Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-08-05
A GRAVE DIGGER'S YARN.
His Cemetery 0yerrun With Snakes
Of All Sorts.
Some Of Ms Hair Lifting Experiences Sam
my" Is Z Wonder.

field, and he was the very grave per-
son who dug the graves for the under
takers of the little town in which the
Journal happened to be visiting.
Sammy is of African blood. as you
might surmise from his curiously in
verted name, and his skin is blacker
and his hair is kihkier than common.
Maybe his worries were whittier than
the average run before he lost them.
but that was long ago-so long ago, in
fact. that none Of his present acquaint
ances remembered him with a mouth
full of teeth. Sammy was born slave.
1t is of record that he shouldered gun
when the civil War freed him and
helped in the fight for the Union. He'd
have fought in the war against Spain.
he says, if he'd been young enough,
but he wasn't. In fact, he's now too
old to fight anything excepting snakes,
and it's fortunate for him that he
doesn't dislike waging war against
these crawling creatures. for the Gene
terry in which he is employed oftenest
as gravedigger, lying near the
meadows. fairly swarms with serpents.
II reckon that big clump Of black
berry bushes close down by the mead
ows has got more snakes hanging
around in it all the time than you got
bones in your body, honey" said the
old man. yesterday: and I'm partic-
Llarly decosmogrified when l have to
open grave in that part of the bury
ing ground. specially if l have to open
it late in the afternoon and leave il till
next morning. Tell YOU the truth. sab.
don't do that nohow il | can help it.
and when l can't help it I take partic-
ular pains to cover the grave up with
boards. though that don't always work
as well as | wish ii did. | had my
first bad experience with snakes a lit
tie while after ! went into the grave
opening business. and twas right down
in that part of the yard.
IL
dertaker he sent for me- and he says
there was a grave to be dug down
there before daylight Somebody had
died of one OF them contiguous diseases
| and they wanted TO put the body
away bright and early before anybody
was stirring round.
~ 1; -
faint for such as me to kick and
said all right, only | wanted somebody
besides the headstones to keep me
| company. Mr.. Undertaken sent for
help big black fellername of Ned and
| we got along first rate. only for Ned
| thinking a big nanny-goat that came
and looked into the grave when the
opening was about half finished was a
ghost. That frightened Ned most into
| a faint, but | braced hinr up all right
| and kept him at work till we got
through without much trouble. Then
we went home, but somehow couldn't
sleep. 1t seemed to me like there was
something wrong with that opening. so
| got out of bed before sun-up and
went down into the yard.
Well. sab. If you'll believe me when
| tell you, il was mighty lucky | went.
for the opening was half full of snakes
Maybe that is putting it pretty strong,
sab, but there was a whole lot Of 'em
ntl
bottom of the opening, and more. AS i
stood looking down my wool stood
straight up, for I wasn't so used to
snakes as ] am now, and / stepped on
a little stone and knocked it in
there among them. If you've ever
heard the steam of locomotive let off
when she was boiling away right live
ly you know just the kind of noise
came up out of that opening. 1t seem
ed a good deal louder to me than any
safety valve siss I'd ever heard before,
though. I'll allow it scared me some.
but didn't dare run away for fear the
snakes would come out and chase me
So dppCu SolIit IoChS anu DtSdu 10
lombard them. Then l got a big club.
| for they began to crawl out, and as fast
as they stuck their heads above ground
hit 'em and killed 'em. / fit EN- alto
gether pretty near an hour and then
| had to tote the carcasses away and
| throw them out on the meadows SOS
| the mourners shouldn't see 'em, and
then | had to clear the opening of the
stones I'd thrown in. l just managed
to get through before the funeral got
| there. How many snakes were there?
l didn't stop to count 'em. but there
must have been 80 or 40 of 'em-great,
big adders and green snakes and some
| little brown ones
That Teller Ned he had a disperience
! Of his own some time after that. He
| came over to the graveyard to have
| little visit with me one summer day
while l was making an opening down
| by that clump of berry bushes. He
| looked at the bushes and asked me
|