The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-06-06


people hardly ever take the trouble to kill
him. House spiders catch and eat flies and
ants and other small insects, and thus pay
their rent. But even the house spider is
not pleasant companion in a room. The
tarantula, however, will empty room of
its occupants in about as short order as a
tiger would The first one ever saw in
Nassau was when | had been at Waterloo
about month, and was having the bushes
cleared away from about the house. Some
of the colored boys were at work in the
flower garden, and one morning they made
grand dash for the front piazza They
all looked well frightened, and | asked
them what was the matter.
"Groun' spider, boss, one of them re-
piled as soon as he could catch breath
enough.
We all went out to kill him armed with
hoes, rakes, brooms, and all the long
handled implements we could find, as well
as a wagon-load or so of good-sized stones.
He sat among the grass and weeds, easily
seen and watched on account of his intense
blackness. and did not offer to move. None
of the boys would go within eight or ten
feet Of him, because it is commonly believed
that tarantulas can and do spring long
distance, being well provided with muscu-
lar and hairy legs for that purpose. |
think, however, that this is a mistake. |
have seen great many of them and never
yet have seen one jump or make any move
ment beyond slow, crawling walk Their
legs are kept well under them when they
walk, elevating them, | should think, about
two inches above the ground, At any rate
we all kept at a respectful distance from
this fellow and pelted him with rocks.
The first shot must have hurt him, for he
made no effort to get away, and in minute
or two he was pounded into jelly-a
nasty, hairy black jelly that no one would
care to touch. When he was used up be-
yond all danger of resuscitation we cut him
to pieces with the hoes and threw him over
the wall. He was not a very large one for
tarantula-perhaps about 4 inches long
and inches broad. The hairy black legs
make them look more obnoxious and dis
gusting than they otherwise would. 1t is
hard to tell just how large and powerful
the legs are on account of the thick black
hair with which they are covered. After
this the boys were cautious when they dis
turbed any big stones in the yard, and
looked carefully into any thick cluster Of
weeds before they disturbed it.
The largest tarantula l ever saw paid
me visit one evening and walked into the
parlor without waiting to be announced.
Several Nassau gentlemen were spending
the evening with me, and we were talking
and thinking about anything but spiders,
when somebody exclaimed:
sThere's ground spiderL'' If hand
grenade had come through the ceiling and
dropped on the floor none of us could have
been on our feet quicker. Everybody
Jumped back two or three feet, for the
beast was right in our midst. He was on
the floor at our feet, not yard away from
any of us, and had walked in as uncon-
cernedly as possible. He was, without any
exaggeration, as large as the crown of a
mans hat. His legs looked as thick as
the neck of small bottle, and they were
covered with coal-black hair, some of which
was more than an inch long. Fortunately
[ was following a Nassau custom at that
time of leaving the floors uncarpeted, and
we had no trouble to see him against the
light-colored boards There was immedi-
ately a rush for walking sticks and um-
brellas to fight him with; but one gentle
man, with great presence of mind, picked
up large ottoman that stood near and
threw it at him. That one shot put an
end to the tarantula's career. | don't
know whether he was grandfather spider
or why he was so large; but he was big
enough to make anybody, even people used
to seeing them, shudder to look at him
He was soft, and the ottoman left nothing
of him but big spot on the floor, larger
than the rim of hat, and little heap Of
black hair and legs. He was too badly
used up to be kept for curiosity, so We
pitched him out and went on with the con
versation The Nassau gentlemen did moi
consider him particularly large one, but
he was much larger than any l ever saw il
Arkansas or any where else, and | have
never seen as large a specimen in Nassau
since.
1t is common in the North to call these
fellows tar-an-tu-las, with the accent on the
third syllable: but throughout the Soutl
and in the West Indies custom has giver
them the name of tar-on-tula, the accent
being on the second syllable This is thu
pronunciation see given by Webster, an(
that excellent authority, in giving picture
of him that will show anybody what beau
tiful bird he is, says that sits bite some
times produces trifing effect, about equa
to the sting of wasp, and is popularl,
supposed to be cured by music This i
supposition | have never heard of in an.
of the tarantula countries; and as to tn,
bite being about equal to the sting of
wasp, that is contrary to what everybod,
believes who is familiar with the species
Opinions differ as to whether the bite of
tarantula is ever fatal. Any colored per
son in Nassau will tell you that his bite i
sure death. have taken some pains t.
make inquiries for any person who has eve
known, of his own knowledge, of fata
result from the bite of tarantula. 1t j
impossible to find any well-authenticate'
case. When l ask man whether the bit
is sure to be fatal he is certain to reply
''Oh yes, boss; dead sure! T. But whel
try to pin him down to facts and ask hin
whom he knew who was killed by it, ant
{ where and when it happened, he neve
knew of anybody who died from it, bu
E just heard of it. And such information
perhaps, l may remark, is not very reliable
| never could get on the track of anybod
, who had even been bitten by tarantula
except one man. This was a stoncmaso
7 who has done good deal of work for m
here, and man who is entirely worthy O
! belief. He was working on wall on tn
east end of this island, and, in picking u
large stone ran his hand against taran
, tula, and was bitten through the thumb
The thumb Immediately swelled up an
t became very painful, and the mason wen
r to the house of his employer and asked hi
: advice. 1t was some miles from a phys
5 clan or drug store, and the gentleman ha
: no remedy in the house but bottle @
paregoric. He applied some of this to tn
wound and tied it up, and next day tn
, man was at work as usual, none the wors
for the bite | think it is safe to hold
3 midway belief between Webster and tn
: common opinion about the tarantula-tha