Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-06-14
At a Menagerie.

Press.-It was q woman that had snakes
exhibiting them She stood in the
fourth ring at Barnum's circus, nearly
opposite my seat. She had a Langtry
bang lowering over her eyebrows, and
her dress was cat very low in the instep
and there was q hectic flush of vermil-
lion on each of her plump cheeks. She
said "Ho!" and GILL" and other words
borrowed from the circus vocabulary OF
Sissy Supe. Sleary 4 Co., and, with Wis
| IDLE effort lifted the heavy head of an
enormous boa that coiled around the
lower portion of her person As q Shiny
substitute for pantallettes. she put its
head on her bare shoulders, placed it
against her cheek, opened its mouth
and exhited It's teeth to the spectators.
Then she sm0othed it and triumphant
iy said "Hi!" When the exhibitor
tripped off, and a couple of men
gathered up the big snakes in
wheelbarrow and trun&led them
of, went under the seats to see about
it. The big snakes were already in a
box three feet square and two feet high
and they two-thirds filled it; they were
sixteen and eighteen feet long, and the
larger vas six or seven inches thick at
the swell. The beautiful sylph vino had
just exhibited them sat on wagon tom
que. wrapped in a very faded wator-
proof and looking like the much abused
wife of q COmanche. A man lowering
over the box was pointed out to me as
"Stone, the Snake Charmer" I asked
him if snakes were sick. "Ever sick?"
he repeated, with a smile; "they're
never well-leastwise in this latitude.
They're as tender as spring chickens
when you bring 'em out of their regu-
lar beat. [ was just a-thinking this
minute what to do for these. You can't
do anything for 'em; nothing can't be
done for 'em; they're real sick these
air-and Polly is worse'n Ben. CAnker
ia the mouth-that's what ails 'em;
that's what allus ails tropic serpents
that's travelin' up hereaways; that's
what these big exhibition snakes most
allus dies of-canker. See how white
Ben's mouth Isles look a. that!"
And he lifted up one of the snakes
in his hand, and opened its mouth with
his finger as one would cats. The
uncanpy cavity vas filled with white
foam.
"Canker!" he repeated. "Itketched
cold so fur away from home up here
in this damp, cold n orth-ketche ed cold
jest es a baby might, and it took the
form of a canker. 1t always does. He
amt been able to swallow morsel of
anything for more than four months.
We hitched pigeon to the box here
right before him; he didn't care moth.
ing about it at all, more'n eff it he'd been
SO much tan bark"
asked how snakes that couldn't eat
were kept alive.
''They soak in their victuals' he said.
"We give these Birds" alluding to
the reptiles, "a bath every morning in
about fifteen gallons of milk. They
absorbs enough of it in their system to
keep them alive. They are quite chip
per for while after they come out of
it. Don't hold your face down quite
SO near there, wouldn't, fer he might
strike you, not knowing who twas"
sided off little, and he contin-
ued:
81 see one once that didn't die of
canker; he died of what the doctor call
ed confusion of the BRAIN"
Confusion? What made it con-
tuse?'
"Hatchet."
"Hatchet!"
"Hatchet; knocked him in the head
because he bit me. His name was
| Ebenezer; we called him Eb.''
He held up his chin and laid finger
on enc side of his java Jagged jaw
two inches long that seemed to turn
white and red as he brought it to the
light. ] was about to ask him if he
didn't die of it, when he added:
'They amt poisonous: none of the
big snakes is. They bite jest as q dog
does, exactly, and they hurt eff they
git good hold. This Teller did, and
he shook me fer as much as half a
minute, till an assistant made him
lego"
The jaded sylph had edged along to
| the edge Of the box in listening atti-
| tude. | suspected her of having senti-
| mental designs on the snake charmer.
"Do you like them?" I asked of her;
"do you become fond of 'em?"
"Naw!" she exclaimed, making
scornful mouth; "not any! [ don't
waste my feelin's that way. They're
awful cold, and then they're so blamed
heavy"
"They bite very solemnly, indeed"
resumed the man, 'but they're the
champion huggers. l hev no doubt
that this Teller could hug q middlin'
sized elephant to death when he's feel
in real we'll"