Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-09-27
CHAPTER ON SNAKES
E.. U, S. Surveyor Tells Some Mar.
VelOuS Stories.
has HAD MANY STRANGE EXPI RIENCES
In Which Most Readers Will Find En-
tertainment if Not lnstruction-old,
Old Subject Covered Anew With Ar
tistic Trimmings.

Old Subject Covered Anew with Ar
tistic Trimmings.
Crossword Index Journal.
AS a record breaker for snake stories,
August 1921 will go down as the great
est month of all. Every few days for
the past two weeks someone has had
q marvellous tale of a snake. The latest
contributor to the growing volume of
wonders is w. l.. Hemphill, former
captain of artillery in the Wild West
Division and also a former United
States surveyor. In sending in his
yarns, Mr.. Hemphill heads them,
Some Real Snake Stories," as If the
others had not been as true as holy
writ
Mr.. Hemphill's stories of numerous
snakes follow:
My work as civil engineer and sur
veyor has brought me in close contact
with snakes of all kinds and countries.
i am afraid of them but there is some
thing fascinating and interesting about
them that is difficult to explain. / have
read that snake is natural-born
hypnotist and this may explain the
sudden momentary feeling Of paralyz-
ing fear when one Unexpectedly STUN
bles upon a large venomous reptile all
ready to strike. Did you ever watch a
snake darting out his forked tongue?
1t has been said that he hears with his
tongue but the truth of the matter is
that he darts his tongue rapidly forth
TO attract the attention of his prey
while he gradually creeps forward TO
within striking distance.
The second most interesting subject
of conversation around a camp fire after
hard days work climbing and fight
ing brush is snake stories. You hear
some wonderful ones. On the outskirts
Of the world you meet some wonder
full ones too.
b. Race Suicide on the Catawba.
Several years ago / worked for the
Southern Power Company on hydro
electric development survey near Great
Falls on the Catawba river. We were
running out the water contour, where
the water would reach after the dam
was finished and filled with water. We
ran up a small draw or swale. / was
standing behind the transit keeping
the chairman in line. There were two
negro axmen. One was Titus. Titus
was a great big husky siX-foot two
hundred pound negro, deathly afraid of
snakes. He always kept his axe extra
sharp to quickly dispatch every snake
he came across. Through the telescope
of the instrument ! saw Titus jump
straight up about two feet and then
little later like seeing a distant train
Whistle | heard his yell. signalied for
aEnew "set-up." When ] got TO the
place, they had killed a big moccasin
about five feet long and as big around
as your wrist. 1t certainly was an
extra ugly specimen of a naturally
ugly snake. One of the party, a young
man from North Carolina, by the
name Of Rich, remarked that he
thought it must be a female snake and
that she had young ones inside of her.
He caught the snake by the neck back
of the head and drawing the body
under boot squeezed out of her mass
of small, wriggling, Shiny young ones
about as big and as long as new
pencil. BY actual count there were
forty-two of these and they were eX-
tremely lively youngsters as it kept
us busy keeping them together till
we started a fire and cremated the
whole family. w. Otis Pratt, Green
wood boy, was present at the last rites
He Came Back For Another Sack Of
Flour.
In Southern Oregon in the Coast
Range Of the Cascade Mountains there
is a lot of gold. There are also rattle
snakes. In the small streams tribu-
tary TO the Rogue river where the ia
nous Rogue River Apples grow man
can pan out alone sometimes as much
as five dollars worth of gold day. In
Grants Pass one afternoon l went into
n barber shop. Everybody was laugh
ing. Ot course 1 wanted 10 KNOW tne
joke. That morning three of the men
about town had started out with a
weeks rations to the foot hills to hunt
and pan gold. They went on foot and
were back packing their provisions.
They had gone some distance and sat
down on the roadside to rest. When
they started out again the fellow with
the sack Of flour on his back nearly
had fit a big rattler had struck at
the -four sack and had gotten his fangs
tangled in the sack and was hanging
on and rafting at Il great rate and
slappng and hitting the fellows legs
with his tail. They were laughing be-
cause the fellow said he had to come
back to tOwn-for another sack of
-four.
Joe and the Gentleman Rather.
OF all the bad snakes with which l
am acquainted l believe | like the
rattler best He's a gentleman and a
sportsman. Defend yourself, I'm go
ing to fight" he says when he rattles.
And ,T all tho had SnakaS with which