The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1894-01-27
FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE.

FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE.
INTERESTING READING FOR TIE
~ BOYS AND GIRLS.
The Fatal Experience, of n Snake
Chnrmer-A Mothers Way-Ecccn-
tricities In Pa1aces-A Cure for
Stammer1nE.
Gen. Campbell, in bis Indian Jour-
nal," says that when he was on Gen.
Dalryn pies staff at TrichinopoH there
was G. dry well il the garden, which
was favorite haunt Of snakes. One
morning he discovered a large cobra
de-capello at the bottom Of the we'll,
baslking in the sun. He ran to- fetch his
gun, but meanN bile some Of the native
servants pelted the snake with stones,
end drove: it into it's hole in the brick
work. Gen. Campbell sent for the
snake charmers to get it out.
Two Of these worthless having arrived.
we lowered them into the well by: means
of a rope. One of them, after perform
ing sundry incantutions, began to play
q shrill, monotonOus ditty upon a pipe
ornamented with shells, brass rings and
beads, while the other stood on one side
Of the snakes hole, holding a rod fur
nished at one end with a moose.
At first the snake, which had been
considerably annoyed before it took
refuge in it's hole, was deaf to the
notes Of the char1r,er, but after half an
hours COL stant playing the spell began
to operate, and the snake was heard
to move. In q few minutes more its
head was thrust out, and the horse
hair moose was dexterously slipped over
it and drawn tight. We hoisted up
the men dangling the snake in triumph.
They carried it to an open space and
released it from the moose.
The enraged sIake Immediately made
rush at the by st*nders. putting to
flight crowd of native servants who
had assembled to witness the sport.
The snake-charmer, tapping it on the
tail with a switch, induced it to turn
upon himself, at the same time sound
ing his pipe.
The snake cCiled itself up, raised its
head, exparded its hood, and appeared
about to strike: but instead Of doing
SO it remained in the same position,
AS If fascinated by the music, darting
out its slender, forked tongue, and
following with it's head the motion Of
the mans knee, which he kept moving
from side to side within q few inches Of
1t as if tempting it to bite.
No sooner did the music cease than
the snake dashed forward with such
fury as to require great agility on the
!. part OF the man to avoid it, and then
Immediately the snake ran or as fast
as it could 60. The sound OF the pipe,
however, invariably made it stop, and
it remained In an upright position as
long as the man continued to play
The chnrmer now offered to show us
his method Of catching snakes. With
his left hand he seized the reptile,
which was about five feet long, by
the point Of the tail, slipped his right
hand along its body with lightning like
swifmess, and grasping it by the throat
with his finger and thumb, held it fast,
and forced it to open it's jaws and dis
play its poisonous fangs.
Having now gratified my curiosity,
proposed that the snake should be de-
stroyed, or at least that it's fangs
should be extracted, an operation easily
performed with pair Of forceps; but
the snake being remarkably fine one,
the charmer was unwilling to extract
it's teeth, as he said the operation some
times proved fatal; anu he begged so
hard to be allowed to keep it as it was
that at last suffered him to put it in
basket and carry it off.
After this he frequently brought the
make to tie house, still with its fangs
entire, as ascertained by personal
inspection, but so tame that he hand
led it freely without fear But one day
the snake bit the charIner and ended
his life