1898: Clem Phillips, near Zaidee, Georgia

BIT BY A MONSTER RATTLER.
Young Clem Phillips of Lothair Meets With Death in an Awful Form.

Lothair, Ga., June 25.-Clem Phillips, a young man 19 years old, was fatally bitten by a monster rattlesnake this week. Phillips resides near Zaidee with his parents. The yard is thick with all kinds of flower bushes. The young man went to a rose bush to pluck a few roses, and on inserting his hand through the thickest part of the bush, he felt something sting him and shrieked.

The loud cries attracted his father to the scene. A search was institued, and in the bush on a prong a hugh rattler lay coiled. He was forthwith dispatched. He had nineteen rattlers. Phillips was carried to the house and everything known as rattlesnake remedies tried, but after suffering the most excruciating agony he died in fifteen minutes. The snake buried its deadly fangs in Phillips' hand, striking a blood vessel.

Underneath the bush, another rattler was found and killed. The parents of the young man are distracted over the unfortunate occurrence.

Source: The Macon Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, Sunday Morning, June 26, 1898; Pg. Front Page