waited for ten minutes. Then he crept up and put his nose on the rattler's to see if he wuz breathin'. You see, other snakes know the king, an sometimes 'possum on him by pre- tendin to be dead. But the rattler was shore huff gone, and when the king wor satisfied uv this he crawled in a old stump hole and presently came out with a mouse's tail stickln out of his mouf But he soon swallowed the mouse, an wipin' his nose on the grass went off sarchin' for more trouble. A king allers eats rat or a toad after a
 fight to make him strong for the next un.
 An now, mister, could tell you a powerful lot more'n that for l knows snakes, do, but I'll help you kill the copper, which mout not meet a king until he bites some un ef we didn't, an
 then I must hurry on after my oxen
 what I war huntin' when l seed that varmint a-tryin' to go to sleep with yourself. Philadelphia Times.
 INDIAN IRRIGATING TANKS.
 The system of irrigation is mostly
 that known as the ancient Hindoo sys-
 tenn of tanks The word tank" in ar
 Indian irrigation sense, means a stor-