Focusing on the resort and tourist community of Slaty Fork, Snowshoe Mountain, Cass and Green Bank

Vol. 6 No. 7
July 2007

Serving SnowShoe Mountain, Slaty Fork, Green Bank and Cass
"News you can resort to"

Second Section of
The Pocahontas Times
Post Office No. 436-640
ISSN No. 07388373

If it's going on in the county, you'll find it here
JULY
AROUND THE COUNTY
Through July 21 West Virginia Fitness and Adventure Retreat - WV Adventure Retreat, Cranberry Mountain Lodge -near Hillsboro - 410-772-1694 - wvadventureretreat.com. The Lodge is powered using totally renewable energy sources; solar, hydro, and wind. It adjoins a vast trail network in the Monongahela National Forest. Situated at an elevation of 4000 ft., the views of Hillsboro and the Greenbrier River Valley are spectacular. Physically fit and adventure-seeking individuals can enjoy road biking, mountain biking, hikes, trail runs, whitewater rafting, and swimming. A hot tub offers the perfect relaxation after a day spent exploring the area's scenic wonders.
Thursdays in July - Wake up and see stars! - National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank - 304-456-2150 - gb.nrao.edu. Gather at the planetarium balloon every Thursday for a unique look at the sky. There is a $3.00 charge per person and reservations are suggested. Program begins at 2 p.m.
Saturdays in July - Farmers Market, First Avenue, Marlinton, beside the mini-park - 8 a.m. - Noon. Vendors and products vary from week to week and season by season, but look for plants, produce, local crafts and baked goods.
July 6 and 27 - Murder Mystery Train - Cass Scenic Railroad State Park - 1-800-CALL-WVA or 456-4300 - cassrailroad.com. Come enjoy this who-done-it train ride to Whittaker; includes dinner and entertainment. Train departs at 5 p.m. Make your reservations early; you won't want to miss this one!
July 7, 14, 21, 28- Fiddles & Vittles Special Train - Cass Scenic Railroad State Park - 1-800-CALL WVA or 456-4300 - cassrailroad.com. Back for another year---take a train ride to Whittaker Station and enjoy dinner and live bluegrass music along the way.
July 7 - Party Under the Stars - NRAO, Green Bank - 304-456-2150 - gb.nrao.edu. NRAO Staff will orient you to the star- filled sky and then view the night sky on the Star Party Patio. Bring optical telescopes and binoculars - you won't believe the view! Program begins 30 minutes before dark.
July 11 and 25 - High Tech Wednesday - NRAO, Green Bank - 304-456-2150 - gb.nrao.edu. Join us for a guided tour though parts of NRAO normally off limits to visitors, like lab areas where sensitive receivers are designed and built. Space limited to 15 per program; one hour and cost is $3.00
July 12 - 14 - 40th Annual Pioneer Days - Marlinton - 800-336-7009 - pocahontascountywv.com This is the biggest festival of the year in Marlinton, WV! Three days of fun, frolic and food. Step back to yesterday with friendly people, exceptional artisans and tasty treats throughout the event. Music, games and demonstrations highlight the event that many come "back home" to celebrate.
July 18 - 21 - Durbin Days, Durbin - 800-336-7009 - pocahontascountywv.com Come enjoy the fun. Antique car show, carnival games, craft show, train rides, a grand parade, fireworks, live entertainment and much more.
July 21 - Dirtbean Racing's Kids Camp - Marlinton - 304-799-4038 - dirtbean.com. Bring the keikis (Hawaiian for kids) to a mountain bike fun learning adventure Saturday at Dirtbean! This tour is a guided instructional tour led by professional mountain bike racer and owner of Dirtbean, Kristy Lanier. The tour is for kids aged 8 to 14 years, focusing on fitness, fun, bike safety, skills for off-road cycling, as well as introducing kids to the option of cycling as a sport.

On The Mountain
For more info about any events at Snowshoe, call 877-441-4FUN or visit online at www.snowshoemtn.com
Weekends in July - Village Movie Series - 877-441-4FUN - snowshoemtn.com. Join us under the stars in the Village at Snowshoe for our Village Movie Series. Grab a blanket, kick back in one of our Adirondack chairs and enjoy a great night of family fun. All movies start at 9 pm in the Village Plaza.. Movies are listed on page 3.
July 6 - 8 - Fire on the Mountain Chili Cookoff - Snowshoe Mountain will be blazing as we turn up the heat for the 16th Annual Fire on the Mountain Chili Cook-off. Along with great live entertainment and fun & games, we are giving away more than $12,000 in cash and prizes to the top chili cooks. Friday we're serving up Green & Salsa and Saturday is the day for Red! So…bring yourself and your friends as we have a scorching great time!
July 11 - 15 - Freedom Fest Motorcycle Touring Rally - Get those wheels ready and grab the throttle as Snowshoe once again hosts the best all-brands motorcycle touring rally in the state! Great mountain road tours, activities and live entertainment are only a few things that rev about this event.
July 20 - 22 - Jeep Jamboree - Scaling the mountain for the 3rd straight year is the nation's biggest and best Jeep Jamboree. Join us for a weekend of 4-wheelin' and rock climbin' as we explore through the Allegheny Mountains. Call now, as space is limited, to register for this rugged, back-mountain event - 530-333-4777x18.
July 27-29 - Taste of the Mountains Food, Wine & Jazz Festival. Bring your palate ready to taste the area's finest foods and the regions finest wines...all while listening to great jazz artists. Complete with wine and food tastings this annual event is sure to leave you buzzing about it to your friends. Keep in mind that this event will sell-out. Please book early.

It's Cranberry Nature Center's Moose on

Drew Tanner
Staff Writer
      His name is Roy Moose, but to many people, he's "the snake man." On a Sunday afternoon, a curious crowd started filling up the auditorium at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center as Moose brought in armfuls of containers. In each was a live, slithering serpent brought in from the wild to star for a few weeks in Moose's educational program, Snake Bytes.

Roy Moose holds aloft a non-venomous Black Racer, a member of the constrictor family.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      By the end of each presentation, Moose said he hopes people walk away with a better impression of these misunderstood reptiles
      "They have a reputation that really doesn't measure up to their true nature," he said.
      And this is coming from someone who has been bitten by the state's two species of poisonous snakes.
      Moose insists it was his fault, not theirs. But more about that later. As proof of most snakes' gentle disposition—and, perhaps, Moose's powers of persuasion—by the end of the Sunday afternoon program, a seven-year-old girl was holding a five-foot-long corn snake and smiling for her parents' camera.
      Moose's mission isn't just about getting people to feel a little warmer toward the cold-blooded creatures, he also hopes to dispel some common, long-held myths that, as a native of these parts, he has heard many times over the years.
      Myth: Copperheads smell like cucumbers.
      Fact: Copperheads do not smell like cucumbers or anything else you might find in your vegetable garden. And Moose should know; he has handled dozens over the years. The few snakes that do have a distinctive scent are those that give off a musky odor as a defense mechanism
      Myth: You can tell the age of a timber rattlesnake by the number of segments on its rattle.

A timber rattler lies colied (and contained), ready for its starring role at the snake talk.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      Fact: It's impossible to tell the age of a rattlesnake by its rattles. Timber rattlesnakes are born with their first button, and get their second segment when they first shed their skin after about ten days.
      "After that, a rattlesnake sheds its skin three or four times a year," said Moose. "There's no way of knowing. By the end of the first year, you could have a snake with five, six or seven segments. When it gets long—20 or 25 segments or so—it can break off and start all over."
      Myth: Black rat snakes sometimes cross with timber rattlesnakes.
      Fact: That's also impossible. Black rat snakes lay eggs, while rattlesnakes give live birth.
      "That's like saying, ‘I've got a problem with my dog crossing with my chickens," said Moose.
      It is also worth noting that the much maligned timber rattlesnake has only been responsible for four deaths in the entire history of West Virginia. No one, in West Virginia or any of the eastern states, has ever died of a copperhead bite.
      "In all of North America, where there are more than 8,000 people bitten by poisonous snakes every year, fewer than 12 die," said Moose. "More people die from almost anything else you can name, than from snake bites: lightning strikes, horseback riding accidents, bee stings, you name it."
      Moose, a retired Richwood High School science teacher, has traveled all over the eastern United States to share his unique snake program with more than 15,000 people as part of the U.S. Forest Service's educational outreach. Of that number, only one person has raised their hand to say they had been bitten by a poisonous snake, said Moose.
      He calmly recalls his own experiences of being bitten by a timber rattlesnake or a copperhead as a rattler coils up at his boot-clad feet behind the Plexiglas fence that separates him from his audience.

A copperhead on display at the nature center.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      "As I was watering my snakes one day, I had one of those times when your mind slips," said Moose.
      He made the mistake of getting closer than half the snake's body length—the maximum distance any North American snake can strike. At that range the snake was able to sense the heat from Moose's hand.
      Poisonous snakes have a pair of "pits" on each side of their head that allow them to sense temperature differences down to 0.003 degrees, enabling them to strike warm-blooded prey—or threats— accurately, even in the dark.
      "It struck so fast in my peripheral vision, I wasn't sure whether it really moved, or I just imagined it," said Moose. "It was quick—a tenth to a hundredth of a second."
      "Then I saw two little blood dots there," he said, pointing with two fingers to his hand.
      "I wasn't too worried," Moose continued. "I knew it was a stupid mistake to make, because I'm around these snakes almost 12 months a year, and I take care of their every need.
      Moose finds the snakes in the wild and catches them in their dens. For two or three weeks, the snakes are part of the program and are under his care before being returned to their dens.
      "I knew better," Moose said of the bite. "I was careless."
      If he received poison from the bite, Moose said he knew he was going to have some major swelling, so he quickly removed his watch and wedding band.
      "I also knew that as high as six out of ten times, when these snakes bite something as large as us, they don't inject any venom," Moose added. "They dry-bite."

A veteran snake-handler of eight years, he tells audiences of his own encounters with poisonous snake bites as he handles timber rattlesnakes and copperheads just feet from spectators in the first row. In both instances, Moose insists, the bites were his fault. Even these two feared species do not live up to their reputation as aggressive creatures, he says. The former Richwood High science teacher attempts to give audiences a deeper appreciation of these reptiles and to dispel common myths.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      But just in case, Moose checked his watch to see how fast any poison might move.
      "Within sixty seconds—the time it took me to walk from my snake pen to my house, across my back yard—I felt a tingle in the top of my head and the bottoms of my feet," said Moose.
      "It had already gone through my bloodstream," he continued. "So I knew two things: One, I got venom. Two, I was going to have immediate swelling. The next thing I did, immediately, I started sucking the venom from the bite and spitting it out. It can't hurt me, unless it gets in my blood, so anything I could suction out and get away from my bloodstream was going to be helpful."
      The only other thing recommended in first aid for venomous snake bites, Moose said, is to apply an ace bandage—never a tourniquet— between the bite site and the heart and keep the bitten area lower than the heart in order to slow the flow of the venom.
      Moose was able to drive himself to the local hospital, which had no antivenin on hand, and he was subsequently taken by helicopter to a larger hospital.
      Six hours after he was bitten by the rattlesnake, Moose finally received antivenin.
      "During the entire time, I was completely conscious," said Moose. "I was able to take care of myself. I was able to walk around and talk and do everything I normally do."
      Aside from the swelling, Moose said he felt nauseated and dizzy from the venom. The bite put him in the hospital for a total of two days, but by the fourth day, he was back to work.
      Moose's other bite, from a copperhead he was force-feeding, only put him in the hospital for six hours. However, the swelling he experienced—up his arm and across his chest—took nearly three weeks to clear up.
      Copperheads are only one fifth as poisonous as rattlesnakes, and antivenin isn't typically administered to their bite victims, said Moose

Seven-year-old Cheyanne Mullins, of Elkview, shows she's not afraid of snakes after the program, as Moose lets her handle a corn snake.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      "You never know who may be more allergic to these things than others," Moose said, "so it's best to stay away from any snake you see if you have a doubt about its identity."
      One of the easiest ways to identify poisonous snakes is to look at the shape of their heads. Poisonous species like the rattlesnake and the copperhead have arrow-shaped heads.
      "You don't want to go by just one characteristic," Moose said. "That's like saying anything that swims is a fish, which is ridiculous. Anything that has a triangular head could be—might be—a poisonous snake, but we want to look for other things."
      Northern water snakes, "one of the grouchiest" nonpoisonous snakes in Moose's experience, can flatten their head out such that it takes a triangular shape when the snake is agitated.
      Other telltale signs that a serpent is venomous include cat-like eyes with vertical pupils, the pits that allow the snake to sense heat and the hinged, hollow fangs that deliver the venom into its prey.
      "Of course, I don't recommend that you try to see these things on a live snake, unless you have really good vision and can see those things from quite a distance," said Moose.
      Aside from the rattlesnake and the copperhead, the state's other 18 species of snakes are non-poisonous, and play beneficial roles in the ecosystem, most notably in the area of rodent control.

A black rat snake coils around the wrist of Moose during the Snake Bytes program.
Photos by Drew Tanner

      A black rat snake, Moose noted, will eat five or six rodents in a sitting.
      If you tend to enjoy the great outdoors at the area's higher elevations, you shouldn't even have to worry about running into a rattlesnake or copperhead along the Highland Scenic Highway or at Snowshoe Mountain.
      "If you take a walk in the Cranberry Glades along the boardwalk, you may see some snakes, but you will not see a poisonous snake at this elevation," said Moose. "We've never seen a poisonous snake at over 3400 feet in this particular geographic area."
      When you do come across a snake, Moose advises taking a few steps back and leaving it alone. If you're not trying to handle it or harm it, then the snake will likely not pay you any mind, Moose said.
      And remember, this is from the guy who has been bitten twice by the poisonous variety.
      "We've got some wonderful, laid back, easy going snakes," he said.
      During the summer months, The Cranberry Mountain Nature Center hosts Moose's Snake Bytes program Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m.

The Bank of Marlinton (McK) building.
Photo courtesy Keith Moore.

Pocahontas County Remembers
Tragedy on Main Street...
Compiled by
Jaynell Graham-Awad
Staff Writer
      The McK Building, the old Bank of Marlinton, on the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue, gained national attention by way of a front page picture and story in the Washington Times on Sunday, August 27, 1916. The headline read "Good Samaritan of Marlinton" Dead; May be First Woman Suffrage Martyr."

Frances Robertson Howard.
Photos courtesy Pocahontas Co. Historical Society and Washington Times.

      "Mrs. Howard is dead apparently at the hands of another, her husband is in a cell shouting denials of the charges against him; the little lumbering town of Marlinton is unwillingly the stage of a tragic mystery… and a woman suffrage rally preceded it all."
      According to the article, Frances Robertson came to Marlinton from Fincastle, Virginia, to work as a nurse at the Marlinton Hospital. Dr. Oliver A. Howard, a Canadian, who received his medical degree at the University of Maryland, came to Marlinton to practice medicine. He was a moody and temperamental man, but despite their differences, a romance blossomed and the whole town felt a part of it.
      "Marital bliss lasted only a few months. In a small town, gossipers are alert and domestic secrets do not always remain so."
      On August 15, 1916, Mrs. Howard was alleged to have given a speech in support of a woman's right to vote, a stand that her husband vehemently opposed. That evening, on her way home to their third floor apartment, she stopped to buy a bit of embroidery as a gift for a young girl. This was not an uncommon event as Mrs. Howard was known for her kindness and generosity.
      She arrived home around 6:30 p.m.
      Meanwhile, by the account of the defense attorney, Dr. Howard was making his way down Price Hill on horse- back, crossing the river in the lower end of town, having made a house call which gained him a jar of preserves from his patient, Mrs. Byrd.

Dr. Oliver Howard in front of his office on Main Street.
Photos courtesy Pocahontas Co. Historical Society and Washington Times.

      Leaving his horse at the livery at about 6:30 p.m., he continued to the newsstand, where he bought a newspaper, and proceeded to the Bank of Marlinton building. Dr. Howard was 48 years old, and the defense tells of his slow progress as he makes his way up those stairs, arriving at the apartment just before 7 p.m.
      Upon entering the apartment, he cannot find his wife. A careful search finds that the bedroom door is locked. According to his testimony, Dr. Howard uses a chair to raise himself to look through the transom. He then moves a refrigerator, castor missing, from the hallway to the bedroom door, climbs atop, and goes through the transom to reach his wife. Finding her unconscious, Dr. Howard describes his attempts to revive her by slapping her face, sticking his fingers in her eyes and beating the soles of her feet with her slippers. Finally, when he detected no heartbeat, he "gave her a shake and her head went wobbling."
      Therein lies the prosecution's case… that Mrs. Howard died of a broken neck. Not from Dr. Howard's efforts to revive her, but out of anger in response to her activities of that day.
      Dr. Howard testified that, believing his wife was unconscious from some drug, ingested or injected, he ran down the stairs calling for a doctor to get a strychnine injection to revive her. But not before taking time to move the refrigerator, castor missing, back into the hallway. Of great disagreement between the Defense and Prosecution were two eggs that fell to the floor. Did they fall from the refrigerator as it was being moved… or were they in Mrs. Howard's hand as she prepared dinner, and dropped when she was attacked?
      From the Washington Times account, "When Dr. J. W. Price arrived, Mrs. Howard was dead, her slippers beside her. Her face carried an expression of fear, there were marks on the left side of her neck and her nose appeared bruised."
      Based on a statement that the "head seemed to be loose," Dr. J. W. Solter, who did not have an amicable relationship with Dr. Howard, was called on to perform an autopsy, which revealed no hypodermic marks. In response to Dr. Howard's concern that his wife had taken a narcotic, Dr. Solter argued that there had not been sufficient time for a narcotic to take effect.
      A committee was formed and further tests were done. In the absence of x-rays, the skin of Mrs. Howard's neck was drawn back, tissue distended and an electric light reflected on the neck. "In this way the print of the thumb and three fingers appeared on the neck as clearly as a picture on a screen."
      The verdict of the coroner's jury was that Mrs. Howard had come to her death "from violence to wit, a dislocation of the neck" and that "with the evidence produced before us there is probable cause to believe that the said act of violence was committed at the hands of Dr. O. A. Howard."

Frank Hill, the defense attorney for Dr. Howard.
Photos courtesy Pocahontas Co. Historical Society and Washington Times.

      However, Defense Attorney Frank R. Hill would later present a different view of Dr. Howard to the jury… "here he was on that evening, that most fatal evening of his life, with the greatest sorrow that could come to the home of a man, when the Giver of all things had taken from his bosom the most splendid gift that God e'er gave to man. Picture his sorrow! …if you can.
      Getting to trial was as difficult as sorting out the facts of the case. While M.C. McNeil, J. W. Yeager and Frank R. Hill represented the defendant, a prosecutor was not so easily found. W. A. Bratton, then prosecutor for Pocahontas County, had been summoned as a witness for the State, therefore S. B. Avis, of the Kanawha County Bar, was appointed by the court to prosecute the case. However, on the first day of the trial, Mr. Avis became ill and was hospitalized, thus Frank A. O'Brien, of the Ohio County Bar, served as prosecutor.
      The Washington Times prematurely reported in the August 27, 1916, article that the "prosecuting attorney calls it a matter of hours until a full confession of guilt is made by Dr. Howard." That was not to be the case.
      The trial began on April 3, 1917, and after the evidence was presented and the witnesses had had their say, Attorney Frank R. Hill stepped forward to present what was referred to as a "magnificent defense of his client." In his closing argument, Mr. Hill took the jurors from an ordinary evening, through the stress and sorrow of a man losing his wife, into the gruesome details of an autopsy and brought them in the end to a poor woman, in a dark room who may have "felt the approach of an attack of some natural malady and lay down on her bed."
      Two women from the community were called to tend to the body and when they entered the room to pay their last respects to "this good little woman, they found in her right hand, resting upon her breast, bearing evidence of having been squeezed tightly…a flower."
      Nothing definitive is known as to the cause of Frances Robertson Howard's death, but what is known is that on April 11, 1917 the jury returned a verdict of not guilty and the prisoner was "discharged to go hence without delay."
      Dr. Howard continued to practice medicine in Marlinton and died, widowed, on April 2, 1952 from cardiac failure.

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