Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-12-22
Contrast Botwoen Him and His I'M
tanned Brother.
~ y Cor. san Francisco CALI

Ugu "a mNtn. l urterntucl 10 investigate.
AMI climbing several pairs 81 stairs found
myself In small room near the roof. for
which the smiling professor apologized.
tvmarking quite truly that fleas did not
require much room. In the center Of the
apartment WIS u small table bearing "
bottle. small platform and a large mag,
mfying glass. " lille Ou CnCh side 81 the
table stood two chairs. one being reserved
flr the professor. while the other was pre-
sumably the one referred To as being r..
served at the nominal rate Of tweni fvo
rents. and having paid the amount ~ ad-
vance took "A scat and grasped tho big
f-lass.
How 10 cduratC thCEi!' said the pro.
fcssor Well that's what you might c1tll
leading question, and YOU would hardly
expect me to give away the secrets Of the
business You might be- going tu start an
opposition, and tho professor laid his fore
finger along his slender nose and winkcd
in showing way. ussurcd him that !
had me- idea of brnuching out In his line,
and finally apparently convinced, he
follcd up his sleeves carefully, and re-
murkcd Some of my performers
Keep on nc, IS he pointed TO two or three
rnormoSs nCas that were clnging there.
"Bitcf uh. no! they know me too well for
that Jump! no, indeed In short, the
4 rst lee son 81 the flea is 20 teach II not 10
jump and II is done In this way. SO say.
ing. he whistlCd. and a dog with very
meek and subducd air Cgme from under
lox. aud soon provided the trainer with n
wild and unframed flea. This flea" said
the professor. has never been in captiv-
ity. You see now that consign him TO this
bottle" and forthwith ne dropped the
insect into glass bottle about five inches
wide. A second later the flea was taking
terrible leaps from side 10 side bouncing
about like bali sliding into the bottom,
only to leap again and butt its shining ar
morcl head against the sides.
you see" returned the professor, "the
idea is In the first place 10 teach the flea
not To jump, and whom he finds that every
time hc does he gets a blow upon the
head he soon learns. Some ilcas learn in
In week: others take several weeks; in
fact. their minds are like those of human
bcingS Some arc simple ard others
very easy 90 receive impressions.
When this first lesson is fully accom-
Ilishcd I put them through simple
drill, making them walk or crawl in ~
straight line aud turn at signal Sc
every day they are drilled. and the tasks
Increased as soon as the simple ones arc
learned. I'm fact the instruction is similar
tO that followed by teachers Of raw re.
Cruits In the army. And finally, after
training many, rejecting the drones,
select the stars. have frequent rehearsals,
AMI am prepared to give the grand exhi
bitiun that have the honor now TO an.
uouncc. Tho first scene, ladies and gen
tlCmCu." sid the Snowman. looking over
my hCaGi and speaking as II 10 an imagin.
nry audience. and imprcssing me with the
thought that ] had heard him somewhere
~ the circus, "will be the grand entrance
~ the entire company. AS he spoke nc
placed u small box upon the table. and by
pressing aspiring, opened several doors
us large us peas, out Of which 60 my
imazcmCnt marched nCas which almost
Immediately arranged themselves in pairs.
under the glass locking as large as flies.
Zach enc was ornamcntcd with "A differ
tbt Colorcd strCamcr 81 silk floss. that e
the naked eye was invisible. or nearly so
As the flock marched out crawling alone
with slow pace. the professor called their
names. as The Two Orphans" Jack and
!iu," u, m Thumb aud Jack Sprat.'
Count lulCx and Madame Irritans, "
General Atom and Prince Rocks" and 50
tn.throuEh quite u list Of mines and titles
The little creatures slowly CirclCd uroune
the platform, then returning with great
dignity 10 their houses. \ minute cuacf
with four wheels was now placed upon the
card. The wheels were about as large ms
the head Of Tn extremely large pin. tht
pole being combination of harness ant
pole The ilcas now marched cut and tool
their places IN n little arrangement for
pushing or pulling. a ladder was placed
against the cOach-for II was u tally-ho-
call this being done with n delicate pair OF
p'nccrsl, number II flcas clam bcrcd in
could almost imagine heard the
drivers whip crack, the horn sound
and away went the whole arrange
mont This and much more did these won
derful iieas accomplish before arose full,
satisfied that while ants might perform
wonderful fcats. fcas certainly wcr,
ahead Of them in the detachable intclli
Ecnrc" referred TO. Educated ncas are n,
novelty IN theworld Of amusement. havins
been exhibited many years In various part
Of Europe. But as IL requires much ia
ticncc. and IA only one person can look "A
the glass M n time, u can hardly be- sal,
tO be rcmuncrativc.
Several years ago, in London. a dried.u
httlc man became well known i'm certain
parts for his flea show" He appeared a
du ~. with little box ON stand. within
whtcS was n lighted candle and mimi
scenery. A round cyc-holc, fitted with
nagnifying glass, was the place OF obser
walton, and for half penny YOU could loo
In and sec huge flea chained 60 a mimi
tree by n real chain. ~ flea chained u
" the neck alive. oil for hn'pcnny.' IN
advertisement read. This man had a CON
pletc theatrical wardrobe for his perform
crs, consisting 81 chains. locks, paddock
ears. coaches and variety Of objects, a
-. which were Of Giminutive size, an
madh Of silver.
Not many years after this flea circu
was exhibited with great success in No
tnghum. Tire hsaa were shown wit
ruld chains about item depending lik
collars from their nee5aPs One flea DIRE,
a carved chcrry-stone mounted ON wheels
while the other duggcd a silver cannon
in 1915 n show called the ''Industriou
Flcasr was exhibited, feature Of whfc
was n mad OF unframed flea. fastenc
about the mock by n chain having seve
hundred links, though hardly n span
length. The struggles Of aphaniptcrou
maniac are said 10 have been terrific; bI
the chain. which had paddock and Loci
and weighed only q grain. an1 was n cur
csity If Itself was quite sufficient 10 r
tain IL. In this exhibition two feas WEI
harncssed - chariot and dr'w 9th,
ncas. These were harncssed TO an omu
bus, while several military heds wei
through mancuvers with n brass cAnno
these Incidents show that the flea In su
reptihl6 ~ being taught many things, al
probably. n made the subject Of oarcf
Investigation, II would make stin mo
zen arkable showing.
Tho lato hcnry " noVl avtS,. tho son
tho philanthropist AMI the brother-in-la'
If Cardinal Manning. WAS. while a yer
clever man. The most slovenly, untidy on
impractical Of mortalN lie once engage
20 spend avncction ut the country house
wcll-known noblemRn. Tho coach wa
20 start az twelve. and at i've minutes
twelve he had made no preparation wha
ever. A friend whom he was dctainiu
with his talk told him he would certalnl
miss the ccnch. He az once spread a larr
blue cloak on tho floor, took out all N
drawUrs from a chest. turned out tho COZ
tents on tho cloak one after the othe
boots. brushes, etc. on the top of then