The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-20
HYPNOlIzED BY A SNAKE.
The Peculiar Experience of n Mining
PrOspector In Colorado.
From the Chicago Inter Ocean.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
"It is fact that a snake can hypno-
tie. He can hypnotize a grown man
just as easy as he can child" says
Perry Brigham, an old mining prospector.
Il shall never forget an experience one
morning when out on the plains not a
great ways from Denver l was plod-
| ding over the prairiSs, or rather Buralo
grass afoot I'd been walking a couple
of hours, | guess. and | kinder casually
happened to notice what appeared to be a
stout stick with the end of 1t knotted ana
rising up little over the grass. paid
no particular attention to it until for
some reason, / seemed to bear all my
thoughts on to that stick. AS | looked
again | found | was looking straight at
monstrous big rattlesnake, He hadn't
ratified, nor given any warning, but there
he was with his head raised up there,
ike q picket, kinder surveying things
and especially me.
My, but he was a tremendous big
feler l don't want TO exaggerate or
anything but. honestly, l believe he
was fully as long as this billiard table.
He was running his old tongue out and
seeming to say: We'll, what are you
going to do? Want a hght?' | just stop
ped stock still. Didn't jump or nothing
for I'd seen too much Of reptiles ami
things to let EN- excite me any | stood
there with my hands a my sides and
merely looking at him. | thought, Wen,
| don't know, old fellow, whether | want
to tackle you or not. l don't know He
kept a darting out his tongue and looking
directly at me.
There we was for, should think, fully
five minutes, each of us sizing the other
up Each not afraid of the other, yet
neither eager to open battle. The longer
| looked the more 1t seemed as II ! was
powerless TO move or do anything.
wasn't very much scared, but l seemed
to be attracted somehow My eyes were
fixed right on the snakes eyes, and
don't believe that could have taken them
off of him. The old feller want making
move to attack me If ne had / think
I'd been all right and could have fought
for all l was worth.
ut was not l tell you, the hypnotism or
magnetism OF fear. IL was feeling that
cannot explain further than to say /
COULDN'T take my eyes off of him II
I'd been closer I'm actually afraid ] should
have had an uncomfortable impulse to
reach out my hand and touch him. Then
ia got bit. sure's bazes. We kept look
ing at each other until something stirred
off in the grass near by. and, my! that
snake turned and went like a streak.
They can go mighty fast when they're
minded to, though it's generally supposed
that rattlesnakes are slow and sluggish.
well, the minute he stirred. see?
was all right Been brought back 10 my
senses as ID was, and l run after him as
fast as / could. but l couldn't keep up
with him. aud he reached a hole a few
hundred yards off. prairie-dog or rabbit
hole l don't know which, and when he
went into the hole l got close enough
to see him. and he did a very peculiar
thing. He didn't go in head first, as
you'd naturally expect, of course, but IT
seemed as If he wiggled into it or around
in such a fashion that he always put mis-
head toward me. He sorter doubled, yon
understand. and got himself into the hole
so that he could be ready for me IL
made for him. / watched him for several
minutes more. and there he was, just 80
you could barely make out his ugly three
cornered head, laying there az the en-
trance, waiting for all visitors. Now.
| want to confess that that there dirty
brown RATHER had me as much under the
spell as any mortal ever was by all the
arts of the professional human hypno-
list. Some folks claim it's all bosh and
Imagination, but ! assure you snake
will hypnotize any creature that will
keep perfectly still and watch the var
mint.
II shall never forget, by the way, being
down in Florida. | was visiting a relative
who had a place there an orange grove.
Out back of his house there was a sort of
bowerlike. a summer house. / guess
you'd call It, lattice work. and over II was
trailing vine, honeysuckle. and such.
put away a big dinner, and feeling kinder
drowsy, thought I'd go out to that sum-
mer house and read or doze for while.
| picked up a book that was laying about
the room and kinder fell 10 reading. II was
one of them sleepy, dopey, yaller novels
Well, / read on for a spell and then grad
ually began to get snoozish Suddenly
something fell kerthoop! squash right
down from the roof. and not foot
form me. Twas rattlerl I'm pretty bald
you see, but what little hair ! did have
stood right up straight, don't you for
get It. Got me? Oh. he'd got me easy Z
he'd meant 10 fight, but. by George he
was for getting away as quick as he come.
He started off like a fash and after him.
chased the critter a hundred yards and
killed him. He was about three feet long
FLORIDA is nothing much but snakes.
There are thousands of these water mo-
casins. You go out fishing and you can
see 'em on the bank coiled on the over
hanging limbs OF trees and in the shall
low water They lay In near the shore
with their body all In the water, ana
only their head out, resting on a twig or
log. Its too snaky a country for me.
Why. they were going to paper a room in
the house, and II seems they had some
extra wall paper laid away in closet.
one of the young women stepped in there
and picked up roll. She suddenly let
screech that stirred the whole house,
and when / ran In there was a young
RATHER nicely coiled In the center of the
room and ready for trouble / killed him
quick with a broom handle and when
we got the girl Gained down so that
she could talk we found she'd taken the
snake from the closet In that roll of paper.
ut takes a black snake TO trim rat
tier. black snake'll whip a rattler ev-
cry time. and a RATHER knows IL. Hen
get out of the way and run from a black
snake n he possibly can. II he gets at
tackled he coils himself and soundg his
rattles az savagely as he can and keeps
his tongue going but II YOU know any
thing about snakes, and should happen
to get a chance to watch a battle. you'll
have an impression that the rather acts
as N he knew II was likely 10 be all day