The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-20

mt the Rasssurers 90 the SiEse Rxpvsrs VIEW
Peeled. AMER AN.

ALTOONA, Pa. Feb 13.-on the night expires
south on the 81. Mary road tho other day a mai
who had the appearance Of an amateur natural
ISL, was o passenger in the smoker. He go
on at n back country station carrying a heav!
box. which no deposited on the seat beside hin
and promptly fell asleep.
Among the other passengers were two New
York drummers, who relieved the tedium OF tn,
night by FREQUENT nips from a black bottle. on'
Of the two soon fell asleep. but the other, who
evidently possessed a more formidable capacity
for stimulants, chung to the bottle till his wan
derinR gazc attcsted his condition. just a
the train passed Avon the RUNNER who wa;
awake suddenly emitted howl and grasped
his companion by the shoulder
Great Heavens. Charley. did you zee thati'
he asked in terror. ms he crept up on the car seat
| with beth feet.
Ugh" remarked Charley. nonchalantly. halt
opening his eyes.
WAKE up. for Gods sake" tho other went on
terrifcdly. There's a snake under the scat,
l think it's n snake. anyhow. and l want you to
tell me whether IL is or not"
It'll wish snake" said Charley. with one eye
entirely open. You got EN-. Luke. Toll you
what d happen II you didn't quit"
Don't kid me. Charley" said Luke. implor-
ingly. Wake up and see him for yourself"
But Charley by this time felt a yielding sub.
stance passing over his shoes. and with a wall
OF terror he rose to the occasion and Joined
Luke on top of the car seat. Aroused by the
noise. the other passengers rubbed their sleepy
eyes and. oncc awake, began making jests at the
II thought them fellers would be seein' things
aforc long remarked n farmer.
snakes is so common" put in another. Why
don't you spring n crockodile or two on usi"
We'll. l never saw a man with the rams be-
fore a third began, but just then he felt some:
lear, he crept up on the window sill.
One by one the other passengers Joined the
the snake question would have resulted nnsni.
n,ously in the affirmative. The sleepy brake
man. who was doing near the stove, finally
awoke. and, catching a glimpse Of n dark object
wiggling across the aisle carpet he opened the
door with q, whoop and disappeared. The
brakeman told the conductor that n snake was
loose in the forward car and that official went to
the car door demanding:
What tlrs the matter in .therei You're
spollin' them seats. Git down
There's a snake loose in here" came back the
nnanimors response. Come in and catch him.
Catch your own snakes" he retorted angrily
at he widowed drummers. II amt in the
snake collecting business"
Despairing OF succor from this source, tho
passengers turned their attention TO their own
number BY this time there was but one per,
that was the man with the box. who still slept
peacefully, in his corner. All sorts of devices
and. books we're tossed. a; him, and finally a
well-directcd umbrella hit him in the eye and
made him jump to his feet with an oath.
Great blazes." he reared. as he rubbed his
injured eye and caught a glimpse of the pas.
seneers standing on their seats. rs this a
branch office OF a lunatic asylum. or simply a
gang of drunken foolsf'
c up on your seat he was adjured.
There's a snake loose in the car
snake loose he exclaimed. Guess it's
my Jim. l;attler is hei About five feet long!
Yes. that's him. Had him in the box. you
know, but he must have crawled out while I
was asleep"
YOU'RE an Internal iiiit," shouted the farm
er. I'm have the law on you"
Throw him out"
Put him off,"
squash his old tame snake"
The man who owned the box silenced the out
cry with q wave OF the hand.
Gentlemen he remarked. I'm sorry this
isn't a tame snake. but as a matter of fact. he
still has his eye teeth, and you'll find him ready
for business. Better stay up on your seats till
l lind him."
Slowly and methodically he prodded under
the seats till a warning rattle located the frolic-
some jim. Then. reaching rcCklessly under
the seat, he graspcd and hauled out a ~five-foOt
RATHER. which he lugRed back to the box in the
corner. After securely clamping the box, he
sat down again and quickly fell INFO a doze.
One by one the passengers came down from
the car seats. but few could sleep while the
threatening box was In the car. When Spring
held was reached the man with the box woke up
and started for the door.
Sorry my Jim disturbed you, gentlemen" he
called back from the platform. Fac 10, ! for
got TO say he is only a toy snake. made up large
ly of spring and India rubber. One simply
winds the spring and he will crawl around till
he's run down. II had time l would explain
this ingenious device which I have just pat
ented. But i get off here. Au revoir."
After that the silence was not broken until
the train reached Marlin.