The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1884-08-24
Once There Was u Spider.

Once there wa, spider. There il
nothing very startling about this fact,
unless Won are of nervous turn and
the said unrulv insect drops down into
your face while yon are trying TO 70 To
sleep, or YOU are easily east down by
running into his web thrown across Il
doorway. Spiders are chiefly domestic
in their habits in this latitude. and have
u weakness for rounding out the corners
of rooms and filling the chnk> ia out oi
the way places with substance which.
if it had been a little stronger. would
have won them an honorable place in
the arts and made them Is popular a.
they are now obnoxious
one evening the individual subject of
this history WAS discovered spreading
his nest across an open window
that had been raised tn give the supper
table II more pleasant surrounding and
Is he had not proceeded far when hi,
plans We're observed, a close watch wa
kept on his movements and the follow.
ing notes taken onthe process: The up.
per limit of the web was the half-raiseC
sash, and enough OF the space below wa.
taken to make "A structure about u foot
square, which was mapped ont bl
single lines fastened to the wind ow
frame. Inside of this few strand.
were thrown. which crossed AT ia,
center, where an irregular bali ley,
Ike case OF operations was formed bv
cross-wehS put in very inartiStically. The
spider then added more spoke, To his
wheel until he had twenty, and then
accomplished the feat of Joining these
altogether by circular webs about an
inch apart. These kept the RAYS
in place like "A set OF guy ropes,
that made dcel of climbing and calci-
latiuu necessary.
Next, beginning ut the outside. this
practical acrobat began running circu-
lar webs around the structure. about
five to the inch. each inside circular tol.
crably regular a. regards the outer one
and all fastened to each cross line by
bit OF waNN substance sccretrd 10y the
animal himself A. each preliminary
circle was reached ii WAS found more
and more that they took a somewhat
different direction from the new ones,
or, to bee exact about il, We're thrown
about a different center 50 rs to avoid
ridiculous crossing of these circular
lines the first set were taken up and APP
parcntlv devourrd by the workmcn.
Nothing but the WaNy points where they
had crossed the raw showed where they
had been. The spider did not try Ia
spring from one ray to the other on
shoot out his web. but took trip
around hy the shortest route and waved
tine newly spun line 10 the ray before
setting out again. Several tjm,> he
broke OF the line aud made a trip To- tut
with the air OF master builder and
once was observed to give the whole
fabric a mighty shake, Is though testing
the capacity for holding winged victims
and bearing up his own piratcal >"li
when he chose To 20 on fOraN. some
times on returning to his work he forgot
where he had left of, and began in /;
new place, which left a rather aWkwar,
break in the fabric, though it was moi
conspicuous as whole.
Nearer and nearer the center work
proceeded, until the master workman
came to the conclusion that it woul'
answer lis purposes, and suddenly brok,
OF the process of drawing hi. web on
Of himself, and settling down composed,
at he focus of the affair with ~no'
appetite. doubtless, and an approving
conscience, due to one who has laborec
faithfully. according TO his own light
and not greatly the worse for not being
obliged to 90 abroad for building ma
tcral. Already hi efforts had born'
fruits, for two giddy flies had droppcc
into the web and were Tutoring in tn,
breeze As helpless rs though held h
tine spider claws, but their grim cap
tor wasn't in any hurry for his supper
and let them iluttcr. He had wurkc,
al ni- best rate for a full half hour, anC
couldn't exhaust himself further jus
now 10y running after game that Wa
quite safe where it WAS.
A careful estimate showed that TIN
whole web was not far from sixty fee
long, all of which had been evolved
from she builders consciousness an
physical self in this short space OF time
But it was getting late. The sun ha'
already gone. suddenly some one shu
down the window, bringing ruin on thl
carefully built fabric and Transforming
our late industrious architect, pirat
and robber into trembling fugitive
clad to get oil AT any price, such
life. BaBalo ESpySN.