Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-02
SNAKES ARE IT'S CARGO.
Serpent-Laden Ship Sails Into I
HarbOr of New Orleans.

Serpent-Laden Ship Sails Into the
Hnrbor of New Orleans.
In the gray of yesterday morning a little
Portuguese bark came lumberihg slowly up
the river and made fast at the wharf at the
head of Washington street, reports the New
Orleans Times. The dimnutive vessel was
the Atlantico, hailing from Para, Brazil, and
while ordinarily such a craft would attract
no special attention its advent has been the
subject of anxious discussion on the part of
the entire inspection corps of the New Or
leans custom house.
The reason for such unusual solictude
was the fact that the cargo of the Atantico
Is composed almost entirely of snakes. Ac-
cording to the manifest it carried 416 as
sorted serpents, ranging In size from small
tropical garter snakes to large adult boa
constructors, all being the property of one
Joze Renhi and Nine. Marie Renhi his wife,
professional reptile charmers, late Of Paris.
This surprising information reached the
city shortly after the LIST of the month when
the Atlantico arrived off Quarantine Ac-
cording to a vague and horrifying story
which subsequently drifted up through off,
cial channels, one of the Quarantine corps
had clambered leisurely over the side of the
bark and was proceeding aft when six or
seven feet Of boa constructor rose suddenly
out of an open crate and prctruded tongue
that looked like red toasting fork. The
Quarantine agent emitted a shrek that was
audible as far as the Jump, and was out on
the ladder in exactly two bounds. The report
that he leaped overheard and signed the
pledge Immediately after reaching the sta
tion has since been denied, but he withdrew
very abruptly, and at once spread the news
that a ship full of snakes was lying in the
channel.
The master OF the bark was a swarthy
Spaniard named Adolpho Palao and with
considerable dificulty he informed the in
spectors that Renhi and his wife had pre-
ceded the vessel to the city by rail- Mean
while the couple had found their way to the
custom house, where they were seen by a re-
porter and their story obtained
Renhi Is a dark skinned, excitable little
man. and his wife is small, sturdy
woman OF the South American type. Ac-
cordng to their narrative they have been
collecting snakes for exhibition purposes for
the last twenty years, and have performed
with them on the stage all over Europe.
The reptiles on board the Atlantico were
caught in the forests OF Brazil, and include
almost every variety known to the tropics.
The largest of the lot Is a boa constructor
which Renhi declares is as large around as
his waist and ten meters long. AS meter
is little under 3911c inches, the monster
would measure about 33 feet. This was
the beast that startled the officer at the
quarantine station.
1--WE sailed from Para on April s." said
Renhi, "and had quiet voyage ! have
only looked at few OF the snakes on the
way to New Orleans, and no doubt some of
them are dead, The big boa was out yes
terday and is all right, and think most of
them have stood the trip very we'll. They
were fed just before we started and have
had nothing to eat since, but that won't
hurt them. Snakes don't require food more
than once every few months.
How do l catch them?" continued the
little spellbinder. why, / know their
habits and have no trouble finding them in
the forest where they live The smaller
snakes / pin to the ground by the neck
with a forked stick and then seize them
by the tail and thrust them, quick. in a
sack. 1t is not difficult when cne knows
how. Sometimes ! catch one that is too
strong for me and gets few coils around
my body or my arm. In that case / take
no chances. but stab II in the neck with a
dagger that / always carry where | can
reach 1t. The big boa took three men TO
handle It. We caught 1t in a net, but it
was so powerful that 1t broke the meshss
and nearly got away, The snakes use
for exhibition tame and teach to obey me.
The best for the purpose are the Brazilian
python and a gray tree snake that grows
about six feet long. They are very lntelli-
gent and are not hard to teach after they
find out who is master. I intend to stay
in New Orleans for a month or two, and