New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-18

AS WOMEN CHEER
Battle of Jungle Snakes
Staged to Enliven Trip
from South America.
BILLIARD TABLE USED
AS AN AMPHITHEATRE
DR.. Brasil, Referee and Owner
of Contestants, Here for Pan.
American Congress.

South American seforitas who came
TO port yesterday on the Lamport &
Holt steamer Vestris told Of the new
est advertisement for deep-sea voy-
ayers. They had been treated TO a
thrilling fight while their good ship
ploughed through the lazy tropics.
It was not shark fight, but snake
fight. The arena was the newest gyro-
scopically balanced billiard table. The
umpire was DR.. Vital Brasil, who so
thoroughly entertained Colonel Roose-
Welt with snake fights while he was on
bis South American trip mat the Colo
mel devoted dozen pas Of his book
about the trip to DR.. Brasil sad his
scTappy reptiles.
DR.. Brasil, with twenty Of his
choicest and deadliest fighters, was q
passenger on the Vestris to attend the
Pan-American Scientific Congress in
Washington December 81. The three
weeks trip grew monotonous, and some
of the passengers, remembering that
DR.. Brasil had staged a snake ASht for
the Colonel, asked him to put one on
for them.
Snakes Enter Arena.
When of the coast of Florida the
doctor cleared the billiard table for the
battle. He brought on two snakes, one
large, non-poisonous specimen that
I Ill -. -, No. nj NJ n
IL and crushing it to death, and the
other a small, venomous snake OF light
ming activity. The second snake was
four feet long-not quite half the size
OF its antagonist.
DR.. Brasil explained that no snake
would eat or fight unless it were angry.
| The contenders, he said, were OF the
! types that eat once year. The big
! one had been fed last Christmas, when
il swallowed young pig. The small
one acted as though IL had not been fed
since the discovery OF the River Du-
vida.
Aided by his young daughter, DR..
Brasil placed the fighters at opposite
ends Of the billiard table and began to
rub their scales the wrong way. But
at this moment something happened
that robbed victory OF its sting. An
aid of the doctor told him that another
of his snakes had died OF seasickness.
That made the eleventh that had TO be
buried at sea, and the doctor couldn't
take chances Of losing another.
Rather than disappoint the crowd. lie
took stick and leased the smaller
snake until his repeated blows had eN-
hausted all the snakes poison. Then
he released the serpents, and with a
quick, wriggling motion, their heads
high and their tongues vibrating, they
sped at each other. More than one
scream came from the audience when
the small reptile sanks its fangs into
the neck Of the big constructor.
Doctor Prevents Fatality.
In the wilds of Brazil that would
have been the death blow, but the blow
had been robbed of its deadliness. With
a twirl the big serpent coiled into
spiral-and within the spiral was the
bahHed, helpless, smaller snake. Slowly
contracting its powerful muscles, the
constructor settled down to crush and
gradually swallow its victim, which
was sinking it's impotent fangs again
and again into the thick neck OF is
captor.
Here DR.. Brasil interfered, and both
snakes are now safe in New York.
DR.. Brasil, director OF the Serum
Therapic Institute Butantam and au-
thor Of large volume on Defence
Against Reptiles" will give the results
Of his studies before the conference al
Washington. lie said last night that