Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-10-24

,'SNM D' or ,atv!res lay quiet
A' M TsisH/gZnl and still, with
EG" 'CsMr.Ti never a movement
!: ": !: 8: !:
,M,d', NsIAI7II to tell the onlook-
ErSa &'NWf2X srs whether th.y
ny E \ NisA.GJ, were alive or dead.
v IN II a kAt'AHMl "a h said
IN - -IS - vou some curious
f.:ng5 about those snakes That huge
hos constr; tor" he continued, point
:l5 to u snake that lay coiled up in
corner by itself, ..bas swallowed four
y .ole snsep IN one day, and nine days
tzrvarl it was ready for number ave-
; can remember once we threw rab-
1T into cage where there were two
caakes. While the poor little animal
vas shivering in conner with fright
,,.e Two reptiles fought together rs to
y..:rl OF thea should eat it; the
n. - one gained the victory, aud
l.. % . ;er oas retired 10 the other end
tne cagc and lay down, rs though
: sar.aI oIt by the conflict. The other
make advanced upon lis prey, and. af-
ira while it also lay down, with the
..lbbit inside it. The bigger snake
tlen, seeing The helpless condition of
: enemy, seemed to rouse Itself, and
3 moment asterwar Is it vigorously at
tackled the creature that lay gorged in
ila corner. We all rushed to see what
l-oull hlpunn. and, | declare to yor.
continued Mr.. Hagenbeci, ''.h9t in a
very short time the big snake had
swallowed Inc small snake, rabbit and
ell.
"Tould you like to sec them in
nction:' said Mr.. Hagenbeck to me, and
rs he SPOKE he opened the cage door
and boldly stepped in among the huge
s'eepy beasts. He then began lifting
them up by their enormous coils, inst
as one would lift up great coils of rope,
ami there was soon mighty stirring
amongst the inert masses. Furious and
cnraged they writhed to and fro, their
s,a!e; glittrring in the light of the
sun. With tremendous kissing and
irrltated rearing back of their heads
end constant projection of their long,
for.led tongues, they began to move
about the cage. Il think 1 will get
ont now," said Mr.. Hagenbeck. II
had fight once before with snakes,
end | don't want to have another" he
continued as he closed the doors.
ar wish You would tell me about ii, +"
said I; lit must have been very
dreadfully interesting" and also l felt
sure my American readers would enjoy
come good ''snake" stories.
Certainly will, he replied, "and
/ can assure you," he added, with q
shudder at tie thought, THAT it was
most painfully interesting to me. I
very nearly lost my life on that occa-
son. 1t happened in this way. There
were eight full grown pythons in one
cage. wanted to put them all into
one huge box to send them off to a
menagerie. handled the first six all
right enough, collaring them, as is
usual. by the back of the neck and
dropping them into the box. Then /
went for number seven. As soon As
entered the cage she few at me with
oper mouth, but seeing her coming l
took off nv hat and thrust it at her,
and she bit her teeth into it. l then
collared her with the right hand at the
back Of the neck and dragged her
down into the lower partition of the
fetch her out she reared her head for
another attack. then made cautious
movement forward; at the same mo-
ment she darted her head at me. I
met the second attack with my hat in
the same way as I did the first. I
then got hold of her by the back of the
neck, but found, to my horror. that
] conldn't let her go, as all at once she
coiled herself around my legs.
by good fortune one of my assist
ants was standing near. I called for
him and he came rushing up to me,
knowing by the sound of my voice that
there was something very dreadful tho
matter, and 80 indeed there was, for l
saw it was going to be fight for lie
or death. However, kept perfectly
cool and gave the order to my assist
ant to t,y and uncoil the serpent, which
he attempted to do as well as he pos
sibly could. / also managed to with
draw my legs from her coils. Then l
dropped, holding her tight all the
time. as / YVES determined to get her
into the box, and l didn't want to have
alltbat trouble for nothing" continued
the brave man as coolly as one could
possibly imagine. =.
"However," he went on, Il wasn't
out of the woods, even then, as you
English call it, for just as l thought !
was getting away all right and could
get her safely into the box the last
python in the cage, atremendous giant;
also tried to attack me. As soon as
yaw this 1 called out to my assistant to
throw a blanket over her. This he
managed to do. At the same nome nj
moved backwards OFT Of the cage and
got cree of II alto getker and then hsd
:, Ift,l. rest. Ny men tried to dissuaie
&c from gong back, each OF tneil say
iag they would not do it. l felt vety
r1i,austed, but my temper was fairly
10 AMI I determined I wouldn't be
beaten. So, after q fsw moments, /
...oped Again into the csgc, caught
them both rcurd the backs OF their.
tecks, tIlssed tAcm IS quickly as l
-,u.d to TIE e,!,c ot the Cage and then
i-tvcen lis y, .iui.:; ;lcm il.to the !'os.
Ia, not Iny Ga>:stants bccl near ih1
= .:::,r cot.l3 h..rs saved me from Ee-
in 81, ,,,::c,. - death All! 1t was
t.rri!..s adventure" Continued Mr..
us::eavsak. aud don't won't s1m11