Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-01-26
TRUE SNAKE STORY.

for the landlord. Upon being intro
duced to that parsonage the stranger in
formed him that he wished to hire a
small room with a FIRE in it for Saturday
night and Sunday. A suitable room
was shown to him, and the price (seyen
dollars), was paid in advance. In the
evening the stranger arrived, accom-
panied by a friend. Their baggage con-
sisted of a large black trunk and two
boxes. On Sunday morning the two
strangers partook Of breakfast, paid for
it and returned to their room, which
they did not leave again until two
o'clock P. u. At that hour one of the
strangers stepped down stairs and asked
the landlord to 60 up to their room. He
did so. Landlord" says he, 1--WE are
now about to leave, and have called
you up for the purpose of showing you
that we have not in any manner dam
aged your ROOM"
at is all right, gentlemen" said the
landlord; shut | confess there seems to
be something mysterious connected with
your visit here"
EXACTLY So" replied the elder
stranger, "and lest you might suspect
US of something we are not guilty Of, |
now wish to impart to you our secret.
l will show you the contents Of the large
trunk"
Hereupon the speaker unlocked and
unstrapped the trunk, and throwing up
the lid disclosed an enormous living
serpent.
'iDon't be alarmed" said the stran-
ger; she can't hurt you, for within the
last six hours he has swallowed FIVE rab-
bits, two fowls, three pigeons, and four
Guinea pigs, consequently he will lie
perfectly harmless and dormant for the
next eight days"
"who and what are your" exclaimed
the landlord, in q tone Of earnestness
which indicated surprise not unmiIed
with indignation.
"Keep COOL" replied the stranger;
tive are not dangerous customers. Ny
name is Davidson, and my friend is q
German and his name is Kohn. have
been for thirty years a glass blower,
snake tanner, ETC., at Burnum's Museum
in New York, where l now also have
charge of the Aquiria, and DR.. Kohn is
interpreter to that establishment and
my assistant. The serpent in the black
trunk is a Boa Constructor from Africa,
twenty feet long. One Of these boxes
contains three smaller specimens Of the
same reptile. The living birds and ami
mails needed for their meal (which they
take only once a month";, were brought
in the other box, which is now empty,
as the smaller sized serpents have each
swallowed q couple of rabbits and seye-
raj pigeons"
"But you have not explained why
you have come to my hotel and taken
one of my apartments for a serpent's
dining ROOM" replied the excited land
lord.
"Softly," responded the fat and pla-
cid Davidson. ave have not injured
your bedroom and we have paid your
bill. Indeed, we may be glad to pat
ronize you again at the end Of month.
These serpents will never eat food except
by seizing it alive, and crushing it with
in their folds. Nature dictated this plan
for satisfying their hunger. The most
delicate birds or animals killed and
placed before them would never tempt
them. 1t would be as Unnatural and i'm
possible for them to eat dead food as it
would to swallow bars of iron. Pro-
lessor Agassiz and every naturalist in
the world will testify to this fact. Hence
these snakes, the largest Of which cost
FIVE thousand dollars, must inevitably
die, unless living food was provided for
them. Now, probably, with the best
intentions in the world, "TheNew York
Society for the prevention of cruelty to
animals" has threatened Mr.. Barnum
with fine and imprisonment if he allows
his serpents to eat their food in the only
way which nature will permit them to
partake of it. And there the case stands
Nature versus Mr.. Bergh, President of
the. N. Y. s. F. T. P. o. G. T. A.
What could be done? Of course ma
ture must prevail, or else the public
must lose an interesting object of Curl
osity, and the Museum must incur q
loss Of thousands of dollars. Fortu-
nately the State Of New Jersey is beyond
the jurisdiction of q society which pro-
poses to starve a brute creature, out of
kindness, in the vain attempt to over
ride the laws Of nature. The Barnum &
Van Amburg Company intend to test
the law on this subject, and learn wheth-
er a society q prevent crows from eat
ing worms alive, swallows from catch
ing flies, and big fish from swallowing
little fish. But in the meantime, their
valuable boa constructors must not be
starved by the "Humane Society,""
which would probably indict a person
for eating mites in cheese, hence we
have chosen your hotel for our ''feeding
ground" "Now, where is the harm3"
Tho landlord was Modified BY the
Of the rotund glass blower,
and replied that his apartment should
be at the disposal Of Ewes great tempt
or, so long as he stood Tor crawled]
his good behavior, and the owner
paid the price Of his lodging. Tran
auility was restored, and the showmen
departed, taking their Jersey-fsd ser
penis with them.