The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1923-10-18
"SNAKE KING" is
DEAD AT n YEARS
Natural Death Comes to Man
Who Handled Thousands Of
Poisonous Reptiles.
RAN A WHOLESALE BUSINESS
sslIschslt Was Won't 10 Declare Thar
aha Rattlssnake Was Much MIsunder-
stood--unIsss Molssted 1t Would
Not Strike Ordinarily.

san Antonio, Tex.--Julius k. Ball
scheit. siventy-one. known to the world
Of the circus and museum as 1.-The Rat
tlesnake King" Is dead at the home of
his daughter, Mrs Emma Braun, in
San Antonio. Although he had handled
literally hundreds Of thousands of
snakes in long career, his death was
q natural one.
Ballscheit was native of Germany
but came to Texas when young man
and at flrst engaged in farming. 1t
was purely by accident that he started
In the snake business, it Is said. A
medicine show was in Helotes, small
settlement in Bexar county and offered
81 for q rattlesnake. Ballscheit never
had caught rattler, but going out with
long stick at the end OF which was a
forked prong he soon found q large
snake, pinned Its head to the earth,
then picked 1t up, threw It in sack
and carried 1t to the show man.
From that day forward Ballscheit
caught rattlers for a living and liter
ally has caught single-handed thos-
sands of the reptiles. The rattlers are
one of the great natural crops of south
west Texas.
Becomes Wholesale Dealer.
As the .'Rattlesnake King became
halter known and his snakes were more
in demand among circuses, medicine
shows and museums, he became a
wholesale dealer, as well as retailer.
and Mexicans In the Off season when
farm work was slack frequently went
snake catching. When they made a
catch they were certain to ind a mar
ket with 1.-THE Snake King
Mr.. Ballscheit was wont to declare
that the rattiesnake was much misun-
derstood. Unless the reptile was
molested 1t would not strike ordinarily,
but would escape from the vicinity OF
threatened danger. II RATHER Is
startled it will strike and In the skin
shedding season, when the reptile Is
blind, anything approaches at its peril,
Tor the snake lashes out at every noise.
Belonging to the viper family, the
rattler's young are born, not hatcned
as In the case Of many other reptiles,
and references to rattiesnake eggs,
sometimes seen, are due to mistaking
the eggs Of some other snake for those
OF the deadly rafting viper or to ma
ture taxing. The female gives birth
sometimes to litters of as many as
dozen vigorous little reptiles In the
early spring, and they emerge into the
world fully equipped with poison sacs1
and fangs, capable of Staying man or
beast from the day Of their birth on.
Warns Before Striking.
.Srhe rattlesnake Is a gentleman. He
always gives due warning before ne
strikes" Mr.. Ballscheit explained re-
Gently. I'm shedding season when he
cannot hunt because OF blindness, mis-
hunger and sightlessness makes the
RATHER mean customer. Sometimes
he will sound warning, but generally
not. and he will strike at any noise
during that period"
Mr.. BalIscheit was not afraid OF rat
tiers and the larger they were, ana
therefore the more dangerous, the bet
ter he liked them, for rattlers sell by
the pound and not by length as the un-
initiated might imagine.
When the demand for the live snakes
proved slack, the snakes still proved
profitable to Mr.. Ballscheit. who killed
them and cured the hides for use in
leather goods such as belts, hatbands,
fobs and purses, the skins being SOFT,
and pliable when properly tanned. The
earcasses are rendered for the fat,
which IL highly esteemed for lotions,
etntments and for use as treatment
fer rheumatic affections. The venom
also il useful in science and In me
manufacture of drugs.
While many Of the snakes sold py
"the Snake King went to the pur-
chasers with their poison fangs intact,
the majority had their fangs extracted
before they were shipped. The ex-
traction of fangs Is accomplished Dy
getting the snake to strike at heavy
piece of silk. The fangs become en-
tangled In the texture Of the goods and
quick, strong pull accompanies the
dental work.