The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-10-26

: o ~ liioH uoS Hea. but the female
Is very different. burrowing beneath the
Skin' and there depositing her eros
"heh thus buried in the flesh, the fe-
ili''ie s"eils to great size by the dis
tension OF her eggs, and removal is not
only difficult, but dangerous. IF the
body OF the flea be broken while beneotb
the SKIN the released eggs are dissent
iiateo among the surrounding tissues.
ana palnlul lrrltations ensue. They NAV
De safely removed, however. with \
needle by those expert in the process. j
1he public is in blissful ignorance of
the jobs which the upholsfercrs have
wnen these Willoughby's pets so thor
ouShiy take possession of set of furni-
lure that the covering and stuffins is
stripped to the bare frame in order to
oust the tormentors. Several wears aco
an extensive upholstering establishment
was forced to entirely suspend operations
ior a season, so overwhelming was the
1lea seourge, while in 1867 New York
CIty suffered from a most peculiar and
notorious visitation. The attendants unon
GRACE Church were suddenly afflicted
with an intolerable itching, which proved
destructive to all spiritual exercises. The
devil had entered that sacred edifice. and
Whlle he came not as an angel of LIGHT
or as roaring lion, he came as cometb
the wicked flea-in truth he was the flea.
and the last part of the description was
literally fulfilled; he came seekioo whom
ne might devour. In no form more than
IN the guise of flea can Satan hope for
success in subverting the sanctities of
a church; and so it proved with Grace
Church in 1867. The first installment
OF uneasy and distracted worshipers was
noticed IN the corner to the left of the
chancel. The next Sunday abstraction
gave way to distraction, the whole half
OF the sanctuary on one side of the broad
aisle being infested. The third Sabbath
nearly the entire edifce was overrun. and
so grlevous had the ANNOYANCE become
that the church was closed and the he
rolc remedy resorted to of removing all
the cushions, tearing out all the carpets
and replacing the entire fittings with new.
There is a divergence of opinion con-
cerning the conditions favorable to the
best development of the sand flea life and
activity. One man says that he has seen
no fleas this year, ''because it was an
early wet season." while another affirms
that wet season always brings the fleas.
From one authority it is learned that tieas
revel in hot weather, while another is
positive that a flea can only do his level
best when it is cold.
A careful observer has aseertained
that our Normal Art School was first in
tested with the sand flea some two wears
ago, and in this light the only wonderi is
that, If the thing were possible. the leg
lslatlve investigation was not more acri-
monious than it really proved. But the
very climax of malignity is reached
when the wicked flea ensconces himself
In the luxuriant folds of the chair occu-
pied by a legislative presiding officer.
He then becomes the well authenticated
emissary of the evil one, Noone appre-
ciates better than the flea that '.he who
doubts is damned and he fixes his VIC
tim so that he shall 'doubt just at the
critical moment. What can be more
unfortunate than to compel a political
to ''go hunting for feas'' Just
as he is balancing the niceties of tie
vote? 1t has been asserted that the Ser
geat-at-Arms of certain western Leg
islature was bribed to pack-not a eau
cus-but the seats of certain leading
members with sand feas, the whole |
course of legislation being changed
thereby.
We learn from surgeon in the army
of the Potomac that f1eas never troubled |
the troops in Virginia during the late
war, but from a quartermas5er, who |
served in Florida, we gathered data both |
instructive and amusing. The troops
about Pensacola were oVerrun with the |
and tormenting pest. 1t
was ascertained that sand flea cannot |
Jump higher than three feet, and that its
longitudinal leaping capacity is about
he same. One method of circumvent-
ng the flea practiced by the officers there
vas to strip stark and climb into elevated
ounks. donning night clothes aloft. This
sxpedient was inadequate. They then
made immense cotton pillowcases, in
which they buried themselves at night,
gathering the quicker so closely about
he neck as to prove almost sutfocating.
5ut when, one night. the quartermaster
lad bagged himself up until he consid-
red that hermetical joint had been
ecured about his compressed throat,
md, despite those precautions, had been
lriven out of night-bag by sixteen ieas
which somehow got in, he abandoned
he experiment and tried another. On
white Government blanket drawn from
vessel in the harbor our quartermaster
ould easily detect every flea; and,
gain. a flea cannot jump on s blanket
With a long, soft nap-for once a flea
vas outwitted. The fleas in the room
we're driven upon this blanket and then
Jumped into pail of water. where they
ould swim but not jump.
The Hungarian shepherds have an
infallible remedy for fleas;
nd it is here commended to an aesthetic
generation. Those Hungarians of the
astoral crook simply out-Herod Herod.
hey '.go one better" than the fleas can
4 the filth game. They grease their
odies and the inside of their linen all ,
yer with lard, and a week or two of
usty accretions encase them in an
rmory impregnable to feas. From |