The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-16
SNAKES SET SOUTH NORWALK CLIMBING
 TALL TIMERS

South Norwalk. June 16-Five long
 distance rattlesnakes have helped I themselves to the freedom of the city and until they are captured residents generally will continue to do business from the tree tops.
 The fact that the unwelcome wrig- glers carry an ante-mortem punch ir every fang and are not of the steri- Hzed, museum brand has not served to
 reaSSure the popuface to any great eX-
 tent Strictly speaking. South Nor walk is up in the air and will remain there until the snakes come forth and
 outline their future policy toward the natives.
 Up to Monday night the snakes occu- pied glass covered box in the window of A. w. Dreyfuss' cigar store, where
 they set up light housekeeping immed- lately after they were brought down from Kent Mountains by the members of the Schaghticoke Rattlesnake Club. Answering to the names of Bill, Jim. Mike. Teddy and Alice. they appeared to be perfectly contented. Mike and
 Teddy learned to chew tobacco and
 Alice developed the cigarette habit but
 aside from that no one could point a
 finger at them. Not that anybody was
 very anxious to. because South Nor
 walk is a popular railroad centre and
 fingers are not any too plentiful.
 No one knows whether they grew
 weary of continuous frog diet or ob-
 jected to being in the same company
 with stogies, but the fact remains that
 they sulked all day Monday. A nice
 fat mouse was dropped into the cage to cheer them up. but they kept ex-
 clusively to themselves and MT. Mouse got busy gnawing his way to freedom. He gnawed so hard that he loosened a board. and presently was acting as drum major for the escaping snakes.
 The first MT. Dreyfuss knew that anything was wrong was when he ap- preached the store yesterday and saw one of his best customers sitting on the head of Powhatan, the faithful wooden Indian outside the door. The customer said he met the snakes as they were departing and that he broke all vaulting records reaching the Indians head.
 When Dreyfuss found the box empty he immediately got in touch with the Health and Street departments. and as the result Look out for rattlesnake" town.
 Estimates as to the number at nb- erty grew in size the day wore on and the various <intoxicants got a chance to get in their work. Most of the men folk decided right away that whiskey was the only thing that could save them, and by four o'clock in the afternoon everything had been inhaled but the oil in the street lamps.
 It was all right for the men. because they could fortify themselves. but the women and children were terrorized. Such women as had to be abroad fastened their skirts around their ankles with rubber bands and took to the middle of the road. One old lady did her marketing in rubber boots. The police force is walking on his hands so as not to be taken by surprise. The spectacle of dignified citizens climbing 1 trees in all parts of the city grew so | common as to attract scarcely any at tention. . Street Commissioner "Dan" Dunlop | and three of his assistants got the | scare of their lives during the after | noon. They were outlining plans for | the apprehension of the snakes when | a baby in a window overhead shook it's | rattle. With a single bound all four l men landed on the top of coal box, | to the delight of onlookerS.
 Later-The regular weekly meeting of | the Town Council was held last night | on the roof of the ice house. just back | of the depot.