The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-10-21
GATHERING SNAKES
FOR MARKET
Here Is a Profitable Industry That
Would Not Attract One by Its,

Beauty.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
Portland. ore. Oct. 2o.-The snake in.i
dustry L. not an especially attractive onek
but It Is profitable. The snakes that abound
in this locality are particularly desirable
because OF the excellent quality Of oil that
can be made from them. and this Is whas
the snake harvest must yield.
A short time ago Postmaster Castel Of
Falls received an order from .
snake-oil refinery In St. Paul for -four hum
dred pounds of the best snakes and since
then business has been looking up in the
snake fields.
Being confronted with a snake famine In,
his part of the country. the Minnesots
man. having heard Of the excellence Of the
klamath Falls snake. wrote the Postmaster
for Information as TO prices and ordered q
big shipment. At first the letter was put
ASIDE as a joke. but when Mr.. Castel got to
thinking the matter over. he decided that
II might not be intended that way. as he
recalled something he once heard about,
medicine. 50 he answered the latter, saying
he could furnish the best sort Of snakes at
p cents a pound The order for the 600
pounds has been filed. and the snake oil
man has further announced. by mall. thaSi
he will probably want 800 pounds more.
Now that the household snake of Klamath
has been given a marketable value, his pop
ularity as q resident Of the domestic hearfhl
and piay.fellow OF the children Is beinE1
WNAShco AL thc ditIit diu LOulQ NanIlQKx
II is seen now that his company may be-
dispensed with without breaking up the
family TO any noticeable extent. and already
every other member OF the family has
turned against him and Is plotting for his
deportation to Minnesota by slow frei1h1
at SO much per pound.
He Is caught In the bare hand and carried
IN armfuls to a box and dumped in. until
there's a whole case of interviewer. squirm-
the box and nailed UP. one man NAV take
q stroll In any direction, and In the course
Of an hour or two catch a hundred snakes,
AZ the rate OF % cents a pound. this nifty
pounds OF stringy live stock Is worth 81. SOL
9 fair wage for a days labor. No wonder
MIL Mri,e Ga as 81. took a chance and told the
willing to furnish all the snakes required for
q quarter a pound.
Minnesota market. there are others " ho
pursue snakes no less busily and intend to
make a living thereby. There are just as
caught out of it. they aver. and If anybody
wants to buy snake meat at Is cents q
pound they are going to do some OF the fur
nishing themselves and not let MIR. Castel
have q monopoly In il.
It. isn't time yet for a klamath Falls,
The town OF klamath Falls Is situated a.
the foot of the falls themselves, which be-
gin at Upper Klamath Lake and continue
to the lower lake. The descent is gradual.
being not enough OF a declivity to make al
fan worthy the name. SO that Klamath
mountain stream a hundred yards wide and
a mile long. linking the two lakes. The
declaration OF the stranger above quoted
that he saw miles Of snakes along this
river, must, therefore, be taken as an im-l
pressionistic sketch. A mile Of snakes prob
ably looks like any number Of miles Of the
creatures to . visitor going for a stroll
through their neighborhood. Uuiess warned
beforehand. he would undoubtedly imagine
he had them again." n would 10 home
on the first train and swear of. klamath
ebriates. II would beat the goId-cure re-
sorts out Of business. Its beneficial prop
critics are natural and do not cost much
only Is cents n pound. brought to your door. !
You can 30 out with a pitchfork and SCOOP
Up fifty pounda y q In an houH Ter