The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1886-01-07
QUEER THrNas NrExAs.k
characteristics of some Of the Native
- Gro,zfha.


characteristics of Some Of the Native |
II Growths.
f1he centipede Is not very pretty in
acct He runs too much 70 legs Once |
! thought them of no use, but after see
ing a lot of Chiricahua Indian papooses
pulling centipedes from their holes and
greedily deyouring them, legs, poison
and all, no longer doubted the wisdom
and beneficence of their creation. In
the course of my checkered career !
have had several adventures with CEN
Gpedes and always came out second
best. A centipede can raise blister on
= mans body quicker than . red hot
iron. and If you don't Immediately apply
9 remedial poultice Of pounded prickly
pehr and dose yourself inwardly with
post whisky-which latter Is warranted
10 Kin anything but an army mule-the
re&ultant effects may be serious. Cen
tiHedes usually attack their victim at
night, when he is asleep and can't de-
about 200 little lances conveniently
dashed TO the toe of each foot-of which
they have seyera1-and at the base OF
each lance is tiny sack of venom. II
. centipede crawls across your body
which he'll most likely do II you lie
down anywhere within half mile of
him-you'n have no difficulty in follow
ing his trail, and you'll remember his
visit for weeks. No man ever died from
the bite of a centipede, but I have
known one to make oman wish he were
dead.
TARANTULAs.
The tarantula is an exaggerated spi-
der, with teeth and hair. They are al
ways ready for fight and will tackle
anything, not excluding buzz-saw. In
days gene by have often amused my
self by teasing one with red=hot coal.
At first they would fight shy, but after
they once got mad they would attack
that coal and never surrender until they
were burned to a crisp. / never heard
of any one eating tarantula. If one
bites you use same remedies as pre-
scribed for centipede sting, only more
50.
THE VINEGARoAN.
The vinegaroan has never been scien-
tifically classified, and is content to plod
through life undistinguished. save by
his humble frontier patronymic. The
Mexicans and Indians, who have been
acquainted with the vinegaroan longer
than / have, solemnly assert that his
their word for it. The vinegaroan lives
under decaying logs, and, if disturbed,
scorns to run. l saw a fight once be-
tween a vinegaroan and a tarantula-
The tarantula was lifted out of the pit
dead in one minute.
THE SINGING LIZARD
is found most anywhere, but principally
snugly ensconced in the folds of your
blanket when you lie down at night. He
always lets you know that he is there,
and have known strong men to tear
| their hair and dance and pray in a very
undignified and eccentric fashion, upon
discovering that a singing lizard had
selected them as bedfellow. The sting
| ing lizards weapon of defense and Of
Tense is his tail, which is long and as
| full of joints as bamboo pole. When
he punches you with the sharp end OF
tins caudal appendage you think OF
| sheol's fire and howl. The singing liz
zard is not good to eat. The application
of fresh quid of tobacco will take the
fire out of the spot where he salutes
you.
THE DEVIL HORSE.
The body of devil horse is all of the
same size, and he looks not unlike a
green walking-stick set up on twelve
scientific men who have sought to clas-
sify the fauna of Texas have somehow
overlooked the devil horse, but he
doesn't seem to mind the slight and
continues catching flies with mOnoton-
GUS persistency. / was never bitten by
q devil horse, and ! never met any one
| who had been, but the natives class them
among the poisonous, and they ought tC
know.
COLONY OF FIRE ANTS.
My camp was once invaded by fire
ants. 1t was good place, convenien
to wood and water, and / hated to leave.
disputed the right of occupancy with
them for three weeks, at the end OF
/ which time l incontinently surrendered
and fled. During that three weeks !
dug them out, burned them out and
drowned them out, but they didn't seem
| to mind it in the least. They went on
burrowing the building and exploring
the surrounding country, and when my
tent got full of them, and l had been
bitten in about 5000, 900 different
places. thought it time to move. The
bite of the fire ant is like the sting of the
singing lizard. 1t hurts and makes a
sore place. They increase with a rapid
ity that is alarming, and the more YOU
try to eXterminate them the more nu-
merous they become. It used to be a
test OF courage among the Comanche
Indians for brave to thrust his barred
arm into nest of fire ants and hold it
there without fiinching, while his COM
panions went through the movements of
q somewhat complicated dance around
his tortured body. They don't do It any
more Once near Pope's Crossing, on
the Pecos river, reached a village of
fire ants and started to make a detour.
We discovered Indian signs of recent
date, and halted to investigate. A band
of Indians had caTnped on the edge of
the ant village, and prisoner, who af-
terward proved TO be a bear-hunter
named Goggin, was stripped, bound
hand and foot, and laid down among
the ant hills. You can imagine his hor-
rible sufferings. We found his bones
and gave them a decent burial. The
FIRE ant is pugnacious, and his mode
Of warfare is always aggressive. In the
aggregate, he win attack any living
thing, from an elephant down, kill him
by sheer force of numbers, and devour
all but the bOwels.-ISandersOn Texas,
Cor. Of the Philadelphia Times.