The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1902-10-03
DEADLY PERIL
OF Mrs. Mary Fuller, Her
Sister and Niece.
A Race for Life With q
Deadly rlOcCasin Snake
I'm a Boat.

Mrs. Fuller and her sister, Mrs. Cen
ter are well known in Bellefontaine,
Mrs. Fuller having lived here for a
number of years. Both ladies are now
visitors in this city.
Toledo Blade.
Put-in-B Bay, o., Sept pa deadly
water mOccasin, one of the largest ever
seen in this vincinity, was q passenger,
recently, in q frail skiff, crossing be-
tween Gibraltar and Put-in-Bay, with
three ladies, a little girl and an oars
man.
Mrs. Mary Fuller, matron OF the
state soldiers home, Mrs. Eva. c.. Cen
ter, Mrs. Charles G. Eddy and her lit
tie daughter, Florence, all of Sandusky,
were enjoying an outing at Putin Bay.
The occasion was Mrs. Cehter's birth
day. The ladies hired a boat and en-
ployed an oarsmau To row them across
TO Gibraltar, where Jay Cooke, the
venerable Philadelphia financier. lies
CRITICALLY ill in his castle.
Attracted by some flowers growing
upon ledge where landing is impos-
sible, the ladies directed the oarsman
to pull close to the rocks. While men,
bers of the party were plucking bios
SONS, the venomous moccasin was dis
turbed in his haunt. He coiled angrily
and sprang into the boat. The women
were terrified, but. fortunately, not
tion would have capsized the little
craft. 1t was at first believed by all
but the practiced boatman that the
reptile was an innocuous water snake.
Fully the oarsmau realized the two
fold danger that confronted himself and
those who had entrusted themselves 70
his care. 1t seemed that they could
scarcely hope to escape innoculation
| with the venom of the moccasin, or
watery graves in the deep bay.
The oarsman might have escaped by
Swimming, but he was of heroic mold
and for him there was but one course
to pursue. He pulled nightly for the
nearest landing point. The srake sui
lenly coiled under one of the seats. but
Mrs. Center soon saw his scaly head,
beady eyes and poisonous fangs pro-
truding from beneath the folds o. Mrs.
Fuller's dress. For the first time, she
fully realized the situation and became
aware of the fact that the snake was
one of the few deadly species found in
the vicinity of the islands. Mrs. Gen.
ter probably thought less Of her own
peril tnan tnat OF Otner memD6rs OF the
party, for Mrs. Fuller is her sister,
Mrs Eddy is her daughter and little
Florence is her granddaughter. Mrs.
Center uttered a piercing scream. The
snake retreated to his lurking place
under q seat. ParalyZed by fear, the
members of the party sat silent after
this incident.
A choppy sea retarded the progress
Iof the boat. The oarsman renewed his
efforts. His every nerve, every muscle
was at highest tension. The race was
for life against the caprice of the snake
or the possibility of drowning. Min.
utes seemed to lengthen TO intermin
able periods. but every long sweep o
the oars diminished the danger and the
most welcome sound ever heard by the
members of that party was the grating
of the boats keel on the gravelly beach
of historic Put-in-Bsy.
The passengers scurried ashore, leav
ing the boatman and q dog to do battle
with the snake, which was killed be
fore it could strike. The moccasir
measured four feet from head 10 tail
IL was one of the largest ever seen IL
these waters, and the skin will be pre-
iserved.