The Prescott daily news., 1918-09-11
NIGHT ON THE COssAT0T
p;o Snake. and an Automobile That Never Came Back
By John Tweezer.

,yhol unhurrleu II "N
 ""O prescott to Baker Springs in
 .ntomabile. He must be patient m cd long suffering, content to go to- low and return tomorrow.
 ' The road tha leads to Baker crr;ngs winds up and down noun .a;ns through valleys. and some of .,a host farming lands in the state.
 Tho few citizens who live along the .,.a are largely of the farm. many of .hou are well along in life. and well .uOvided with this worlds goods. Mast of them are satisfied to move slowly: they seem to have plenty of .;ma to talk about their neighbors' crops and the war.
 had planned to make this trip in day, but somewhere, up above Derks, my car got in an argument with tree, and lost one of it's fend- ers which l stored away in the bot tom of the car with lot of bolts, npts bars and lot of other non-es- ,sBtials which the car had shed on the trip.
 After this accident l had trouble in bringing the ear to life. Although it was equipped with a one-horse start ing system. had to use pulmotor before could get it to breathe. Fin ally it came to life. Then we started down steep mountain. The noise it made sounded something like an ally charge on the western front. It caused the inhabitants of the hills to hide out or to seek cover in their dug outs. When l chanced to take my eye of the road now and then caught a glimpse of reptile of such enormous dimensions that 1t gave me cold shiv- CTS up my spine to look at it. even at distance, as l was not prepared for such sights
 \ had planned to reach Baker Springs before night, but had missed ny calculations Dark was coming on with ten miles of mountains be- tween us and the Springs, so l turned on my intermittent lighting outfit for the headlights, and cautiously worked ny way down steep mountain to the banks of the Cossatot river. where decided to build d fire and spend night beneath the heavens, after feed ng myself on a cold lunch.
 had been asleep for some time when loud noise awakened me with cry that cut the heavy fog like the wall Of a tortured soul. sat bolt upright shaking like an aspen; I must nave been dreaming of an encounter "i'n the Germans, for fancied when aWoke that had heard the explo- Son Of bomb. Then as I grew wider awake 1t dawned upon my mind that One or my automobile tires had ex- ''0ueo' The heat of the sun. I SUD- pose had been great for it.
 While l was pondering over my pre- Ncament, I heard noise heh;nd a ,a'se boulder, and as my fire had D1'"ed itself out, l knew that was ''u. to have an intruder. raised myself on my knees and reached for ' gun A moment later, by the aid Y ''e moon, l saw large snake stick .r "e"u above the boulder. I aimed su" and fired. I knew by the su'a .u behind the rock that I had nor. ... wounded the snake. After s;.a 'endous flashing of the ground 'nis. "nin its tail, he suddenly became wi,t '' ana this silence was followed
 WI rlgor mortis.
 now inspected the on+o0,ohpo mae.' O' the inner tubes was in frae. nnnss and utterly useless. As I se;,sS u out of the tire an inspiration with ne l got out my tool box and Onn..' a strip of rubber covered the it fast n, m 'he snakes skin and glued tre [. men l fitted it snugly in the fitted !. was an exact fit. Then I esset ,sa It 1t, 'nugly in the tire. It ." wos an mistalo Then pumped it up. The head tha made-l turned the snakes the wbo., wrong way, which caused Movement W rotate with a forward could '' na. and when the car started Toad fo "O' stop it. l kept if in ,ho