Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-11-15
DANGEROUS SN-4EEs.

There is q little shop in street on
the East side, says the New York 1r'-
Juaae where from the floor to the
ceiling the walls are hidden by small
cages. Within the room there is an
endless chattering of mokeys, the shflll
cries of all kinds of birds, the whine OF
forlorn-looking dogs, and the carplng
screech Of gum hens. In one END Oh
the room are piled several fiat boxes
each covered with blanket. In these
are snakes Of many sorts, from the ven
omous copperhead to the monstrous boa
constructor. A reporter dropped in to
take look at the shop-keeper's inter-
esting collection, The dealer was ex-
tremely good-natured, and explained IN
detail all the points that he could think
of about his stock in trade.
That part Of his collection in which
he took most pride was his snakes. He
could not find praise enough for his
beauties" as he called them. Raising
the lid of each box he pointed out the
characteristics of his dangerous pets.
The spots of this one made him unusu-
ally valuable, and the rings, stripes,
and tails of others showed that they
were not common everyday snakes.
With evident pride he would dwell
upon the fight he had had to capture
an ugly RATHER" the age of another.
and the affection of still another. But
he was particularly fond of copper
head snake which he offered to take
from his box.
His manner OF approaching his pet
was somewhat novel. Wrapping a
heavy piece OF canvas about his hand he
thrust his arm under the partly raised
cover and began to thrash about in a
furious manner. He would give the
snake half dozen sudden heavy blows
and then clutch at him, all the while
crying out between his teeth: "Down
there, you rascal; be still there; now
I've got you" He explained between
his cries that he was trying to get hold
OF the snakes neck. Finally he drew
forth his arm. and there writing in his
grasp, was the long, lank body of the
snake. He held it up by the neck and
deity loosened the canvas, allowing it
to fall to the floor. With his naked
fingers closed tightly about the snakes
throat he turned around and held it
high in the air in glee. The snakes
eyes were flashing wickedly: the blood
red forked tongue, tipped with black,
darted out like lightning, while the
plant body now became rigid and now
twined itself about the mans arm until
it worked down to the wrist, where ii
closed in like rubber band, causing
the veins in the keepers arm to bulge
forth swollen and dark. All Che while
the man only laughed at its vicious
struggles, swapping it out like a whip
when it loosened its hold, and again
shaking it roughly. At length he threw
the copperhead heavily into the box,
suddenly slamming down the cover
"That fellow" he said, is the wicked
est, most ugly-tempered snake I ever
owned. He is always ready to fight. :"
While holding the copperhead he had
opened it's mouth and showed two
icked.looking teeth. ",This snake, .
he added, els the one which bit young
fellow in here. The boy took the cover
off the box and firted handkerchief at
the copperhead. I told him to mind
what he was doing, but he kept on until
the snake struck at him. The snakes
fangs took hold Of the boys hands and
he chung there until we beat him al
most to death. The boy was lucky ever
70 get WE'LL"
Now" said the keeper, going to an
other box, "here is one as different from
the copperhead as can be. You see he
would not fight anyway" and he pulled
out ponderous boa constructor and
dropped him heavily to the floor. "Look
at him" he said, giving him lively
kick; he doesn't mind it bit; tame as
kitten"
He then pushed the heavy body all
over the floor, jostling it and shaking it
up. The great head rose up at times,
but the man paid no attention to this.
"Now," he said, watch ME make him
mad; he does not like to be dragged
backward. He seized the boa's tail
and began pulling him around the
room. At this the boa raised his head
threateningly and squirmed around at
lively rate. He certainly looked as if
he might do some mischief, and the re.
porter edged toward the door.
"Oh, he couldn't hurt you," the
keeper said, reassuringly. "He doesn't
bite, you know" But as the boa raised
his head again, with a fierce glitter in
his eye, the reported hastily thanked
the man and made for the street.
SWOIeN ON II DICTIONARY.