The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-07-02
A F,pa Entertainment.

In London a young Englishman is con-
Quoting en- exhibition Of n very curious
character. He is the proprietor of q stud
Of performing fieas; or, TO use the words
Of his own announcements, of TRAINED
Aptertus insects, the only specimens of the
Articulata in the world ever taught TO per
form" The London Daily News says:-
1--WE went TO the sight, fearing that oui
sense Of refinement would be shocked, bui
found, upon entering the room, q tastefully
decorated apartment, and several ladies
with their children admiring the household
foes which a wholesome sense Of
duty teaches them generally e
crush. MIR. Kitchingman, the exhibitor,
has toiled hard and long 10 bring his exhi.
bition 10 It's present successful condition.
Like the everlasting oookery-book hare, the
heas have had first to be caught, then
shipped hither from Russin, Belgium and
France, or elsewhere, and afterwards sub
jected to a training in which severity and
tenderness are pretty equally proportioned
Without going so far. as the exhibitor, who
believes the little wretehes he protects have
intellects, and says he has seen their brains,
we must confess our astonishment at the
novel figure they are made TO cut, although
in an age like this one ought not TO be
amazed at sucn a tride as tho spread Of ed.
ucation among 1eas. The insects in Re-
gent street draw CARRIAGES, act as tug 10 O
man-of-war, fire off agun, perform on the
tight-rope, draw q bucket out of an imag.
mary well, leap and swing, and execute
other evolutions upon q white, smooth
table,
THESE things, however, arc not done by
the Aeas as by other beings. The v%olunta.
ry system il quiet ignored, and the won.
der of the exhibition is rather marvellous
delicaoy Of the machinery than the genius
of the performers. Mr.. Kitchingman, aftei
years Of patient, has perfected q set of Lii.
liputian articles, designed and made by his
own hands, that are OF themselves Of the
rarest kind, and the visitor will soon per
ceive that they are most ingehiously made
for heas, and not tho feas for them. TAX.
ing the raw, untutored 1ea between his fin.
ger and thumb, with q touchthat few could
command, the proprietor fnstens by n pc
culiar moose q fine hair round the insecti
trunk, leaving the two ends standing m
inch or 80 above the back, like n couple OF
oyergrown f%eoler. These hair-ends ar,
fastened to the apparatus generally by in
sertion in the split of n tiny straw, and thi'
this difficult operation having been done
without injury TO wind or limb, the hnr
AlinNth NNDAlNb II hNANlufh w NAiN UAAANlNhAAAi
service for which It's talents nt Il.
"The Russian and Belgian fleas are fa
vorite pupils, but the English breed, aftel
much starving and training, become th,
toughest and best. We observed one oil
Saturday, however, fretting in the COLA
very painfully, and drawing his ivory On.
with n hop, skip, and jump, instead Of Tn,
steady, easy trot which the Russian or Bel
gian affected. Perhaps IL was too much b
expect Alright minded nen TO be dooile I'M
der tho circumstances in tho presence o
ruddy children and blonde ladies. One o.
two Of the performers were pointed out AZ
the inheritors of n green old age; they had
lived nine months, and we're now, in tn.
course of nature, nearing the day Of thei
death. Three or -four months-nay, week
however, are considered n hard age for
q flea to live.
"Mr. K%itchingman, with touching affec
ton, allows his fieas to live out Of himself
which is nothing but fair, seeing that n
lives out of them. Every day, whom some
thing attempted and something done ha
earned them n nights ropose, he feeds hi
flock upon the back of his hand, puts eacl
individual between two blankets, ant
the whole layer into n box, whore the,
slumber secure, out Of harms way, an,
ought 10 be able TO rise in the morning wit
clear consciences towards all mankind
The unframed reserve stock 1.-TWO or three
hundred) are kept in q stoppered bettl
full Of Il nnel wool. The exhibitor give
his visitors much information upon thi
special branch Of natural history"