Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1893-08-23
Pulling a Boa's Teeth.

EDWARD ochmldt, the proprietor
of the bird store on Twelfth street,
yesterday morning enjoyed the un-
usual privilege of playing dentist to
an eleven-foot boa constructor, says
the Washington Post. b. Con-
strictor was lately resident of
South America, but on transferring
his residence to Washington took
up his abode with Mr.. Schmidt.
He is comparatively thin for his
length, being only some eight
inches through the thickest part of
his eleven-foot body. He dresses
in drown and black diagonal suit,
which fits quite well, but shows de-
cided sings of wearing out, and he is
getting rid of it by sections, though
for the sake of appearance he has
another on just below it.
His royal pythonic highness
weighs just sixty pounds, and is
valued at 81 per pound. One of
the most remarkable features of his
makeup is his mouth. 1t is a
common phrase to hear of the
dropping of ones lower jaw" in
moments of CONSERVATION, but Mr..
Boa can get up the largest amount
of CONSERVATION in this line when
he gets ready by dropping about
six inches of lower jaw, linear
measurement. He can raise an
equal amount of upper jaw at the
same time, and his mouth is pro-
vided with a convenient lateral
hinge arrangement by which it can
be spread sidewise and present to-
tai receptive surface of about the
size Of band box.
1t was this mouth, with good
serviceable set of teeth, but no
poison fangs, that got Mr.. Snake
into trouble soon after his arrival
in the national capital. He was
lodged in a good strong wire cage
and fed few pigeons. Then in
stead Of going to sleep gorged with
food, as is supposed to be the habit
of his family, Mr.. Constructor
amused himself by striking at his
new master, who was putting re-
enforcement of wire netting around
the bars of the cage. He miscal-
culated in one of his springs, and
when kissing like a steam exhaust
pipe he launched about four feet of
his neck across the cage, he hung
himself in the wire netting by bis
teeth. AS a result he had a very
sore mouth for a couple of days,
and yesterday Mr.. Schmidt decided
,, that he would have to have one Of
the injured teeth pulled.
1t was a delicate operation to
handle his snakeship, who, if given
his choice of holds, is good deal
more than a match for n man i'm q
catch-as- catch-can wrestling bout
But the willy bird man took an un.
fair advantage Of his prisoner, and
diverting his attention in front ex.
ecuted a flank movement and grab.
bed him by the back of the neck
Then it was a case of pull Richard
pull Satan in getting the lengthy
southerner out of his cage. He
finally came to slip and slide, and
Mr.. French, the assistant dentist
promptly froze onto the. last foot
and half of the tail as it slid out
of the cage.
Mr.. Snake stretched at full
length, with no chance to work his
powerful constructor muscles, was
rather at a disadvantage, but
watching an opportunity while the
doctor was working on his head
with pair Of wire nail pullers, ht
threw a half-Nelson lock around
Mr.. French's legs and proceed tc
mix up with that gentleman in {
way that was no less surprising
than inconvenient. The tooth
which was loose, came out easily
looking not unlike large fishbone
and the two amateur dentists then
exereted themselves to let &c
of the snake and get him back into
his cage. Mr.. French was finally
gotten out of the embrace of the
python's coils, and the two operat.
ors wrestled him back into cap.
tivity, where he drew himself up Oh
@ shelf in the corner of his cage
and, coiling himself into large
figure eight, laid with his almond
shaped head on the top of his coils anG
swore huently in an unitelligiblt
South American dialect at every.
one who came in his neighborhood.
Plain Worda Wall Hondlad