The Bessemer indicator., 1893-04-22
WAS A GENUINE SNAKE.
A TweLvE-FooT ANACONDA
SLIPS DOWN A GUTTER.
Two O'd ssilors Were Positive IIe Was a
Snake and the Next Day the Rep
tIls wna Found Frozen
StiH In the Sewer.

Last winter Donald Burns. the ami
NAL dealer, got an order TO supply
the Chicago fair with complete
assortment of reptiles, according to
the New York Sun. They wanted
two or three specimens OF every kind
Of snake In the world. and Captain
Burns has been doing his best to come
up to the order. He has been send
ing every whore for snakes. and has
been gathering them together In the
lofts over his shop. where he alwsys
has pretty fair supply of anacon-
das, cobras and the like. At last
he had nearly twenty snakes in
the boxes in tho loft. Most Of them
were huge. creatures from ten 20
twenty feet long. members OF the
families OF boas and pythons.
The dny before he shipped them to
Chicago one Of the big boxes contain
ing few anacondas was left open,
and when no one was watching the
anacondns pushed back the lid and
crawled sleepily and lazily along the
floor. The building is old, and has II
good many holes in the walls. The
anacondas slipped through one OF
these holes and got out on the roof
of an extension OF the building in
full view Of the rear OF the McAuley
Mission. Some one leaning from u
back window OF tenement gave the
alarm, and Burtis and his assistants
were soon out on the roof with bags
and lassoes. The anacondas gave
them no trouble. In cold weather an
anaconda is pretty harmless crea-
ture with small interest in what is
happening around him.
Mr.. Burns made careful count Of
all his snakes. He was good deal
aconda was missing. Roosevelt street
is densely populated naighborhood
with crowded tenements on every
side. As long as the anaconda stayed
In the open air it would do no harm
But il it got into tenement fiat and
coiled its huge body in some warm
place until II was thoroughly
thawed out-well! Mr.. Burns didn't
like to finish the speculation. The
anaconda is constructor an1 is very
courageous. 1t will coil its huge
body around any human being-a
child In the cradle or n man foolish
enough to attack it unarmed.
About year ago Burns had had II
pretty bad fright OF this sort. One OF
his anacondas got away and could
not be found. 1t had slipped through
u hole in the wall, and by crawling
between the wall and the plastering
had got into the kitchen OF ono OF the
apartments Of tenement next door.
There was kettle. bottom upward,
on the floor under the sink. and the
anaconda managed to slip under this
and pack its coils away until the ket
tie was just full. The woman OF the
apartments came in and was working
at the sink. She noticed that the ca,
was alarmed about something. and
decided that there was mouse under
the kettle. She was brave woman
So she gave the kettle mighty kick
gave scream and jumped on chair
The kettle rolled over. and she saw
that it was full of snake The agita
tion OF the neighborhood caused BY
her yells and shouts did not subsidt
for several hours.
Mr.. Burns had this incident in mint
when he realized that one of hi
twelve-foot anacondas was loose II
the neighborhood. He did not sent
out an alarm because he knew tina
all Roosevelt street would pick up it
skirt and coat tails and babies and a.
and return not until the snake wa
found. But be began to search every
where as best he could. AS day afte
day passed with no news OF the ana
conda his alarm grew. The anaconda
he thought, had found q warm place
and was gradually thawing out an
getting ready to get into the news
| papers for homicide.
There is o saloon little furthe