To our ears there have come many wonderful rattlesnake stories, painted with the glowing colors of truthfulness. but never to our long experience has such a one as here related been reported.
    It is an entirely modern snake story, and it relegates the old rusty tales out of sight. It truly belongs to the new era. It is a bicycle snake story—a regular safety, pneumatic tire snake story—a snake story that would make the hair rise on a tiger’s back and make Bill Nye turn green with envy.
    But it is a true snake story and was related to us by a young gentleman who is good looking and truthful. While telling the adventure to us his soft black eyes dilated and his black mustache bristled.
    “I took a ride on my bicycle,” said he, “on an embankment near Augusta. The sun was blazing down at a South African rate. Working on my trusty steed the way home, after a good long spin, suddenly my attention was drawn to an object, in the distance of immense proportions. Coming nearer I soon saw that it was a large rattlesnake.
    “Return I could not, neither was I willing if I could, and I supposed that by this time the snake had ’discovered‘ me, for it lay sullenly in my path. As I approached nearer and nearer it coiled tighter and tighter for battle. On seeing this I of course formed my plan for action also. There was no escape, and as quick as lightning I rode over the rattler to rattle no more. His snakeship rebounded as if he were made of rubber.
    “I glanced hastily over my shoulder and saw a disjointed mass. I then knew that I had killed the reptile. On arriving home I put my safety in its usual place.
    “The next morning I wished to use it to take my usual exercise. On bringing it before the light I found the luster of the tubing faded away, and in its place there was a dark, dull, blue color overspreading my once magnificent and shining wheel. Since then the pneumatic tire has decayed so that I had to have it completely overhauled. The cause of the complete dilapidation of my prided wheel is that the snake in its rage sank its poisonous fangs in the tire, thus causing the poison to spread all over the cycle.
    “On going back to the scene of the combat a fewdays later I found the dried bones of my antagonist and 24 large rattles, the snake measuring exactly 8 feet and ½ Inches.”—Millen Herald.

From— The Hawaiian Star. (Honolulu [Oahu]), 11 Nov. 1893. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.