Some Snake Stories

An Ornaba farmer has lost six calves Dy rattlesnake bites. Sixteen year-old William Steffers, of Highland, Minn. , was bitten in tbs band by a rattlesnake the oihor day, and, In spite of the whisky tliat he drank and all otber remedies that could be obtained, he died in great agony within twelve hours. David McGranahan, o( Yellowstone, Wis., while making a fence, was bitten on the finger by a rattlesnake. H had a hatchet in his hand at the time, and vvith one blow he amputated his finger and then cut up the snake, which was a large one with eleven rattles. A half grown chieken iu Riohmond, Mo., got into an altercation with a G'ass snake eighteen inehes long. Th chieken pecked away at the snake furiously for a few moments, and then, gathering the head of his snakeship iu his mouth, essayed toswallow him whole. But the snake obstinately refused to go down. Pinding he could not Bwallow the snake, which had tightly cui-led its tail around bis bill, th chieken disgorged it, and pecking nt it a few inoro times, he made a second and successful effort. Charles E. Jackson, of Halifax, Fia., has a pet snake that catches rats. Jaokson heard a racket in a cupboard, and, opening th door, found the snak bad captured a rat aud was trying to swallow it nose first. The rat was alive, and strenuous?y protasted against going into sneu a hole, using his feet to oatcb hold of the floor or other siuToundings. The snake, wiser than the rat, raised him up a foot or tvvo in the air, and in ttiat position continued the swallowing process, dropping down to the floor to rest oceasionally, uutil the rat was swallowed.