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BIG AS A SAW LOG.The Story That is Told About a Pennsylvania Serpent.a!aB11tlIbbFiddle Lake, a body of water of unknown depth, is located midway between Ararat and Herrick, on the Carbondale branch. The public highway passes along the left side of the lake. The land at this point is heavily timbered, but between the road and the lake the ground is comparatively dear, affording « fine view of this beautiful Bheet of rater. 'A rocky ledge skirts 1he feast side of! the lake, and about the centre of this j ledge is a cavernous opening into which j the water flows. Boatmen have frequently attempted to explore this cavern, but its extreme darkness and the difficulty of working a boat into the narrow opening has made it impossible e*?eptj;t] for a few feet..The lake is much frequented by fish-ermen, and for several years the story has been kept alive by members of the fraternity concerning the existence of a monstrous snake or-reptile of that sort which, according to report, lias been been on several different occasions near the entrance to the caVorii. * All-the stories concerning the appearance and \ a movemepts of this serpent,, which was j said to be of enorpioa-s size, seemed to j ^t]8vrvanIflt;Cs'0 a1agree; but fishermen’s stories are so|;t] often based upon the use of too strong bait that the reports were discredited,and we only mention them because ofj0 their connection with the adventure We are about to relate, the facts of which are os follows:George Schoevel—a German citizen whose shdrt residenco in this country has been characterized by a strict attention to business and to the truth in j all his doings and savings—on. Friday ; last hired a horse and wagon to go to j Herrick, where he expected to meet a j friend whom he had known in the “Faderland.” He reached Ararat without mishap, and it was between that place and Herrick that the adventure ' which will linger in hia memrthe road. - The noise came nearer 1 and nearer, and finally the sound of j i crackling brush and ‘‘swishing” bushes, announced the approach of some heavye horse seemed terrified and uneasily sniffed the air. While endeavoring j to quiet the animal, which began to ‘ tremble, snort, and back, Schoevel glanced in the direction -of the sound, and to his horror beheld the head of a monstrous snake holding in its month a small dog, which it was afterward learned belonged to a farmer about a mile distant. f i“Gott in Himmell! Who! ged oudt! ” yelled Schoevel, as the reptile, with head about three feot from the ground, proceeded leisurely to cross the road toward the lake. ‘ ’As it left the road and passed over the open space, Schoevel had ample time, after quieting his horse and himself as well as possible, to observe its frightful proportions, and later on ho solemnly averred that “Dot snake was long as dweuty feet and pigger as a saw%»»e also noticed that its progress over the ground was unlike tliat of a snake, being accomplished by curving the body into a series of half circles, the latterpart of the body adhering to the groundwhile the head and forward part were projected forward by straightening out the loops, the action being so rapid that the morion was almost continuous. When it plunged into thednke it seemed to have reached its nativo element, and, at once diving below the surface the “ki-yi-ing” of the unhappy dog, which had been continued until tiiat time, ceased forever.As Schoevel stood in terror and wonder, watching the lako where the monster had disappeared, the water near the centre rippled and suddenly the reptile’s head again appeared still holding its prey in its month. Making directly for the cavern before mentioned, it disappeared within its walls. Schoevel continued his journey, and the next morning on his return stooped at . the Jeffer-” - _ x • - «• - ■ •rd oxcison House here and excitedly told us tlie story in substance as we have written it. He said: “I sleep me not a tam bit all de night long, and I dohd’t go oudt py mineself in dis gouniry some more, py chinks!” The truthfulness of his slory no one doubts who has heard .him tell it, and now that tlio identity of tlie “Fiddle’s Lake serpent” has been established beyond question; tlie enterprising residents of that section will doubtless contrive some means for its capture or destruction, and the loss of numerous lambs, chickens, c., by the residents of that locality will not be accredited altogether to dogs, skunks, and other destructive quadrupeds.—[Carbondale Leader.
Newspaper Details
Wethersfield Weekly Farmer
Wethersfield, Connecticut, US
Thu, May 30, 1889
Page 4
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 26 Dec 2021
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Wethersfield Weekly Farmer
