Arizona daily citizen., 1901-04-04
Judge Barnes and
the RattlerS

| The Republican says: Judge William
II. Barnes OF Tucson. the chief of The
Republican snake department arrived in
the city yesterday morning and drove
hurriedly from the NJ. & P. depot to this
office. The judge was laboring under
excitement and was in evident i'll hu-
NOR. II see by this mornings paper"
said he, that in my abserce the snake
department has been thrown open to
amateurs and you have printed a story
which, il not obviously untrue, is cal
culated to engender distrust. You can
not afford to do this
"rhe snake department must be above
suspicion. 1t must be biblical for re-
liability. Otherwise it had better be
abandoned and the space filled with
spring poetry or dead ads. The Repub-
lican should not be permitted to trust
its reputation for integrity to the care
lessness and incompetence of youth. Tn
less can control this snake department
You may make out my time and check
and accept my resignation"
The Judge was assured that hence
forth no snake stories would be admit
ted to the. columns Of The Republican
without his approval.
He then resumed his desk and pre-
pared the following instructive and at
the same time interesting areicle on the
rattlesnake:
"Of all Gods creatures none are so
generally misunderstood as the crotalus
or rattlesnake, commonly believed to
be malignant and murderous reptile.
Those who have studied the crotalidae
hive ascertained that they are not only
n )t vicious, but, on the contrary, res
pond readily to kind treatment. The
rattlesnake is tImid and his associations
with the human race have naturally
rendered him distrustful.
"Whenever he bites man he does 60
eith@ in self defense or in lnisappre-
hension, but more frequently in the
leg, below the knee. He never strikes
in wantonness, and indeed l know of
only one animal that does, and that is
man. The rattlesnake is capable OF not
only great affection but of wonderful
intelligence. These admirable traits,
however, cannot be evolved until the
confidence of the reptile has been Sc
cured.
Il will illustrate my view of the rattle
snake by an incident which occurred at
Tucson the night before left. Ichabod
$3.50 who lives block and half north
OF the Occidental hotel in that part of
the city known as the Barrio Libre {the
free town., has for several years been
the proud owner of two rattlesnakes,
| male and female. Soso is childless
widower, so that all the affection of his
nature was poured out upon his reptil-
lian pets. He is poor laborer, but all
his leisure hours are spent at his home
surrounded by his snakes instead of at
the safoon or other improper places. The
snakes are not only the friends and COM
panions of Soso, but also the guardians
OF his humble belongings. Marauding
cats and devouring dogs give his hum
BILE cottage a wide birth. Thieves would
rather inv de a rest house than the
premesis OF $3.50. million dollars in
gold lying loose on his floor would not
tempt burglar within the iurisdictit n
/ of those faithful reptiles.
"But last Tuesday night burglar who
had just come to town, or perhaps he
was only sneakthief, stumbled upon
soso's humble residence. Maybe he had
been trying the doors along the street
and found Soso's unlocked, for it is
never locked. He entered stealthily
and closed the door behind him. At
that instant the male, the larger rattle
snake, sprang upon him. He coiled
the fore part OF his length about the
unhappy burglars throat. He took a
hitch father down about the door-knob
and thus had his man secure. Upto this
point the conduct of the snake might be
regarded MS instructive, but his next
move was one which left no doubt of
acute reasoning powers. He stuck his
tail through the keyhole and ratified for
policeman"
A Good Tkinm