The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-21
POINTS FROM A SNAKE cHARMER.
He Has Been Bitten Forty-nine Times
His Remedy For snake Bite.

His Remedy For snake Bite
Fresno Republican,
al have been bitten forty-nine times by
rattlesnakes," said c. j. Ironmonger OF
this city to Republican reporter yester-
day.
Eyes. sir. forty-nine times, either while
catching them, handling them, or per-
forming before the public with them. l
am known as the great serpent charmer,
or tanner. ] have handled thousands OF
venomous serpents, and twenty-three
years ago performed in the Bella Union
theater as a snake charmer, when 1t was
managed by Mrs. Tetlow and son.
81 have often heard that If a rattle
snake bites a person, the sore, even II
healed, will break out again every twelve
months. That is not so. If you are once
cured YOU are cured forever. l have
often read in the newspapers of snakes
charming little children, and of children
feeding them without being bitten. That
is all nonsense.
mo venomous snake will eat dead food (;
it must be live food that he catches him
SELF and he will not take food while Gagged
up, not even the most inviting morsel.
They can live a remarkably long time
without food. / once saw rattlesnake in
Marysville in a cage that had not taken
food for eight years. / have kept many of
them from five to eleven years without
food. They will, however, drink water,
suppose, to keep their poison replenished.
"Rattlers are epicureans. They will
crawl out of their dens in the spring. and,
if they catch quail, young rabbit or a
squirrel during the summer they are sat
isfed. If not, they will take their drink
of water in the fall and go to their dens
and wait until next spring for their break
fast"
What remedies do you use for snake
bites ?" was asked.
81 put an ounce of ammonia into two
ounce vial. Then 1 add dozen or so
| leaves of the mistletoe. The leaves soon
dissolve, and the liquid becomes of a red
dish color. Put eighteen or twenty drops
of this liquid into a tumbler half full OF
water, and drink it as soon as you can
after being bitten. Then drink pint Of
whisky. After that you must wait fifteen
or twenty minutes, and if you feel no
signs of inebriation repeat the dose; but
the moment you feel the effects OF the
whisky, drink no more, but you may take
another dose of the ammoniated liquid.
"Some people when bitten by a snake
| keep pouring down whisky until they get
thoroughly drunk, but in such cases the
remedy is worse than the disease. Those
who know me say that l am poison-proof,
| but that is not true, while at the same
time snake bite that would kill some
men would injure me very little. Harm
! less snakes are all gourmands and want to
be swallowing all the time"
'Do you believe that snakes can fasci-
| nate or charm other animals?' asked the
reporter.
THAT is an error" was the reply. "No
serpent has that faculty. Every animal
has its own instructive way of taking its
prey-by stealth, agility, brute force, or
strength. Ny experience during the last
| forty years confirms my belief. l have
| often heard birds making great noise in
a swamp, and l use to say: There's a
| snake charming bird l would 60 down
| there to see what was going on, and sure
enough there would be a black snake 60
| ing along slowly from one branch of tree
! to another. There would be catbird or
/ some other kind of bird flying around
the snake, greatly excited, while the snake
moved along slowly toward a nest to rob
/ it of its Young.
THE maternal instinct of the mother
| bird makes her forget the danger in a
great measure. So she flies around and
over the snake and futters along Just
ahead of him, trying to lead him in an OPP
| posite direction, but all to no purpose, and
| as he comes near the nest she becomes
more desperate.
''She pecks at his eyes, beats him with
her wings, and like a fash he grabs her,
| for he would as soon have her as the
young, because she is larger mouthful, If
/ not so delicious.
"She was not spell-bound; she had all
the use of her muscles and could leave him
at her will.
"At the Sacramento state fair some
twenty odd years ago / was bitten by a
rattler in the bowels, and he left his fangs
behind. / performed in the tent until 9
o'clock at night In closing up / felt
around my person and pulled all of the
snakes out of my bosom, as | thought, but
l overlooked one. | went around the
town to see the sights, playing game or
two, and started for my hotel.
at was called the Orc then, but the
name is changed now. Then l threw my
self across the bed, and the first thing
knew l was bitten. | was smothering
him. / grabbed him by the head through
my shirt, and gave him twist. Hence l
broke his fangs l held him up to the
moonlight, and found him to be favorite
of mine.
81 had no remedies with me, and the
drug stores were shut up at that hour. At
last found doctor named Logan, who
gave me bottle of whisky and twenty
five drops of ammonia. and / was soon all
right. but the fangs remained in me.
began to grow sick at last, and the wound
had to be opened airesh and the fangs ex-
| tracted 1t was three months after / was
bitten that the network of fat that covers
the bowels began to infame, and it came
near killing me.
81 have not said anything about taran-
tulas. scorpions and centipedes, but they
are all in my line. I have been stung by
all of them, and use the same remedy.