The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-26
CIRCUS SNAKES AT LARGE.
-r,ED ENCOUNTERS WITH THEM
TOLD AT FIRST HAND.

,a,ced and Acted for Pennies-Bar-
nm in All His Glory Did Not Pos
= ReptfIes Like These Rowing
Reptiles.
From the New York Press.
petersburg. Va. Jan. 10.-''Yo nah tax
o,r adventures with snakes, sab, but
tafn't KEN up L tn experience nah
- lin CuIpepper had near the oil Five
r-,rls BATTLEFIELD, sab. Jim Culpepper. sab,
virginia gentleman. sab. n I'd believe
~, eDnvwhere this side o Tophet. One
--,- last summah Jim was nOsin' eroun'
- Forks. n a feelin' purity good. Jim
- lest sampled some o. tn finest a Blue
--.ss whisky. Jim was always a whislin
--ss tho a splendid Virginia gentleman.
-,b m so he sa'nters erlong whis'lin like
stsble boy. Well, sab. all L onct Jime
- atalzen back Outer tn brush erlong
i. roadside KEN a whopin' big black
s,slze dancin', caperin' n a cavortin' like
mad.
oh. no. says Jim Culpepper, 'yo'
wants tune en-!
lin whistled two lively bars (he being
,seter bars). an tn snake wriggled hat
r-s, crost tn road an then stopped. Jim
III begin to whsle like all forty Halifax.
Mister blacksnake hoped aroun, rolled
oyab Jumped erbout on tn end of its tail.
Kissed with delight, an, sab, was tn all
5redest Iiyeliest snake in tn county.
Then PIN Culpepper changed tn tune
ON tn blacksnake. He played 'Marchin'
rrbrouph Georgia. The snake immediate
IL sfo1ped dancin darted L tn roadside,
tSrsbbed a bit of stick in its mouth, an
fben haf raisin' up, marched up an
down tn road in front of jim as proud as
-. NV lee said Jim Culpepper, reckon
that snake knows as much as l DO.
Then he played the Rogue $ Marcn.
tn snake drapped tn stick from IT'S
mouth. hung its head an slowly creeped
SoW-n III road same as if it had deserted
~ done somethin' else jest as bad.
10 nv lee said Jim Culpepper, again.
"Tben Jim tried him on a clog dance
1,,et "a soon as Jim begun wins lie tn
snake shot ovah to a tree, an as jim
whis'led it kept time by rappin, Wlth IT'S
,au AGAINST the tree Jim says it's tn best
imitation of a clog dance he ever heard
i'm whis'led several othah tunes, but tn
snake whar tired, san, an sh ma IT'S nedu
at Jim slipped away into tn brush:
"That was wonderful snake, my friend,
said HE New York drummer, who had just
come from Roanoke, but l knew OF some
mat beat it all hollow"
%Yo' do. sah?" said the Virginian, in
yes, Sir, I did. 1 was up in Sullivan
county New York, last summer, and stop
ned with a friend of mine, who owns
farm near Middletown. This friend had
hooking bird that was the most wonder
ful whistler that / ever heard, and as
there were several girls in the house who
were all the time playing the piano the
bird picked up an amazing number of
tunes. l got up bright and early one
morning and walked out onto the big
front porch. 1t was a beautiful morning,
and the bird, when he saw me, set up
Whistling with vim and beauty that sur
passed anything that / ever heard. heard
rustling in the grass on the lawn, and
looking down saw, to my amazement,
seven big rattlesnakes writing toward
the gravel walk leading from the steps of
the porch to the front gate of the yard.
When they all had reached the walk they
halted as IL holding consultation. Then
they hooked heads ana tallS until they
looked ike so many half circles. The
hooking bird started up a new and livelier
tune than any he had yet whistled, and
their heads ana ratified the buttons at the
ends of their tails in accompaniment to
the dance. 1t was a sight The buttons
sounded like so many caStanets.
They kept this up for probably five
minutes. Then they began a square dance,
going through all the various figures. The
lanciers, a cotillon and several other
dances followed in quick order.
What wonderful snakesn said to my
friend How did they learn the dances
"ln tell you7 said my friend, confident
TALLY. You see, my children often dance
those dances on the lawn here. By watch
ing them closely the snakes have so ia
millarized themselves with the figures that
they 80 through them without making d
single mistake
My friend gave a long, low whistle,
and in an instant the snakes stopped
dancing and wriggled away to their hid
ing places. [ think that those snakes
We're Just as smart as James Culpepper's
wonderful black snake"
The Virginian pulled the sandy wisp of
halr at his chin and spat copiously into
Jne open fireplace, The corners of his
mouth tWitched and he looked appealing
" at the tall, lank North Carolinian who
was sitting quietly in the corner chewing
large quantities of tobacco.
II never seen emmy dancin snakes" said
Inc North Carolinian, in slow, drawing
tones, but l did see some snakes onct
mat beat my time. Cur'ously 'nough, it
long on horseback when / see a lot of
snakes in tn road. Now 1 never like to
Ilae down a snake, so l pulled up my
moss and yelled at the critters. They sim
NOUNS, as If they wer GRIMM at me.
uldn know what to make of 'em. Then
thy began tqrnin' summersets all around
rle road Hevin' done that, they all
ranged up in line before me, like so
many circus actors and bowed and scrap
~ ~ IN IN greatest fashion. The leader of
Gle snakes gave a queer kind O. whistle
u men they all did some acrebaticS Three
u them formed themselves into a perfect
jItGrdzontal bar, while a fourth did all
Mu9s OF tricks from it. Another snake
made made trapeze out of hisself by hanging
rom a bush. A striped snake wiggled up
onto IN Fapeze and went through all tn
sesqlar turns. A big yellow and black
snake got out into the middle of the
r ra and did a contortion act. While he
@9s qoin' 1t three snakes that We're half
toled by tn roadside began givin' orches-
t Ia music, that is, they made sound
r.'dl l reckon was supposed t be snake
bbuSlc. Tn performance lasted half an
t aUur an then, when tn win'-up KEN.
@iey ali approached me They got togeth-
n, mead to head an shoulder to shoulder.
aE 4 tney bowed low to the groun' half
%o po1en times. / threw them a handful of
r rr5IIs, Each snatched up one and then
t9TTM EG away into the tn bushes"
one ne North Carolinian's jaws worked Wig
marked:
snai. heerd later that them was circus
W -a11es' an that they had escaped some
tr fgAs atore. / reckon they got onto tn
MS MS by watchin' tn performers
broieeo drummer said nothing. The party
en- gAG up and the Virginian and the North
W esqiiinIan left the room arm in arm,
earring triumphant smiles