Show snake king Is dead at 71 years ik natural death comes to man who handled thousands of poisonous reptiles RAN A WHOLESALE BUSINESS baltscheit Ball Bali was wont to declare that the rattlesnake was much Mi sunder stood unless molested it would not strike ordinarily san antonio tex julius B E ball one known to the world ot of the circus and museum as the rattlesnake tle snake king Is dead at the home ot of his bis daughter mrs emma braun in san antonio although he had bad handled literally hundreds of thousands of snakes in a long career his death was a natural one Ball was a native ot of germany but came to texas when a young man and at first engaged in farming fanning it was purely by accident that he started in the snake business it Is said A medicine show was in helotes celotes He lotes a small settlement in bexar county and offered 2 for a rattlesnake Ball Bali never had caught a rattler but going out with a long stick at the end of 0 which was a forked prong he soon found a large snake pinned its head to the earth then picked it up threw it in a sack and carried it to the show man from that day forward Ball caught rattlers for a living and literally has caught single handed thousands of the reptiles the rattlers are one of the great natural crops of southwest texas becomes wholesale dealer As the rattlesnake king became better known and his snakes were more in demand among circuses medicine shows and museums be became a a wholesale dealer as well as a retailer and mexicans in the oft off season when farm work was slack frequently went snake catching when they made a catch they were certain to find a market with the snake king kine mr Ball was wont to declare that the rattlesnake was much misunderstood der stood unless the reptile was molested it would not strike ordinarily but would escape from the vicinity of threatened danger if a rattler Is startled it will strike and in the skin shedding season when the reptile Is blind anything approaches at its peril for the snake lashes out at every noise belonging to the viper family the rattlers young are born not hatched botched its as in the case of 0 many other reptiles and references to rattlesnake eggs sometimes seen are due to mistaking the eggs of some other snake tor for those of the deadly rattling viper or to nature faking the female gives birth sometimes to litters of as many as a dozen vigorous little reptiles in the early spring and they emerge into the world fully equipped with poison sacs and tangs fangs capable of slaying man or beast from the day of their birth on warns warn before striking the rattlesnake Is a gentleman he always gives due warning before he strikes mr Balls ebelt explained recently in shedding season when he cannot hunt because of blindness his hunger find and sightlessness makes the rattler a mean customer sometimes he will sound warning but generally not and he be will strike at any noise during that period mr Ball Bali was not afraid of rattlers and the larger they were and therefore the more dangerous the better be liked them for rattlers sell by the pound and not by length as the uninitiated might imagine when the demand for the live snakes snake proved slack the snakes still proved profitable to mr Ball who killed hilled them and cured the hides for use in leather goods such as be belts its hat hatti bands ands fobs and purses the skins being soft and pliable when properly tanned the carcasses are rendered for the fat which Is highly esteemed for lotions ointments and for use as a treatment for rheumatic affections the venom also Is useful in science and in the manufacture of drugs drugg while many of the snakes sold by the snake king went to the purchasers with their poison fangs intact the majority had their fangs extracted before they were shipped the exa ex traction of tangs fangs Is accomplished by getting the snake to strike at a heavy piece of silk the fangs fanga become entangled in the texture of the goods and ft a quick strong pull accomplishes the dental work |