The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1872-04-18

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voir brsias to spell it nut.
Isuppose the maa WIN named them
"Granisddy Greybeards. /" did . b.
csoss they ARA such grey. wEsakled.
solemn hooking insects, thae No
,hsuxht they were al old enough 70
he gEandfa,hers and grsndmoth~r-. NSr
of course there must he s,n,e grsnd'
mothers amonx them-they would be
ioness,'ne set u there were mot.
I used to think that they were the
xras,.ifalher >pi,irrs, but they are only
distant relations Of the spider family
f"rty. hfti, cousins, perhaps. The
sranf'-rs. as we sometimes call them
Tor the sake Of shOrtness. are - nu.
'heroos hete In Kansas that they are
what the Mss>..'ari people call -
mighty psst~rmeni;" which means
that they are . great trouble. ! do not
know ihat they do any harm, except
,hst they are every ahere and so Into
everything. | have sometimes seen
lie n. gathered on The ceiling in my
Kan sas home, thousands In y bunch,
xnd so clcee aud thick together that
their bodies we're completely hidden
6y their legs. The buiches are some-
times fOl In disml~ter. and they ksok
like huge lunches OF hair, NJ II they
might make = very gmai chignon.
And when J ON touch them, oh !! what
scattering aud dropping
They have = very dlssgrteable habit
If dropping dawn whenever they are
frightened and think they cannot run
fsst enough and they sre ~ sure 70
1T on III. ir fest ~ cats are their
long legs acting like springs, l rup-
pose, mr. u never seems To- hurt them,
even IL they are thrown out Of . two.
story window. But 1t 10 not very
pleasant to have them continually
dr,pping upon the break fast table, or
the water pail. or upon one's head.
They either have very weak eyes or
they are great towards. for they are
always hiding behind something. un-
der the pillows or under h dish t,wels.
under ones clothes aid under the
di-hes. cat scarcely pick up or take
down anything but the grandfathers
scamper from under It.
l u-ed to wonder very much what
kind Of food Grandfather Grey boards
iivet Oh, for they never eat the ciOihea
as moths and grasshopp-rs do, aud I
never could discover that they troutlssi
any kind Of food. II un,listurbed,
they remain on the wall. apparently
IN one position, for days. But ono
evening ~ I entered the room with .
lamp, 1 noticed that the long legged
fellows were scattered all over the
walls as lively ~ crickets. $50 no!
you are night hunters, are you 2" I
exclaimed. watched them awhile
aud learned they were catchin the
sleepy flies. They did not carry the
dies with their long legs. but III th~jr
mouths. When one caught ny the
rest chased him, like brsnI Of chick
ems chasing the one which has found
worm. As soon as they raw that
the room WAS lit up, tn " sll sca,npsr.
ed to their hiding places.
Each grant 'er hiss eight legs; bu.
the pair next TO the iorele.s are much
longer than the rest. and are also u-ed
rs feeler-; they appear to swing on
ot-joints, for he can move them In
circle almost around him. Unless
he is in very great hurry. he stops
every few mimut ., and puts each Of
his legs up to his mouth aud licks the
b0ttom Of his feet. I have often seen
flies do the same thing. Flies slso rub
their feet over their faces. Cat fashion,
ssssE stsuustss sasss ttey were washing
their fsces ~ cat washes hers. but
upon examining them with . micro.
scope. learned that they were putting
. sticky gum on their feet.
Did you ever see . little baby Grand
father Graybeard3 never did, al
though some cf them are lighter color.
ed. and look fresher aud plump.r than
the rest, and supposed that they
were the younger ones, but I was mis-.
taken. I have often found dry skins
and legs hidden IN dark cnrners. and
supposed them to be the last remains
Of poor old grandsddies WIN died ut =
good old age. but I was mistaken In
that also. One rnol ming saw = gran.
Fer who attracted my attention by re-.
naming perfectly quiet when I came
near him; and ! observed what an
peared to be little bunch OF feelers
about his mouth. lknew that gran.
f'ers had only two little feeIers, and
thought they could not be legs. for
there were his eight, stretched out q.
long as the legs Of any grsnf'.r. I
showed him little, aud he began to
turn and squirn, but did not run.
Poor fellow, he must have met with
some terrible accident" said ], for
noticed just then that hia back was
bursting open. and that he seemed to
have no use Of his legs But my pity
wa, wasted. for after some squir,ninx
and twisting. what should he do nut
tumble out Of his skin! What? Yes.
he actually tumbied over on his b ack,
leav.n his old skin and legs behind
him; and what l had supposed n 10
the little bunch Of feeIsrs proved u be
new ret Of legs. which had been
curlei up under him In . little bunch
inside OF Ills old skin.
So you see that whenever . Or md.
father Graybeard thinks he looks too
old aud gray, or his legs become weak
and rheumatic frot3 long and frequent
falls, he can just pull off Ills coat aud
become ~ young and strung ~ ever.
About the last Of August the gran.
fers Disappear. aud their going Il as
mysterious as their coming. 1 think
that they either emigrsie or 70 into
winter quarters. for never fiud their
bodies. dead or alive, or empty skins.
at that season Of the year Mrs. r. 3.
Hastings. in Hearth and Home.
Wisconsiu's Legislature. just before
adjourning, enacted . LIQUOR l.w.
which would IN sOrna raac..,.. - -