The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-01-19
A SNAKE STORY
WITH A MORAL
Horrible Adventures of Railroad Men on
the "TeakettIe" Line.
SLEW A MONSTER RATTLE SNAKE
The Reptile Had Been Eating Stuff
Shipped By the Startling
Yarn Comes From the Confines of
Staid Old Preston County.

the rounds of the railroad men EN-
ployed on the West Virginia Northern
railroad that runs between Kingwood
and Tunnelton, and strange as it may
seem is vouched for by some very
truthful eye witnesses.
1t appears from the way the story
goes that the conductor, who is also
baggagemaster, and acts in the capac-
ity of engineer and fireman when he
is not otherwise employed, had been
missing great deal of produce, such
as eggs, butter, ham and side meat,
as well of whole cases of canned goods,
and no clue of the thief or thieves
could be found regardless of the close
watch that was daily kept for the IN.
An employee or two of the company
were under suspicion, and all the off
cials of the road were in consterna-
tion oyer the robbery and were pow
erless to do anything, but pay the
bills that were handed them weekly,
and some shrewd detective work was
being done, but to no avail How
eyer, the mystery was solved one day
this week, shortly after the train haG
left Tunnelton for Kingwood, by
Jacky Sterling, who had the train in
charge that day. He had loaded some
supplies for the IrOna mines in one
end of the car that serves as coach
and baggage car combined and had
carefully locked the door with an iron
paddock and placed the key in his
pocket and remarked that there
would be nothing gone that day, and
was busily engaged in collecting fares
from two woebegoup travellers, as we'll
as telling of some of his remarkable
experiences since his employment
with the road, including train rob-
berry and other things, the most re-
markable of which was run that he
engineered through from Function
to kingwoOd, a distance of ten miles,
with the coach and one box car for a
train, covering the entire distance ir
one hour and thirty-five minutes, and
only off the track once, which is the
fastest record time ever made in the
Jerk water" Just in the middle of
one of his most exciting stories a
dreadful kissing, which sounded as if
steam pipe had been bursted, crack
ing of eggs and turning over boxes
was heard in the other end OF the car.
Whereupon Sterling pulled the bell
cord and had the train stopped and
summoned his men and armed them
with picks, coupling pins and hand
axes and proceeded to carefully I'M
lock the door, expecting to be met by
one or more Of the Davis gang of
housebreakers that have since been
captured, but instead a very large
and dangerous rattlesnake was seen
coiled up in the other end of the car,
kissing and shaking its rattles vigor-
ously and showing plenty of fight.
After a very lengthy struggle the
snake was dispatched and several of
the party had narrow escape from be-
ing bitten. and was found to measure
10 feet inches and was adorned with
36 rattles and button.
After the excitement of battle had
somewhat subsidized and an examina-
ton of the car was being made as to
where the reptile had entered the car,
it was lound that it had turned the
egg crate directly over hole in the
floor of the car about 10 by u inches
that had been cut there to make some
steam pipe connections, but since
abandoned, and led back under the
main part of the car, which had a
false bottom. The snake had eaten
about one half of the crate and was
preparing to go back to his hiding
place, when it found that it was trap
ped and became enraged and was
making the kissing noise that led to
its discovery; otherwise had it re-
NAMED in there until the car had
reached Kingwood someone might
have been bitten by the deadly snake.
1t is supposed that the snake is one
that escaped from show that was
wrecked on the road last summer
near TOWNSVILLE. 1t was brought to
Kingwood by the trainmen and pre-
sented to II. H. Potter, who has it
stuffed and can be seen any day by
anyone doubling this story. Mr.. Pot
ter says that it is the finest specimen
of the reptile tribe he has ever seen
and prizes it very highly.
Every one connected with the road
is breathing much easier at present
and things are again running smooth
ly. The instructions from the general
managers office were that the story
was not to be told, as it might in
jure the passenger traffic, but one of
the TRUSTEES who had imbided too
freely of Tunnelton firwater told the
tale yesterday in soft drinks en-
porium here, where he had gone to
quench his thirst, and from there the
story became public.
Moral-Don't drink firewater.
Il. /. M.