The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-09-06
in HOTEL CORRIDORS.

q number of amusing and interesting in
cidents- The rush you have heard de-
scribed, and know how it Is done, and
there was very little difference in the
mode OF opening any Of the Indian lands
in the Territory. The rush to the Iowa
and PottaWatoinie lands was not as
big an event as the opening Of old Okla
homa or of the Strip, but those who
were in it were just as earnest and tried
just as hard to get piece of land.
was at Guthrie and made the run from
there. There were four of us, and we
had a double-seated buggy. We got in
all right, and that night went to camp.
During the rush a woman had been
killed. and in the evening, after we were
all located in some shape, the question
of what to do with the body arose. She
had no relatives or close friends among
the crowd who made the run, and little
was known of her. Finally a man who
had been an undertaken was found
among the campers, and he said he
could emba1m the body If he had the
fluid Tt was thirty-five miles to Guth-
RE, the closest town, and every one was
worn with the days hard ride, SO it
looked as If it would be impossible to
get the fluid that night. One man said
his horse was tired. but he would al
low it to be used for the trip providing
some one would agree to make the ride.
An Irishman named Mark Cunningham,
who lived in Arkansas City. said he
would go for the fluid. The crowd
raised SIS to pay for it. No one knew
how much it would cost. as Guthrie was
thought that amount would purchase
enough for the work on hand Mark
started out and early next morning he
was back in camp. He was as drunk as
a man could get and still navigate, and
when asked what he did with the en-
balming fluid said: There it is in that
jug tied to the saddle horn. 1 drank
some of 1t, but there is enough left, /
guess The jug contained about a
quart of whisky. The men were in
clined to get angry, but Mark pleaded
ignorance and said he thought they
used whisky to embalm people, he had
often heard it called embalming fluid
There was nothing to do but bury the
woman, as we could not keep her body
in the camp. I don't believe Mark was
as ignorant as he pretended, and think
he took the trip for the sole purpose of
getting drunk on some other person 3
money"
Now that serum has been concocted
which is a sure cure for snake bites. 1
suppose picnic parties who carry the
old time honored antidote will be look
ed upon with suspicion" said a gentle
man at the Copeland who Is fond of
outings. Ever since / was a boy
whisky has been considered the one
remedy to be used when bitten by a
snake and suppose great many peo-
pie who go to the woods will be sorry
to learn that a substitute has been in
troduced. The worst feature of it is
that the snake bite serum does not in
toxfcate and the inventor offers no in
ducement for its use except that it will
certainly cOunteract the effect of the
snake bite. In the future parties in
search of snakes will dispense with the
old canteen and will carry instead a bot
tie of sure shot for snake bite serum
and a hypodermfc syringe, that is, those
who really want an antidote for snake
bites will do so. 1t will be long time,
however, before the old remedy is super
seeded by any such new tangled idea
The time honored custom of our ances-
tors will not be crowded aside by any
patent medicine, even if it is well adver-
tised. The man of science who made
the serum which is to revolutionize our
picnic and hunting party system, has
gone so far as to make the statement
that whisky never did prevent death
from snake bites and thus furnishes the
prohibitionists with another argument
most unwelcome to the antis in pro-
hibition state. There are hundreds of
men who will testify that this is a
SANDER ON John Barleycorn, and num-
erous instances will be cited to prove it's
untruth. I recall one occasion in which
whisky saved the life OF a man who was
Stung, or rather bitten, by a gila mon
ster, the most venomous reptile known.
1t was out in Arizona and a naturalist
had driven out in the country to secure
specimens for his collection. He had a
man with him to drive the wagon, a
light covered affair, which contained
their camping outfit and other para
phernalia. He had captured two gila
monsters, small ones, and put them in
a box The man who was with him was
deathly afraid they would get out and
didn't have a comfortable moment after
they were captured. Having secured
the specimens he wanted they started
on the return trip. During the after
noon the driver became tired and the
naturalist took the reins while the driver
laid down in the wagon The team was
jogging along the sandy road and the
naturalist was half asleep when he was
startled by a yell from the driver who
jumped on the seat, put his feet on the |
dashboard and said: Whip up. Make |
'em run. One of the monsters bit me- !
The team was put on the run for town |
which was about Is miles distant Under |
the seat was box in which was a |
quart OF whisky. That was taken out |
and the driver drank all he could with |
out stopping to breathe. Both men kept |
their feet up for they feared the mon
sters. which resemble a lizard, were |
lodging around among the blankets and |
traps that were in the wagon. Before |
they reached town the driver had swal- |
lowed all the liquor, but was apparently |
sober. They drew up in front of a drug |
store and the driver had to be carried |
in. When the doctor raised the drivers |
pants leg to look at the wound all he /
discovered was small prick nothing |
at all like the three hole wound made |
by a gila monsters bite. In the mean |
time the naturalist had scraped around |
in the wagon with a. stick until he raked |
out the box containing the reptiles. The |
box was closed securely and it was evil |
dent that the driver had not been bit |
ten. He had pricked himself in some |
way and his imagination did the rest
I think the whisky saved his life though, |
for he was a firm believer in its eff |
cacy as an antidote for poisonous rep |
tile bites, and, unless the whisky had /
been administered, he would have died |
from fright
There are number of things which |
the women who devote their time to /
woman's suffrage, politics and prohibi- |
ton could turn their attention to that |
would result in greater good to the |
community" said gentleman at the |
National. "Of course the first thing is |
home, but won't speak of that, for it |
has been talked OF to this kind of wo- |
man until she is tired of it. If the /
women must get into the public eye in /
municipal affairs, why don't they petit /
to cs.eisr to, lncnun