The Washington critic., 1889-02-22
TIER WORTH READING.


.I Mr.. Smith to keep various assort- |
.usI reptiles, partly us an attraction to
a G and partly to cultivate people who
irous OF seeing snakes. About a
iu. Hu ago Andy Austin was charmed by one
s his rattlesnakcs. The boywas subject
p eptic fits, and was looking through
.r tc.glass window at large rattle
tas until the reptile caused the boys
I D be rivited upon It to such q degree
,ntion as to require the force of some
.0r to drag him away. Strange as this
ppear, the experience of Andy did
ter other boys from visiting Smiths
W, many OF whom wanted to be and
to get charmed.
desire to be charmed did not end
BOYS. Several old men entered the
and stood for hours staring at adders
attlesnakes. It interfercd with Mr..
rs business. The large rattlesnake,
had been despoiled Of It's fangs,
ed to realize the desire of these men to
aced under spell and with its snal<ish
ict to charm uppermost tried to make
,r it's lack of venom by giving an extra
ewith its tail, but with the unhappyre
. of shaking of four rattles. This
tly annoyed Mr.. Smith. 1t left but
rattles intact, each of which represents
year Of the snakes age. Instead of
zen his pet charmer showed rattles for
nine years.
he next day, however, much to Mr..
this delight, DR.. Edward Howe called.
said he was snake doctor; that he had
died good many black snakes; that he
=, familiar with snakes in general, and
Id readjust the four displaced rattles.
Dr Howe said that the rattles were linked
ether, and the noise was produced not
balls or any loose substance within the
Ties, but by the links being ener yetically
lbed together. Mr. Smith was delighted
learn that the snakes tail could be re-
stored like broken ceramic, and made just
as good as new. Thereupon DIR, Howe pro-
cceded to snap the loose rattles back in
place. In order to treat the snake Dr.
Howe did not etherize 1t, but froze II by
placing ice around the glass case. When
the snake was perfectly dormant he had no
difficulty in performing the operation.
The reconstructed tail works perfectly, and
the snake is proud of it.
A Queer Case.
A remarkable case Of mistaken identity
was recently related by Attorney Paschal
Coggins before the Medical Jurisprudence
Society in Philadelphia, as having come
under his personal observation. Two men--
John A. Mason of Boston and John A.,
Mason of Illinois-left their respective
homes and went to California in search of
health and wealth. They We're both wagon
makers. One left wife and two sons In
Boston, and the other wife aud two
daughters in Illinois. The Boston wife
heard nothing of her husband after three
years. absence, and twenty years later
heard Of the death Of John A. Mason, q
wagonmaker. She brought suit for his
property, his photograph was identified by
twenty witnesses, but at the last moment
I the Illinois wife turned up and proved that
+ the man was her husband, and the later de-
. velopments showed that the Boston
pioneer died alone and friendless. ~ New
York Graphic. @
The Baby's Eyes.
A family from out Of town were visiting
South Side friends recently. The youngest
Of the visitors was baby about year
old whose most noticeable feature was her
eyes. These were extraordinarily large
and bulged out Of her little head I'm most
startling manner. This popularity in
physical makeup was source of great
wonder to the little son of the host and
hostess. He seemed never to tire of'looll-
ing at these bulging orbs. One day his
curiosity got the better of him, and he
blurted out; Mamma, what's the matter
with that baby's eyes-I'm sure they don't
fit her. ."--[Chicago Mail.
A Unique C1ub-H House.
Lexington, Ca, can boast of the, most
unique clubhouse in the world. The
young men of that town built O log hut,
which they chinked with clay, making 1t as
snug and tight as palace, At one end is
an enormous open fireplace feeding up to q
primitive chimney. The club which EN-
braces the best young men, has a, weekly
supper. The day before the supper o huge
wood fire is built in the fireplace, and the
next evening there is bed Of Goals and
ashes that q king might envy. The birds
fish, 'possum and oysters are cooked IN
the glowing ashes, and some wonderful
bits Of gastronomy they turn out,
| One Lively Old Man.
The recent publieation Of n list of smart
centenarians iivinc IN Nortbern New York
brinos ont novel cbaI,enoe from CoIonel
! A. ID Newman of Redwood. n town In
which the inhabitants are blessed with pc
rennial youth. Colonel Newman is now 5.
Years az ace and he offers 10 match an,
man of his ope IN the State in the perform
ance Of the following. namely. To WALL
from. the Redwood Opera- House to, hi,
wood LOT. one and ope-ouarter miles dis