The Washington bee., 1899-07-01
SNAKES AND NOTHING ELSE
The Sole Product of LinkyiIIe Near
Southern Border of OREGON.

Southern border of Orerop
"Linkville." or klamath Falls" is
situated in an obscure corner over the
California 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 Ager, thence stage line of about
twenty miles conducts you to your des-
tination.
1t is impossible to associate Snakes"
with the beautiful and varying scenery
through which you pass as far as Kla-
math Hot Springs. Trees and streams
and all the glories Of mountain seen
cry greet you on every hand. You
drive through luxurious growth of
evergreens and shrubbery; you cross
and recross numerous streams: YOU
breathe the soft air Of Shasta and Sisk-
iyou. But when you have left Kla-
math Hot Springs few miles behind.
there is an appreciable difference in
the landscape. Sparcity Of vegetation
is the first observable change. At
every turn of the road, the aspect be-
comes more barren, more forlorn. and
more desolate. Finally, you seek in
vain for tree or shrub, and at last,
dust-covered and weary, you pull up
at dry, withered village that produces
nothing on its hard. rocky soil but 1e-
voting snakes. You have reached
Linkville, the haunting retreat of SER
pents.
There is a bridge in Linkville that
spans klamath River. From this
bridge, which is a vantage point as far
as view is concerned, a most extraor-
binary sight meets the eyes. Along
the river banks, at irregular intervals
Of a few yards. are seen dark balls
ranging from foot to three feet in di-
ameter. They are stationary and as
passive as a boulder, which they re-
semble in color. But if stone is
hurled at any of these strange spheres
to your horror snakes will crawl off
in every direction. and the ball will
melt away as lard melts in a frying
pan. The repulsive creatures that
have thus been coiled UP in a. perfect
sphere glide away under rocks, and one
minute later not snake is to be seen
in that particular spot. But the other
balls Of snakes in the vicinity are little
disturbed by the stone.
AS has been said. Linkville is in a
very barren district. Nothing what
ever grows upon the rocky soil. not
even sagebrush. And so the river
banks. which are mass Of driftwood
and rocks. seem a beftting 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 along the rub
bish, and the ground for yards will be
a squirming, wriggling mass.
These snakes are perfectly harmless.
Indeed. if it were not for this fact,
Linkville 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 may be seen along the roaaways
and around the houses and creeping
over the porches. They possess a
marked degree of tameness. You may
pick them up with impunity, and chill
dren play with them on the doorsteps.
The Linkville snakes are dark in col
or, with two yellowish stripes on their
backs The average size is about an
inch and a half in diameter and yard
in length though many are smaller and
some attain much greater proportions.