St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-02

on the subject of boys in relation to
the snake house, and this, of course,
only renders the vicinity the more
interesting to the venturesome youth
of the town. Up to the present time
the attendants have succeeded in keep
ing the kids at a safe distance. and 1t
was only because he was such dimin-
utive little fellow that a tow-headed
urchin succeeded in running the guards
last Friday when the snake cages were
being removed to the new and larger
quarters recently provided for the huge
reptiles. How it happened no one is
able to explain. The men were
Removing the PvthOns
and boa constructors from their old
cages into the new ones. The door of
"Ben Ahmid's" cage-B. A. being a
monster boa thirty-two feet long-was
temporarily left open while the men
went out into the yard to get his new
cage. In these few moments little tot
of a Norwegian boy, who had come into
town with his father. who was busy
with the Ringlings negotiating a sale of
oats, slipped across the yard and into
the rear door of the snake house. What
he saw there probably paralyzed him
with wonder or fear. Whatever it was,
he had but little time to reflect
on the wonders Of natural history
for the boa no sooner saw the
little fellow than his mind, or instinct,
or whatever he calls his think works,
m Of i1iD
scenes in his native India, and" he
sprang from the cage with distended
jaws and gobbled the youngster. When
the attendants returned with Ben's new
cage they were Mortified to descry
fast-dsappearing pair of legs sticking
out through the monsters jaws. The
great serpent's eyes were afame with
excitement, and in another second or
two the poor little Norwegian boy
would have Disappeared
From View Forever.
1t happened that Henry Ringling, a
giant in strength and stature, was pres
ent. He is man of quick impulses,
and, without counting the cost or fore
seeing the danger, he grasped the SER
shaking it. With one swipe of its mus
cular tall it sent Mr.-Ringling scurrying
heels over head across the floor. AL
Ringing happened in. He took in the
situation at glance. Grasping a long
chain lying Oh the floor, he passed 1t
around the serpent's body at point
about six inches below where he thought
the child's head would be-. Directing
several attendants to grasp either end
of the chain and pull with all their
strength, he was gratifed to notice re-
Taxation of the snakes efforts to swallow
the child. Then this. chain was made
fast. The snakes tail was fastened
around post and the whole body drawn
to its greatest tension. This rendered
his majesty inert and powerless. He
still continued to gulp. But his game
was up. Two men inserted wagon
jack between his jaws. and by
degrees they were pried open and the
boy pulled out. His head and body
were covered with thick saliva of
peculiarly offensive odor. The boy
gasped for breath and then burst into
tears. Then he looked around in WON
dering way and ran out of the house and
across the snow to his fathers wagon.
Two hours afterwards he was in drug
store, munching almond candy and
drinking soda. But his hair, which his
father said was of that peculiar light
shade so noticeable in Norwegians, had
turned three shades lighter. His eXpe-
rience was a direful one, but was hap
PLY attended with no i'll effects.