The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-07-12
HYPAOTIzED
BY A RATHER.
The Peculiar Experience Of a
Mining ProspectoT.
IT HAPPENED OUT IN COLORADO
Unusually Strong Man Was Held
Captive by the Stare Of "a Snake
SERPENT is SUPREME IN FLORIDA.
A Land Where II Turns Up In Many Odd
Places and Causes Much Anxiety
When Least Expected.
SERPENT is SUPREME IN FLORIDA.

New York, July 12-"It Is q fact that
snake can hypnotizc. lie can hypno-
tize a grown man just as easy as he
can child" says Perry Brigham. an
old mining prospector. II shall never
forget an experience one morning when
out on the plains not a great ways from
Denver. / was plodding over the prairies.
or rather buffalo grass. afoot. I'd been
walking a couple OF hours, l guess. and
] kinder casually happened to notice
what appeared TO be stout stick with
the end OF 1t knotted and rising up little
over the grass. / paid no particular at
tentlon to IL until, for some reason, ]
seemed to bear all my thoughts on TO
that stick. AS / looked again 1 found
was looking straight at monstrous big
ratllesnake. He hadn't ratified, nor given
any warning, but there he was, with his
head raised up there. like picket. kinder
surveying things and especially me.
My, but he was "A tremendous big fell
lerl L don't want 70 eXaggerate or any
fully as long as this billiard table. He
was running his old tongue out and SEEM
ing to say; Well, what are you going 81, to
still Didn't jump nor nothing, for I'd
seen too much of reptiles and things to
let em excite me any: j stood there, witn
ing at him. / thought. We'll. don't
know, old fellow. whether want TO
tackle you or not. / don't know He
Kept a darting out his tongue and look
There we was for. / should think. fully
I'VE minutes, each of us sizing the other
up. Each not afraid Of the other, yet
neither eager TO open battle The longer
1 looked the more it seemed az II i was
powerless 10 move or do anything.
wasn't very much scared but / seemed
fn I'm N ~ Wa
fixed right on the snakes eyes. and
don't believe that i could have taken
them of of him. The old feller want
making n move to attack me. III he had
i think I'd been all right and could have
fought for all l was worth.
1T was not, ! tell you. the hypnotism
that cannot explain further than to say
j couldn't take my eyes of OF him. IL
i had been closer I'm actually afraid
should have had an uncomfortable inn
pulse 20 reach out my hand and touch
him. Then I'd got bit sure's blazes. We
kept looking at each other until some
and. my. that snake turned and Went
like a streak. They can go mighty fast
when they's mind TO, though it's gem
orally supposed tnat rattlesnakes are
slow and sluggish.
PECULIAR TACTICS OF SNAKES.
We'll, the minute he stirred. see? 7
my my senses m as il was. and pqx run after ter bim o
as fast as 1 could, but / couldn't keep
up with him. and he reached hole few
hundred yards off. prairie-dog or rabbit
hole, ] don't know which, and when he
went into the hole ! got close enough to
see him. and he did very peculiar
thing. lie didn't 60 I'm head first, az you'd
naturally expect, OF course, but IL seemed
as IL he wiggled into IL or around I'm such
fashion that he always put his head
toward me. He sorter doubled. you un-
derstand, and got himself into the hole
80 that he could be ready for me IL I
made for him. I watched him for several
minutes more, and there he was, hist so
YOU could barely make out his ugly
three-cornered head. laying there at the
entrance waiting for all visitors. Now.
] want TO confess that that there dirty
brown rattler had me as much under the
spell as any mortal ever was by all
the arts of the professional human hyp-
notist. Some folks claim its all bosh and
imagination. but ] assure you snake
will hypnotic any creature that will keen
perfectly still and watch the varmint
II shall never forget. by the way, be-
ing down I'm Florida. / was visiting n
relative who had place there. an orange
grove out back or his house there was
sort of power-like, a summer house,
] guess you'd call It, lattice work, and