Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-08
SNAKE SKIN GOWN
VERY LATEST FAD
One Grown Python Alone Will
Make a Robe Fit for
Evening Wear.

LONDON, Aug S-For once fashion
has taken a direction which promises
to be Of general benefit to humanity.
Womankind, or at least such as have
access to the longest purses. are short
ly to use snakesldn for garments of
quite everyday wear
Whether the new robes will prove a :
artistic as is expected remains to be
seen; they will certainly lend them
selves in skillful hands to the empha-.
sizing Of whatever graces there may
be in the person of the wearer and if
the fashion thins out the number of
/ these dangerous reptiles all over the
world, humanity will owe a debt of
gratitude to the inventor of new modes.
We may yet come to see pythOn- skin
sold by the yard over the dry goods
counters, for the python is a big beast.
occasionally reaching. when full grown.
80 feet in length and a foot or more in
diameter; thus, apparently, a single
skin might supply enough stuff to make
an ordinary gown on modern lines
what the cost will be one can not vet
say. 1t will obviously be high. for SER
penis of the largest size are not to be
met With every day.
The market price of skins in view
Of the coming demand, has already
gone up to a very high figure. and in
bofheo, Sumatra and all over the Malav
Archipelago native hunters are scour-
ing the wilderness. tempted bv the Of
fors of dealers in Paris and Vienna
and killing or capturing every big snake
they meet with.
How Pythons Are CAUGHT,
In MalaNa the "reticulated" python or
rtce-snake-so called from his habit Of
frequenting the paddy-sWamps where
small game abounds-is the largest Of
available serpents. The native hunt
ers when seeking them, look for the
tracks they make in their nightly for
aging expeditions, and place on each a
large cane construction much on the
principle of the eel trap The python
entering this to get at some small an,
imal used as bait finds himself unable
to retreat and is starved into quietnees
Pythons are also captured in the
open which is a distinctly exciting, kind
of sport. If the hunters should have
the good luck to find one asleep gotled
up on some branch or rocky ledge.
gorged with his last meal. they throw
net Of strong rope over him and then
a long battle begins; for the python
combines the strength of horse with a
special inability to understand when he
has met his match. it being as much a s
dozen men can do eventually to bind
and secure a full grown specimen.
BIouses From the Amazon.
But it is not only in eastern coun-
tries snakes big enough to supply rough
material for blouse ana skirt are to be
found In South America some re-
markedly large kinds haunt the dense
forests especially of the Amazon. and
| the sWamps of the interior. Brazil has
its boa constructors; while in other re-
gions the loving anaconda is nu-
merous. growing to a length of ten or
twelve feet, with a girth Of a yard in
the thiCkest part this representing a
great deal of available fabric for the
Partisan dressmaher to exert her skill
upon.
Ranging in proportions below these
| immense reptiles are a world Of other
snakes fascinating in patterns and in
| fnitely delicate in coloring. While the
more important sorts will no doubt be
reserved for dresses, the lesser varieties
may lend themselves to scarfs. muffs,
gloves and so on, for it is said that
properly prepared snakeskin is both soft
and durable The anaconda is already
"bespoke" for the latest thing in motor
coats, and thus used makes an attrac-
| tive novelty. Made up in delicate