The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-19
SNAKES, AND NOTHING ELSE.
Sole Product of LinkviIIe, Near the
Southern boundary of Oregon.

Southern boundary of Oregon.
From the San Francisco Chronicle
'Linkville," or klamath Falls" is stu
ated in an obscure corner of the California
border line in Oregon, and may be reach
ed in twenty-four hours travel from San
Francisco. You have only to take The
northern-bound train for Ager thence a
stage line of aobut twenty miles conducts
you TO your destination.
1t is impossible to associate snakes"
with the beautiful and varying scenery
through which you pass as far as Kia-
math Hot Springs. Trees and streams
and all the glories of mountain scenery
greet you on every hand You drive
through a luxurious growth of ever
greens and shrubbery; you cross and re-
cross numerous streams; you breathe the
soft air of Shasta and Sskiyou. But when
you have left klamath Hot Springs a few
miles behind there is an appreciable diff
ference in the landscape. Sparsity of vege-
tation is the first observable change AZ
every turn of the road the aspect becomes
more barren, more forlorn and more desc
late. Finally, you seek in vain for a tree
or D shrub, and at last dust-coVered and
weary, you pull up at a dry, withered
billage that produces nothing on its hard,
rocky soil, but revolving snakes. You have
reached Linkvile, the haunting retreat Of
serpents.
There is a bridge in Linkville that spans
klamath river. From this bridge which
is a vantage point as far as view Is CON
cerned, a most extraordinary sight meets
the eyes. Along the river banks, at ir-
regular intervals of few yards are seen
dark balls ranging from a foot to three
feet In diameter. They are stationary and
as passive as a boulder, which they re-
semble in color But if a stone is hurled
al any of these strange spheres, 10 your
horror snakes will crawl off in every d.
rection, and the ball will melt away as
lard melts in a frying pan. The repulsive
creatures that have thus been cooled up in
a perfect sphere glide away under rocks.
and one minute later not a snake is to be
seen in that particular spot But the
other balls of snakes in the vicinity are
little disturbed by the stone. A close
inspection will reveal only a moving head
or twitchng tail in the mass that before
looked like an !mmovable boulder Those
that were scattered, however, may later
seek the neighboring spheres or in a few
minutes Sink out of their hiding places
and reassemble themselves ia balls.
As has been said Linkvile is sn a very
barren district. Nothing whatever grows
upon the rocky soil, not even sagebrush
And so the river banks, which are mass
of driftwood and rocks seem a betting
place for snakes. But il is surprising that
they should develop in such great num-
bers When not rolled I'm balls they may
be seen slipping in and out among the rub
Dish. and the ground for yards win be a
squirming, wriggling mass.
These snakes are perfectly harmless
Indeed, if il were not for this fact. Link
vile would not be habitable, for while
the immediate neighborhood of the river
Is their favorite haunt, they roam for
many hundreds Of yards away, and NAV
be seen along the roadways and around
the houses and creeping over the porches.
They possess a marked degree OF tame
ness. You may pick them up with i'm
punity, and children play with them on
the doorsteps.
The Linkville snakes are dark In color.
with two yeliowish stripes on their backs.
The average size Is about an inch and a
half in diameter and a yard ia length.
though many are smaller, and some at
tain much greater proportions.