New-York tribune., 1901-10-13
SNAKES As A CURE.
'RATTLEsNAKE PETE" APPLIES THEM TO CASES
OF GOITRE.

OF GOITRE.
From The Chicago Record-Herald.
Peter Gruber of Rochester, N.sY., whose skill
and courage in handling venomous reptiles have
erng from the effects Of his fourteenth rattlesnake
bite: For several years 'Rattlesnake Pete" has
succeeded in sinking its fanss into his flesh near
last Saturday he had a partial demonstration of
his theory, which painfully practical large
diamond back RATHER taking the veteran off his
guard. pushed its needleiike fangs laden with the
deadly venom, into Pete's left wrist just the
fhaa fah it faiI 5E to e the IT % b ecs Of the % po
Were felt, TO the tips of his toes and that
with a lancet in about thirty seconds after the
poisonous weapons had pierced the flesh. Ten sec
onds later Pete fell TO the floor unconscious and
physicians say that delay of only a few sec
onds in severins the artery would have cost him
has provided these reptiles.
during the thirty years that he has handled snakes
but the accident has not dampened his ardor one
he will ultimately fall victim to one of the deadly
creatures but he is not he with absolute con-
fdence. taking any greater risks than many other
men Of the present day who are laboring 10
solve some of the problems Of nature-for
that is what Pete" is doing, and they do him
injustice who say that he is handling these
mere sake Of bravado He believes that every
thing was made bY the Divine Creator for some
the serpent is exception to this law He asserts
that he has already attained some measure OF sue
cess by discovering the wonderful medicinal proper
ties OF the rattesnake As soon as ne IS enureiy
his researches along these lines with renewed en-
ergy. ,.
snakes" said Pete" a few days after he had left
the hospital lis all ud For % me rnne 1t and
I'm proud Of the bit of paper presented to me
fes that I'm the most skilfu handler OF poisonous
snakes in this country, any college lad IS Of his
woman in Pennsylvania kill rattlesnake, ana
Tnce then my Ret fbhg N tfS f6a Tye become
vnced of the wonderful medicinal properties IN
cure cg eoitre BY applying my snakes and in view
the recent exaggerated reports about the treat
"The cannibal snake from Florida, which is non
Is the most Satisfactory one to use for this opera
tion II the patient is lady, select the best
by allowing her to pet it Then holding the head
I let it coil slowly around her neck, watching
closely to break the knot which the snake
first applied. the serpent is naturally cold and
clammy, which occasions the only really unpleas-
ant sensation in the operation. Soon, however,
the reptile begins to absorb heat and when II is
a fact that women after the first application are
not at all TO the treatment I don't know
anybody Else, for that mater although the scien2
lists in London and Paris who are discussing the
! know is that the cure is effected. and that the
tons Those who have Investigated the matter
say that exhaustion causes its death"
But how did you discover the healing properties
''The cure for goitre is not an entirely new one;
II was employed by the Indians many years ago.
Indeed. it would be well for US II we, devoted more
attention TO some OF these old Indian remedies.
They. used the, castof skins Of rattlesnakes for
poultices and the oil from the fat along the back
bone for sprains and deafness, I've tried both
remedies with success, and. so far as l know, I'm
the Standard oil Company with respect to the
latter article. There's another Indian remedy
which I've never tried but would try IL the oppor-
tunity presented itself. They say that positive
for consumption is afforded by eating the
heart OF a rattlesnake while it's beating. Such a
remedy would of course, be rather disagreeable to
take, but If the heart Of a rattler doesn't taste
worse than its flesh IT could be swallowed without
much i rattleSnake twice.
The first time was in Denver Col. in 1885. and
there's interesting little story connected with
the occasion. At a banquet given TO me by a
Davies. picked out the plumpest in the
bunch. and. guest OF honor the task of slaugh-
teTing IL deyoved upon me, cut off the head, and
yon may not believe It, but Rs true. that for some
time after it was severed from the body the head
would strike at a stick. while the heart continued
to beat for hour and a half. The meat was
frcasseed toast. and wasn't at all disagreeable
10 taste. Last week Davies passed through this
city on his way 10 India. where he intends TO
study the habits OF the cobra, the deadliest OF
serpents, which, IL is estimated kills nearly twen
ty-five thousand people in that country every year.
lt was In his honor that gave my recent rattle
snake banquet