Connecticut western news., 1888-04-25
A SNAKE CHARMER.
An American Girl Who Handles Big Reptiles For a Living.
An Employment Which Re- quires Considerable Nerve.

is New York girl, Ida Jcffreys, off the stage. The following extract con- cerning her peculiar employment, is from an interpreter with New York World reporter:
 The fat men and the lean men luggcd back tho rcd boxes to their resting place, set them down with much rcver- ence and care in front of roaring fro and then hurried away. Miss Jeffreys opepod the boxes and took off the dainty whito mcrino blankets and gray wolf robes that wrapped up the snakes. She lifted them uN, fondlcd them and handed thcm over for inspection as she 1 talked.
 ''How did become snake charm er9" she repeated. "Why, that isn't easy to tell. have always liked snakes. was born in New York, and this city has always been my home. I used to love to watch the snakes in their glass cag. in Central Park when I was little girl. They always had fascination for me. l didn't want to pet them, you know-I don't see how any sano person can care to do that-but I liked to be around them and watch them. My peo- l pie are in the show business, and when I grew up went to work as high wire performer in the circus. I saw the fa- nous Dana Atlanta, the Hindoo girl l 1uh0 oh oH okoo horo ago. She was tall and 1.-the and almost as slender as snake. While perform ing with her pets she almost seemed to be snake. She moved and acted like one. Seeing her act started mo think ing why an American girl couldn't do something in that way. made up my mind not to initiate her, but to get up snake act of my own. In the fall of 1878 bought four little anacondas- they were only six feet long each-and began to practise with them. l got them used to having me around and to Icing handled. Didn't it feel creepy at first9 Yes, little, I suppose, but I've nearly forgotten about that now. When they were quite accustomed to being handled began to twine them around myself. Did charm them2 No. l don't take any stock in the the ories of so- called snake charmers. 1 find that you can get along very nicely with snakes by merely haa ding them gently. You mustn't make any sudden movements where they can see you, but let your hands glide rather than go quickly towards them. If you always remember that and never lose your presence of mind, you can handle snakes safely enough.
 ':Many people believe that the snakes arc drugged before being handled in the circus. That is not so. They are quite as lively as ever, as you can see." So saying, Miss Jeffrey handed her wis., itor long, plump boa constructor. The young man felt pale, but pretcnded to like the sport. The sensation was much like that you enjoy when proud young mother hands you three weeks old baby and asks you if you don't think the dear little boy is quite heavy for his age. Boa constructors and babies are so uncertain. Mistaking the young man 8 hollow, mocking smile for sign of real joy, Miss Jeffreys put a forty-pound anaconda into his left hand. He was a cold, clammy cuss and wriggled unceas- ingly. The snakes eyed each other like roosters who want fight, and tho young man handed them back very sud- denly.
 cts simple enough, you see," said Miss Jeffreys. "You just take hold of them boldly and you'll get along very nicely with snakes. I don't use rattle snakes or cobras, because they arc poisonous. It's bad enough to risk being hugged to death without running the chance of being poisoned. The anacondas and pythoas grow very fast. That long anacouda measures fully fourteen feet. He was only six feet long when got him in 1883. How often do they feed2 About once in three weeks feed tho snakes in this
 box. Three eat chickens, two eat rab- bits, ono eats pigeons, and two eat guinea pigs. have to experiment with them till find out their taste. That never changes. Of course, they take their food alive. Tho snakes in that other box are a scrub lot. They come from the South American coast They are roughly handled on their way north, and most of them refuse to feed. They simply pino away and dle in year or so. The good feeders were born and raised in Central Park under the care ot
 Supt. Conklin.
 "Oh, yes. get bitten once in while.
 You sec my hands arc full oflittle scars.
 They are from python and and anaconda teeth mostly. That big one on the mid
 dle knuckle of the seconI finger on my right hand was mado by a 14-foot x python who weighed 100 pounds. : was feeding my snakes a few months . ago, and the big python, in dartine l after chicken that was getting away, l occidently closed his jaws on my hand. @ In an instant he had two coils around 3 my arm and was just about to crush mo : to death. I didn't want anybody te r kill him, for he was worth $175, and, : of course, l was afraid of being killed 7 and felt very uncomfortable. Olf . John Fulton picked up a drum stick e from the band stand and pried open tht