He constructed a great tin or zinc monster like a sea serpent. It had an immense and fearful red mouth, from which darted a forked tongue, and its huge jaws worked like an alligator’s.
This thing was so anchored near the deepest place in the lake and was so arranged with pulleys and tiller ropes, or something of that nature, that being worked from a secret subcellar in the hotel, it could be made to dart its head and hideous length up out of the lake and lash the water with its tail until it would send big ripples to the shores.
Its movements were so rapid and eccentric that the artificiality of the thing could not be detected, and it had no regular hours for appearance, but was a sort of a go-as-you-please serpent.
Faxon wrote blazing columns in his newspapers about it. The newspapers, all over the country had many lengths of that snake in them, in word paintings and other picture. The hotel became crowded, and the landlord put up sheds and tents on his premises and filled them with guests, and he coined money, so to speak.
The monstrous serpent was a wonder and a mystery for a great many more than seven days, but at last, in a specially strenuous flop one day, the apparatus broke and that old tin serpent turned its white belly up to the sun, and the Silver Lake snake business exploded.
Meantime, the landlord had become as rich as a king and could have afforded to give the hotel away, but he used it for many years as a country seat, and looked complacently at his fortune as a monument to the wit of Hank Faxon and the credulity of mankind.
How to Live Long, Told by Eleven Men.
What is the secret of long life? Probably there is no question that has so many answers, nor such a variety of answers. But it’s still the big question. The other day eleven recipes for long lives were given at a dinner at Amarillo, Texas, held in honor of the Reverend James Cunningham, celebrating his ninetieth birthday. The guests were veterans of the Confederacy, whose ages ranged from seventy-five to eighty-one, and each told briefly of the manner of living that had enabled him to reach old age and retain good health and vigor.
In substance, the recipes provide for hard work, fresh air, outdoor living, the avoidance of trouble and worry, good humor, plenty of sleep, temperance, and the avoidance of tobacco.
“For fifty years my habits have been regular,” said Doctor Cunningham. “Before that time I was careless. Then I went outdoors and engaged in farm work. The change was marvelous, and I have exceeded the record for longevity that has appeared in other generations of the family.”