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About The advocate. (Portland, Or.) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1931)
The Advocate Clean Fiction Human Interest True Stories " — * N .......... • r |M c . n i l s l l t r « A4«**|l«ltt| »•» t r * l M •>**.. (« U lts r --------------------- - True Stories Achievement Features THK ILLUSTRATED FKATUKK SECTION— January 10, m i The ‘RATTLESNAKE TWINS Unhappy Prosperity of the Popular Snake Hunters which Brought them Romance but Destroy ed their Friendship, Lost them the Girl, and Almost Cost them their Lives. Mftaa \Tnry, li. *« ii%•* Itrn M hiMil Irsi lirr Milo ¿1- m<*st p rn tu n rn lly %e«reretI lite rlosr friend «Itlu h r lw m i th r "Il UtlrM i.ikr Iwtna.** bei ause thrv botti ir li In lovr « l l h lo r made a rush »m l Irlrd to grab tin «ttik r by thr neck but hr mivtrd on .irrottili of stumbling against th r root o f a tree and « a « b itlrn in thr It md. Jtui riuteed In from tin* oth rr .Idr and gr4bbrd th r « hi Id just aa th r snake turned and struck at her . . . Then th r ttrvrrrn d Shell charged, erect and bold aa a matador rut« ring th r bull ring, with a piece o f two by two oak board and killed the reptile. »•. f By EYE G . BILLINGS Jo«* Hall ami Jim Short, known mm "T h e llattlfMiiak«' T w in »," hail a unique occupation— Ihoy hunt«'«! rattleMHaki'i*. Joe and Jim were sworn buddies and part ners hut they were no relation to each other. They were nicknamed the “ Kattlesnake Tw in s’* on accouitt of their Mlrati#'“ vocation, and their intimate business relationship. When one was seen the other was near at hand. They were a "thick as thieves" or as Damon anti Pythias, mill no one believed anythin# could destroy their {treat friendship. «lU t itir "rtrriwil triangle," » side of which each of the buddliM was deal Hied to become The other side of (Ills triangle, of course was a Komi-to ’Shot woman nut this Is alicad of the story. Jot* and Jim lived In Pancake Bottom In Missouri. The twins were bachelors and lived together on a tarm owned by “ Uncle Ham' White, Joe's uncle. T tW ) illil mo .1 " f ih.-ir OWIt It IUM work and cooking. In tlie spring and summer they (armed Uncle Ham's (arm and raised provisions; while In the (all and winter they hewed ties In the hills roundabout or worked on the railroad Joe and Jim were carefree and Jolly and their musical ability and general llvellne at made them popular at all the social gatherings In 'he neigh borhood It was a business trip to Cairo, at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers that led to their undertaking the new trade that brought them the name of 'Hie Italllesnake Twins. Aunt Mandy Moore asked them to get her a bot tle of rattlesnake oil liniment for her rheumatism. As It happened the drug store at which they bought the remedy was owned by a wholesale concern which manu factured the i ittlsanatse oil Uni ment, among other remedies Tire owner of the estahllslunent heard Jim ask for the liniment and asked them where they were from. In the easuai talk that followed he asked them If there ware rat Ur - siutkns where they lived, and when they Informed him that there were, be to{d them he was In Uic market Mrs. Melissa Wise and her children. The rhlld seated in her lap Is the one who narrowly escaped being lotti li by the angered rattler. for tile oil from rattlesnakes and that they could make good money catching the snakes and extracting the oil. The oil was worth »3 25 an ounce at that lime While It was not known that the oil possessed any healing value In Itself, Its fine-grained quality made It a splendid vehicle for various healing agents. The company also made a lubricant from the oil which was highly prized by gunsmiths and watchmakers Joe and Jim had seen many rat tlesnakes while making ratlroid lies, and they considered them a danger ous |iest . They had never dreamed they could make money out of them. On one occasion Joe had been bitten In the rail of the leg by a huge rattler which he had unwittingly stepiM'd upon, and only Jim s promptness In rutting out the flesh where the fangs hud pencil'tied and Ills running a mile and a half after u bottle of whiskey had saved Jim's Ills The poison from a rattlesnake bite Is a heart depressant. Small doses of whiskey given frequently act as a counter stimulant. Joe and Jim were live wires and bold men and as such possessed a good deal of Initiative. They were willing to try anything once and were not afraid to undertake a new line of work that held promise of substantial returns. The rattlesnakes where Joe and Jim lived frequented the sunny side of rocky hills and bluffs. Many of them reached a length of nve feet. were several Inches In girth and had from sixteen to twenty-five rattles. A lull, fair bite from one A deadly ra lller. ready to strike. This is one of the most dangerous of the of these proportions Is very danger snake tribe. Bui Ih r "R attlesn ake T w in s" had pea« tic ally mastered the» ous but the Katllesnake Twins knew science o f capturing rattlesnakes and this vicious reptile ottered them very little difficulty. that rattlers were rather sluggish as a general thing and loath to bite unless surpris'd Into a sudden old razor-backed sow which proved The hunters built a sort of cave stroke hxtra care was necessary to be a very valuable snake-hunter, cellar on top of the ground near when the snakes were sloughing loo. their home and enclosed It with a their skins. Inasmuch as they arc fence made from poultry netting. unusually Irritable at these limes. They knew that hags will kill and While the reptiles were still dead eat all rattlesnakes they come Before beginning their new work to the world In their winter sleep across and when they saw the sow Joe and Jim bought leather boots they carried them In boxes to the eating a rattler It occurred to them to wear as a protection to thetr Improvised cave. they might put the old mammal to legs and feet. When the arrival of warm weath work for them. Tlie bite of a rat The hunters killed the reptiles by er caused the snakes to wake up tlesnake does not hurt a hog. The shooting them In the head with and crawl out of the celler, Joe and lioison Is dissipated In the thick shotguns or by striking then» with Jim bought a lot of mouse traps. skin and layer of subcutaneous fat heavy, long-handled garden lutes. They left these at all of the homes under (he hide and does not reach They were successful In (hiding in the vicipity and gave the chil snakes with more or TFs's Ti’BuTiiHty -the vital vascular tissues beneath. dren a cent for each mouse deliver The old sow. doughty In her ar from the very start. ed to them. The mice were fed to mour of e p id '^ ils and lard, would After the heads had been cut off the snakes and after they had be find snakes In weedy and grassy well back of the vilson sacs, the come fat and full of oil they were spots and thickets and the rattling snakes were hung up by the tall n killed and hung in the smoke racket made by them when attack the smokehouse to drip. A light ftre house . ed by "Old Manner" would notify kept burning constantly factllUlrd The hunters also made a good the hunters that a strike had been the oll-dripptng process. The Twins deal of money on the side ytching made. The Twins would kill the were surprised and nthused to find live rattlers for museums and (lakes and then feed Old Homier that tlie oil from a big rattler was zoological gardens. T o catch snakes pieces of chicken to keep her zeal worth as much as a two-year-old alive they cut poles with a fork at for snake hunting undiminished. steer. one end The snakes would be Joe and Jim hunted snakes dur The second season they hunted caught behind the head, with the ing the late summer and early fall snakes. Joe and Jim made a regu fork of the pole and while held this weeks after their crop« had been lar "killing," which meted them sev way so they could not bite, the laid by and they ransacked all the eral hundred dollars. While hunt snakes would be tied to the pole haunts of the reptiles for several ing game the previous winter they and afterward cut loose Into a bo*. miles around A little black cur had found around fifty rattlers, Joe and Jim raised crops, hunted dog they owned was Indefatigable many large ones being among them, snakes, coon hunted, hacked tlea In locating the reptiles. Prom hibernating In a rave In a bluff of Uncle Sam White 'th e y bought an roelf. ' '"•> Pace Tors