Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 239, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1916 — Little Snake Causes Quakes in the Quaker City [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Little Snake Causes Quakes in the Quaker City

PHILADELPHIA.— -When a 12-inch snake wriggled its way across Chestnut street near Twelfth the other afternoon toward the curbstone scores of men and women looked, stopped and then edged away as the reptile ap-

proached nearer. Several exceptionally timid‘s terror-stricken. A snake on Chestnut street was not an everyday occurrence. Finally a group of men, braver than their, fellows, formed a circle around the snake. It lifted its head once, wiggled its tall and the crowd broke for cover. A reserve policeman approached, took a look and advised the bystanders to move away. "That's a rattlesnake,” he said. “I guess I better call for the cruelty

wagon." As he departed a man approached who has known snakes all his life. To the astonishment of the spectators he bent down, picked up the snake and walked away. He had recognized it as a “De Kay garter” snake, the smallest of North American species and one of a harmless variety. It is believed that the snake crawled into an automobile in some out-of-town garage and dropped to the street upon its arrival in the city.