Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-18
CONSTRUCTOR
KILLED IN
ATLANTA
FRESH FROM ITS SOUTH AMER
ICAN HOME IN BUNCH OF BA-
NANAS 1T CAME AND MADE
THINGS LIVELY.

Great snakes! boaconstrictor doing
jungle stunts in the city of Atlantal And
everybody sober. with the remains of the
boaconstrictor as evidence of that fact!
On the floor of the office of Colbert g.
Philips. wholesale commission merchants.
at 4 North Broad street. lying in the full
glare of the electric lights of civilization,
a great boaconstrictor four feet long, was
found Saturday afternoon by Jeff Toll
bert, senior member of the firm.
Mr.. Tolbert entered his office rather hur-
riedly. He left rather more hurriedly, it
being alleged that he took part of the
door with him. Once outside. Mr.. Tolbert
executed the dance of the whfrling Der
wish, to the accompaniment Of as many
kinds of Indian war whoops as were ever
heard in Buffalo Bill show on pay day,
after the fire water had begun to circu-
late.
The dance which Mr. Tolbert was exc
cutting lead, of course, by chance, to the
front door OF his store, and the path then
lead across the street. The time used In
getting there could not have been taken
by split second watch 1t is more than
probable that he would have gone furth-
er, but a brick wall stopped him.
Clerks and passers by, judging by Mr..
Tolberts actions that there was some
thing weighing on his mind, corralled him
after quite chase.
Have you got 1t? Have you seen IT?
Where is it? Where did it come from?
Who put 1t there?'' the stenographer who
tried to listen further to Mr.. Tolbert's
question could not read any more OF his
notes.
One of the clerk, who had seen Mr.. Toll
bert do the disappearance stunt, captur-
ed him after a chase which lasted half a
block. w. B. Thomas. the clerk whose
sprinting abilities enabled him to lay
hands on his employer, had almost TO
fight Tolbert before he could pacify him.
Mr.. ToIbert, in his incoherent mutter-
ings, said something about snake. Like
Sherlock Holmes, Thomas reasoned that
Mr. Tolbert had come out of his office on
the run, and was now talking about
snakes.
why, I'll bet he saw a snake" he
said, and forthwith lead an attacking col
umn into the Office of the firm,
There, unconscious of all the trouble IT
had raised, but willing to raise more, was
coiled beautiful boaconstrictor, four feet
in length, its eyes sparkling fire, its forked
tongue darling forth with lightning rapid
ity when any one dared go near 1t. It's
head was lifted above the floor, high above
its beautifully spotted body.
Thomas did not wait long to ask the
snake it's business. He remembered he
had something to do in the rear of the
store. He started out of the Office and
found the door closed. In desperation he
seized an iron bar lying on the floor and
dealt the snake several frightful blows.
piroquetting around like collector af-
ter q victim.
A blow on the snakes body cut It al
most In two, and it's life was extinct. The
snakes body measured four feet. 1t was
pronounced by H G. Kuhrt, a local snake
fancier, to be a young Demonstration,
fresh from the jungles of its South Amer
lean home. 1t is thought that the snake
came IN a bag of cocoa nuts or in some
bananas. which had just come in from
the other American continent.
The door to the banana room, where
bananas are ripened by artificial heat,
had been left open, and 1t is more than
probable that the snake had just awak-
ened from its long Information and had
crawled out once again into the air.
Mr.. Kuhrt has the snake and will stuff
the skin. He says the animal, IL alive,
would be worth three hundred dollars.
JEFF Tolbert says it's worth more dead.