The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-12
A SNAKE STORY,
A Shopkeeper's ale of An Ophidian
Duel in Florida.


From the Neiu York Erening Post.
In the window of an uptown Broadway
store, where fancy articles in leather are
sold, hangs skin which very muca resem-
bles an alligator's hide, except for its greater
length and lighter markings. That" SAID
the proprietor of the store when questioned,
sis the largest anaconda skin ever exhibited
in this city. 1t is Is feet long, feet in
width, and, as you see, is beautifully
marked
"Do you mean to say that there is staple
trade in anaconda skinsM was asked.
mot at all. We use great many snake
skins for the manufacture of pocketoooks,
small saches, and articles of tina descrip-
! ton, but there is no dealer in leather who
keeps tanned snake skins in stock that l
know of. All the skins we get are brought
to us by private individuals who have had
them tanned and are willing to sell tlem. The
anaconda that originally possessed the skin
in my W ndow was formerly one of the at
fractions of a dime museum. When he
died, heard of it a d secured his hide. A
skin ike that is worth about SIS"
"What is it good forP
"W, Ii, the leather is remarkably tough
| and could be used to cover furniture, but
! cured it more as a curiosity than ANYTHING
| else. | have made slippers from anaconda
leather, but the scales are great objection
| each one has to lie carefully cemented
down, but a little wear is apt to work them
| looae.n
do people ever bring snake skins to you
to have articles made from themP
Yes, indeed, and, strange to say, my
| best customers are women. A very pretty
| girl came 10 me the other day with the
skin OF king snake. ~ The king snake, you
| know, is a native of Florida, and is to the
s axe kingdom what a lion is to the ami
NAL He can 'lick' anything that crawls,
| even RATHER. The skin that the you z
lady brought in was one of the handsomest
] have ever seen. The yellow circles around
! the dark body shone in contrast like G Id,
and so nicely had the leather been tanned
that it was as soft and pliable as CHI =
mois. Its owner had a story to tell
about the snake, which, it seems,
her brother had captured in a somewhat
novel way. He was sitting, she said, one
| afternoon, on the shore of Lake Weir, in
| Central Florida, when suddenly he heard a
thrashing in the brush at his side. He in
| vestigated and discovered two snakes fight
ing for all they were worth. One was the
king snake and the other big black snake.
They weren't exactly fighting, either, she
| said, for tie king snake had succeeded IN
getting the black snake just where he
wanted him. In other words, the head of
the black snake was in the king snakes
| mouth ana Cn0 SWALLOWING PROCESS
| had already begun. The thrashing was
the result of the black snakes indignation
at the proceeding. To make long story
snort, the king snake finally succeeded in
swallowing his black rival until only about
two inches of the latter's tail projected
from the conqueror's mouth. The young
lady's brother then took them up to the
stable, and, laying them on the floor, put
his foot on the protruding tail and gen ly
pulled them apart. The black snake
was still alive, but hadn't much
energy left. The king snake, on
the contrary, was as lively as a kitten,
and Immediately showed fight. The two
snakes were placed in a arrel together, and
the next morni & the black one was dead.
The young man brought the ling snake
home with him, and he became pet in the
family The cold was too mucG for him
though, and he finally died"
but what did the young lady wish to
have made from his skiing
"Sae wanted it stuffed You see, she had
become attached to the reptile, and, woman
like. wanted to preserve It's remains in the
| most life-like form"