The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-06-20
SNAKES BITE PROVES FATAL.
Prominent Georgia Man is Killed by
Rattler.

WIN little OF no SuueTluS duu Gull
scious to within an hour Of the end,
Robert F. King, a prosperous farmer
and lumberman of Dorchester, Ca,
died at his home on Colonel's Island
yesterday morning at 2 o'clock from
the effects of rattlesnake' bite re-
ceived less then eight hours before,
says the Savannah Morning News of
Friday.
Despite heroic efforts on the part Of
Capt. A. F. King, his brother, to draw
from the wound the venom of the rat
tier by sucking out the infected blood,
the bite proved fatal. A singular fea-
ture of Mr.. Kings tragic death is the
fact that he suffered but little and re-
tanned consciousness up to within an
hour of his death.
Party Inspecting Timber.
Accompanied by W. c. Peoples, Of
H. H. Peoples & Sons, Ravenel Gig
nilliat, civil engineer for the Hilton
Dodge Lumber company, and his
brother, Capt. King, Mr.. King went
into the woods "wednesday afternoon
about a mile and half from Dor
chester to inspect some timber that
Mr.. Peoples and Mr.. Gignilliat were
about to purchase. The party went
out by automobile from Dorchester
and spent the greater part of the af-
ternoon in the woods.
It was while they were returning
to the automobile preparatory to
starting back to Dorchester that Mr..
King was bitten. 1t was then about
$50 o'clock and they were hurrying
to get back before dark. Walking in
Indian file, with Mr.. Gignilliat and
Mr.. Peoples in the lead, the process
sion filed past a rattler that was coil
ed just off the path.
Mr.. Peoples and Mr.. Gignilliat
passed safely by the coiled rattler.
Mr.. King was third. None Of the
party had seen the snake up to this
time. Suddenly Mr.. King felt sharp
singing sensation in his right ankle.
He looked down and saw large rat
tier scurrying away through the
brush.
II Have Been Bitten"
II have been bitten," he cried.
The men stopped and Capt. King
stepped quickly to his brothers side.
With quiet heroism and without hesi-
tation he opened his knife and made
an incision just above the wound.
STOPPING, he sucked the blood from
the wound in an endeavor to draw
out the poison and Offset the effects
of the bite. Having done all he could
in this respect, he quickly made a
bandage about the wounded ankle
Just above the bite to prevent, IT
possible, the circulation Of the in
fected blood back to the heart. -
The automobile was not faraway
and with Mr.. King limping between
two of the party, the four hurried to
the car and rushed into Dorchester.
There the services of a physician
were procured and the wound cauter-
lied. It was still early in the night
when Mr.. King was taken to his
home on Colonel's Island.
Suffered No Pain.
Although he grew considerably
weaker as the night wore on, the
fact that no swelling appeared and
his apparent lack of pain or suffer-
ing from the wound gave rise to the
hope that the prompt and heroic
measures adopted by Capt. King had
proved successful and that the snake
bite would not prove fatal.
At 1 O'Clock Mr.. King, who had
been conscious up to this hour and
had conversed with the members OF
his family and the friends who had
gathered around his bedside, lapsed
into a state of Inconsistencies, from
which he never recovered. Without
signs of suffering or swelling OF the