The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-10-02
The Home of Mosquitoes

Inc Home OF mosquitoes.
Young man, you don't know what a
mosquito is. You have, maybe, been
worried by a single mosquito, and thought
| of doing awful things. Maybe you board
! ed were they were too economical TO nut
| up nets, or maybe you have been fishing
in some of these Illinois lakes; but with
out You have been to the tropics, or up
| the Missouri river, you are a baby when
it comes down to mosquitoes. Up there
you get them in every style and shape.
Same Of them are pretty and some of
i them ugly; some are big and some little,
| but all the same big, little, black, brown,
| red or green---they all have agreed upon
/ the oncithing they all bite, and bite hard
1t is always considered necessary up there
to wear net over the face and to glove
the hands. That is no protection this
summer. A new brand Of mosquitoes
the boys call them ssskeeters was in
| troauced this summer by Providence.
They are SO small that they penetrate the
meshes OF the finest net. The bigger one
will bite through your clothes-yes,
through your boots and buckskin gloves.
There isno getting away from them. When
they kill cattle it is pretty tough, isn't
/ it?n
"On the cattle2 Yes
well, sir, we saw poor cattle rush
down into the water and wade until every
thing was covered but their heads, and
then the pests would light on their heads
N swarms, and bite their noses. and every
place they could settle on. until the poor
things beloved in their agony, and closed
their eyes and tossed their heads If they
were human they would commit suicide.
AS it is they are driven mad. Poor things,
they are nothing but skin and bones;
mere skeletons, clothed in swollen and
liberated skins. Some of the bows killed
few OF them, but they were not fit to
bring On board Same way with all the
animals. Antelope and deer were re-
| duced to nothing but skeletons by the
vampires. If you held your hand out tor
a quarter of a minute, itwould be covered
with mosquitoes that it would look ike
you had glove on. The suferings of
the men were awful It is supposed that
the natural oil of the negroes skin is of
fensive to the pests. That Is rot SO. They
took to the negroes like a babe to its
milk. I'll tell you how we were able to
get through. l took down my stovepipes
and kept smokey fires burning ali the
time. had to have two small hand
furnaces making smoke in the pilot-house
all the time, SO that the pilots could work.
The men were all broke up. Every limb
was swelled up, and you could not have
recognized the features of your own
brother. The smoke was the only pro-
lection. and it was pretty near bad as
the mosquitoes. The eyes OF al We men
were bloodshot. Life was misdl
"The mosquito latitude begiAs about
seventy-fve miles below Bismarck, and
is good for seyenty-fye above that point.
There never was a season like this one
before. For the first time in many years
they had up there what you would call
an open winter. There was Pc ice or
snow. At Fort Benton-and just look st
your map and you VIII find it about AZ
deg. latitude, and that's pretty far north
:. they didn't put up ton of ice About
the first of March the rainy season set il.
There has not been twelve good days
since. will venture to say, and mind
you I know all about the country, more
rain has fallen in that latitude this year
than in the fifteen years previous. Veg
citation is rank and tropical It's luxuri-
ance Weeds Of unusually ordinary
growth are higher than mans head, and
from the water mosquitoes are bred by
the million.
''It you publish what have been tell
ing you about the pests, some people will
laugh and call it exaggeration. Young
man, ] couldn't begin TO give you an idea
of their numbers. They fly in clouds.
They obstruct the light Of the sun. They
are ravenous. They are as bad in the
day as in the night. Talk about the To-
Gusts of Egypt or the grasshoppecs of
Kansas, they are nothing. They drive a
man almost crazy. Just think of prefer
ing to sit in binding and sitting smoke
rather than venture outside where the
mosquitoes would get at them. Rather
would promenade twenty hours day
thr ougla the yellow fever district of New
Orleans than go through the experience
with mosquitoes that I had this summer.
It's awful. I can give you no idea of
the nuisance, the torture
Aud the Captain aimed vicious blow
at a sleepy fly that was buzzing around,
and then got up and walked vigorously
around to shake off the memory of this
Upper Missouri mosquito misery.
Enormous Consumption OF Timber.
I ,Ntn II fn> +h.o- a.