A SEA SERPENT KILLED.

Evening Star, Issue 3638, 20 October 1874, Page 3

A SEA SERPENT KILLED.

(From the Pall Mall Gazette.) Everybody will be interested, if not glad, to hear that a sea serpent has not only been seen but actually killed in the Republican River, near Scaudia, in Kansas, United States. Full particulars of the death of this formidable, creature are given in a letter from a ooiTospondeat. of the Atchison Champion, written from Belleville, Kansas. The serpent, it- seems, was first seen by the toll-keeper on a bridge floating like “ a huge black log ” on the water. Its head,, when lifted above the surface, disclosed a glittering row of teeth that sent a thrill through the nerves of a large crowd on the bridge, which assembled on hearing of the unusual spectacle. Both banks of the river were speedily thronged by an excited multitude armed with guns, clubs, and stones, bent on the destruction of the monster. Several shots were fired at him, some of which evidently hit him and made him excessively irritable in temper, ft>r he began to lash the water furiously with his enormous tail, and to emit from his throat as he reared his head a prolonged hiss of fury resembling the sound of a steam whistle. The. serpent would probably have escaped b\*t for the happy thought of a Mr A. P. Smith, who arrived hastily on the scene with a fire-extinguisher primed with sulphuric acid and chemicals. This machine was aimed at the opened jaws of the monster by Mr Burchfield, Mr Smith’s assistant, and a tremendous dose of the mixture was discharged “ squarely ” into the throat. The effect was instantaneous. The serpent bounded from the water, and after performing “ a double flying trapeze ” in the air, plunged madly to tho bottom of the river. He performed this feat several times, and finally making “ a straight shoot up the stream,” disappeared from the sight of the awe-stricken beholders. It was thought that the creature had taken its departure for ever, but a few days later its carcase came slowly floating down the stream, and was dragged out upon the shore, where it became an object of curiosity to thousands. It was perforated by no fewer than nineteen rifle and duck shots, but there is no doubt that the cause of its death was the dose from the fire extinguisher. The serpent measures 26ft Sin from nose to tail. Its greatest circumference is 21 in, its head is 3ft long, and its jaws have a double row of fangs—36 in all. Its body, which is of a dirty brown color, is covered with scales, and its tail is flattened out like that of the beaver.