The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-05-09
THE HUMAN MOSQUITO.
A Creature Which Exists But to
Torment.
How He Wounds and fortunes his Hap
less Victims-The Different Varieties
of the Species-A Possible Rea-
son for his Existence.

son for his Existence.
He is ubiquitous; and, taking him
morally he has solved the problem of
perpetual motion; for he is never quiet,
never tranquil, and as for letting well
or his fellow creatures alone, he does
that as little as he pays the national
debt. Like his chronological proto-
type, the human mosquito has various
methods of attack Now he comes on
you silly, without note of warning pre-
facing attack, and the first proof of his
presence-a sting: now the shrill dis
cordance of his challenge rouses you to
attention and the vain attempt at de-
Tense and retaliation. For you can not
defend yourself nor yet retaHate. The
human mosquito is too subtle in his at
tack to be evadod, too quick in his re-
treat to be caught; and your hands only
fight the ar, when theg do not fall, like
boomerangs, with a sounding blow on
your own pate.
The life's business of the human
mosquito is to wound. and his mildest
pleasure is to annoy. Woe to you, poor
hapless wight, if, in a weak moment,
you have allowed the tOrmentor to find
out your sore places or discover the
secret of the weak joint in your armor.
Henceforth you may bid a lieu to peace
for so long as this creature is within
hail He never lets drop subject which
he knows is painful; and when he has
once been able to make YOU vince, he
r. ,1,..,s,s' .ro,'i orrook UIinCn, Your eyes
flash with Unsurpassed fury, if you are
a man-with voicelcss scorn or darken-
ing tears, if you are a woman--such
fun! He would not forego that pleasure
for worlds, life, indeed, HAVING no
greater to bestow. Fiyisection? Are
there not men who would viviscct for
the mere love of torturinp, and fine
brutal curiosity of seeing the victims
behavior under pain? SO in like man
ner does the human mosquito torment
and torture you for the mere love of
the sport; and to make YOU dance TO
his piping. shod in the red-hot shoes Of
the German fairy tale, is as exquisite
a delight to him as were tbe
cries OF the racked hereto to Toroue-
mazda, as are the lluttering agonies
OF the wounded bird to the snake. Has
your fayorite son proved failure, with
passages in his history you would
rather not remember, still less have
remembered by others? The human
mosquito never meets you without ask
ing carefully after young Graceless-
where is he-what is he doing-and has
he paid his debts yet? and is that SEN
tence OF outlawry rescinded? and what
grief 1t must be to you that one who
promised so well when he was a lad
should have kicked over the traces to
such an extent as he has done Did
your daughter run off with the pennless
Lieutenant, and are you notoriously I'M.
reconciled to the Observation-Disclosures
as Is your displeasure? The human
mosquito takes every opportunity of
speaking in your presence of the repi-
ment to which your unwelcome son-in-
law belongs and though he can not tell
you personally, does tell your nerhbor
IN your hearing, where it is, what
1t IS doing, and how this officer
and that have distinguished themselves
and been rewarded, your undesirable |
connection being cOnspicuously absent
from the roll-call of merit. If your old |
aunt has died and left you NOTHING.
while she favored your cousin and made |
him her heir, to your not unnatural dis
appointment, the human mosquito de-
velops the most extraordinary interest
IN that cousins doings, and either asks
you of his well-being under his new
honors, or gives you anecdotes of the
splendor of his Surroundings and the
astounding luxury of his home-anec
dotes which set your teeth on edge.
hampered as you are in all your goings
and comings. Or, if it be the other
way, and you have been the favored
and the rightful heir has been dispos-
sessed, then does the tormentor regale
you with narrowing accounts of the dis
graced ones trials and penury, and the
bitterness of his disappointment, which
clings to him like Nessus shirt, poison
ing the very current of his blood.
Not to be successfully fought not
TO be captured, not to be barred out,
this tormentor of men lives is as ter
rlble as are those germs which float in
the air and bring woe illimitable to all
VINO breathe them. Your only chance
with him is impenetrable reserve; wrap
ping yourself up in silence which moth
ing can cause to break into confidence
or selt-betrayal; showing a demeanor as
stolid as a triple wall of brass; suno-