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Show NOT A DANGEROUS REPTILE. Anacondas of South America Are Com- J paratlvely Harmless. i William C. Agle, who has spnt - many years In South America, upsets '. many old notions about dangerous f roptllos, says tho Philadelphia In- qulrer. Whon he first went to South America ho hnd tho conventional pic- '. tures In his mind of men being crush- ed nnd swallowed by nnacondno and f boas. "Years ago," he said, "I read nn ac- '. count written by n naturalist of these monsters In tholr native state, colling and uncoiling themselves llko light- ', ning, nnd coughing nnd hissing with '. such a roar as could bo compared t only to tho exhaust of a powerful f, Bteam engine. - f "'What Is tho truth about theso - mysterious reptiles?' I havo asked ( nearly evory native I met in tho South f American countries If ho had over j over seen a boa or nn nnacondn. Most of them had not. To those who had '. I put tho quostlon: f " 'Whnt do thoy look llko?' "And tho answer was always: 'Their movement Is very, very slow, nnd thoy aro not ferocious.' "I met nn nnaconda on tho upper 1 Maranon, a great black and yellow snake, all colled up. I drew my re- . volver and fired at tho coll. Instead of tho terrlblo convulsions of which I 1 had read, tho coll rolled over, re- i malncd stationary a moment, then , rolled back and lay as before. I fired again. The coll sank slowly In the water and disappeared. i ' "Those snakes can easily bo domes- i ttcatod. Somo mon ran upon nn an- , nconda In tho woods near tho rubber camp. Thoy throw a flsh not over It nnd brought it to camp, whero they ' let It go. It crawled away Into the river, but enmo back ofton and crawled around tho yard so much that thoy got tired of looking at It. So they put It in n box nnd sont It to Iqultos. Wo measured It; It was just 24 foot C inches long." i |