The Opelousas courier., 1896-11-07
A BIG SNAKE.
HIS FIRST MEAL IN AMERICA
WAS Il yEARLING CALF.
lie Broke Away From Eleven Ncl
Who Were Trying to Box Him
Up-Forty Feet Long and
Weighs sos Pounds,

Office part Of the animal store, which
is separated from the rest by O high
and strong iron network partition,
was full Of men whose interest seemed
to be concentrated upon q long and
strong new box which was in the inner
room, close to the partition. Donald
Burns was inside the partition with q
number Of his lusty assistants, and he
was giving directions for making It
hole in one end OF the box and con-
Meeting q stove with it to keep the big
snake warm.
II hear you have been having
trouble with a snake" said the re.
porter.
"Hush!' whispered Burns. ~ have
been keeping the thing quiet. How
did you hear OF it? You know [
didn't want it to get out that any ami
NAL, wild OF tame, ever got the better
of me. I have been handling animals
and snakes ever since | was @ boy
elephants, lions, tigers, wildcats, boas,
rattiesnakes, copperhead5-and moth
ing ever got the best OF me before. 1t
was awful, | tell YOU. Look at this!"
Mr.. Burns threw back the hasp
which held shut the lid OF g smaller
box which stood beside the big new
one and opened the cover. Then he
loosened and raised an inside lid OF
/ glass which covered the contents OF
the box, and. makin3 % quick move,
caught a big snake by the neck, just
back of the head.
"Catch hold OF him, boys,"he cried
to his assistants, and three Of them
graspel different portions Of the
snake as Burns drew 1t forth. IheT
stretched it out until its head and tail
were probably ten feet apart but the
snake did not seem to like the opera
ton, and kept q good pant OF its
length concealed by pulling itself up
in ringletted kinks. "Put him back
yelled Burns.
The snake was perhaps six inches in
diameter at the thickest part OF its
body.
"He's a pretty good sized chap. isn't
he?' asked Burns. "He's nearly
twenty feet long, but he's not q
marker to the other one. You see |
could handle him."
Then Burns went over to the big
box and opened it cautiously. This
box also had an inside set of lids filled
in with heavy plate glass.
"There," exclaimed Burns, SIS &
snake that is a snake. He is between
thirty and forty feet in length, weighs
503 pounds and measures two feet
e.round the biggest part of his body.
Talk about handling him. He's the
only brute that ever got away from
Donald Burns. Look at him now!"
Burns had opened the glass cover.
The great python lay coiled at one
end of the box with his head sesting
comfortably upos the uppeIcoil of
his body. He madNaltoget,fr a pile
about as big a@rounl aalNs high as
one Of the coils of hawsernthat are to
be seen on the aecEs 81 q square
rugged ship. The snakes Attle yellow
beaa-like eyes wes~@lert, but he
seemed not at all ahkious to move.
Burns advanced a lit. ! carefully to.
ward the snakes headl and suddenly
darted it forward and closed his
powerful fingers about the snakes
neck.
The neck is slender compared to the
rest of the body, but still it makes a
big handful. The moment the fingers
closed the snake began to stretch out
its head, and it became apparent that
even a powerful man like Burns could
not hold it. Burns suddenly released
his hold. The snake poked out its
forked tongue once or twice and then
returned to its former position.
"He has been fed since we had the
tussle with him." said Burns, cor I
couldn't even do that much with MIN.
I fed him a yearling calf and he swal-
lowed it whole after crushing every
bone in its body. He is a rock python
from Southern Java. He was caught
in a trap on May IA and came here in
the trap. l am sorry that I let the
Italians carry off that trap and break
it up. 1t was a curiosity in itself. 1t
was made of lockwood and bamboo.
At one side was a hole and this had
pieces of pointed bamboo running in
from it like the wires in our rat traps.
The natives OF Java put a goat into
the box for bait, and the snake went
in through the hole after the goat.
When he got in he couldn't get out.
He was never taken out of the trap
until [ took him out. He was sent to
Singapore, where my agent bought
him, and he was sent to me on the
ship Notwithstanding or other.
She got in on Thurs lay at the foot of
Market street. TIhey brought the
trap down here ca truck, and I got
ten longshofemen to help get it into
the shop and take the snake out. We
took the trap into the front part of
the store, behind the partition, and
put it beside the new box, where the
snake is now.
81 opened the trap and caught the :
big fellow by the neck. Everybody
catch hold,'I called. Every one of
the ten 'loDgshoremen got a hold and
pulled the big fellow out of the
box. We'd just got him Strengthened
out when he began to rear. { weigh
more than 200 pounds, but do you
know that he lifted me up as if I were
q child. He lifted me up about two s
feet and thrashed the floor with me.
All the men behind were being s
around the room as if they
were infants every time the snake |
twisted. Then the brute drew him. ,
self up and [ saw he WAS GETTING ready J