The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-05-28
FOUND A BIG SNAKE
COILED IN A CHARLESTON PRI-
VATE MAIL BOX.
Head and Part of Body Out Of Slit
Intended for Letters, but Most Of
Snake Inside Box.

To extend ones arm to place some
mail in a perfectly innocent-looking
| mail box and have three-foot snake
grin in your face is not the pleasant
est experience that can occur to one,
the average man will admit. The
News and Courier says this was exact
ly what happened to Letter Carrier
Charles 3. Claussen wednesday
morning. The snake, it Is said by one
who saw it, was probably harmless,
! but it was certainly vicious in appear
ance and for a time shivers were
coursing along several Of the spines
in the immediate neigh gbboChood Of
the snake, which was finally killed
by two negroes.
Letter Carrier Claussen's route
takes him to lower King street,
Charleston, where large proportion
Of the houses are equipped with
private mail boxes and some Of these
boxes are of considerable dimensions.
The letter carrier had, as usual, AS.
sorted his mail according to numbers
and was going his cheerful way,
when he came to such box anu,
taking the mail consigned for this
number from his pile, he was abou-
to insert in the slit in the box. 1t
was not inserted for some time, how
ever. The startled carrier saw the
head Of a snake sticking through the
slit in the mail box. Said head was
waving nonchalantly to and fro and
very businesslike tongue was pro.
truding in a manner which would
have spoken volumes to mail car
rier or anybody else.
The greater part Of the snakes
body was inside the box, as later in
vestigation proved. A portion Of the
body and the head was outside. COIN
ing through which mail is dropped
into the box. Apparently the snake
had crawled into the mail box, no
other explanamation of it's unwe!
come presence there appearing likely.
When the mail carrier saw the
head of the snake pointing in such
a direct manner at him, he hesitated
about insulting the reptile by any
rude action, such as trying to squeeze
the letters in through the slit while
the snakes head was occupying part
Of it. But. of course, the letters had
to be delivered and the problem Of
the snake in the box to be faced.
Meanwhile the mail carriers d.
lemma began to attract the attention
Of passersby, who stopped to gaze at
the queer and unusual spectacle Of a
snake in a King street mail box.
They were careful, however, not to
stop too near to the box, because
there was no way Of telling what ia
cilities that snake had for getting
out of the box, and since it had been
able to get in and appeared to be so
comfortable, it took very little rea-
soning power to conclude that it
could get out the same way 1t got in
whenever it chose. So no one was
taking any chances.
No one, that is, until two colored
men, probably wise in the ways of
snakes, happened along the street
and saw the trouble. They ran to a
wagon which was passing, seized
heavy whip and, returning, made
short work of Mister Snake. When
the reptile was killed and examined
it was found to be a fairly thick
green snake, about three feet in
length. The species of the snake
could not be ascertained, but it is
said to have been harmless.