The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-04-24
4 WONDERFUL INSECT.

.ENAAAAi I'M viz hAODHAAbOs anu iiAO WOll-
derful growth of this festive bird in some
.sectC1s Of Cur noble land The greater
part of these remarkable stories comes
to us from New Jersey and Georgia.
OF course you have all heard about the
mosquitoes in New Jersey, where they
grow so large they carry valise and
register at the hotels. A great many
soolf at this story, but am not one of
she scofiers-I have always noticed that
Che sooffer is the biggest kind of prevar-
5cator himself, and only SCOTS from
jealousy, when some person takes the
truth in his hands and tells a better
story. So much for the scoffer | once
met with colossus in the shape of
mosquito. 1t was some years ago when
was poor boy working on ahop farm
i'm Central New York. 1t was in the
spring time, gentle Annie, and the
feathered songsters of the wood were
pouring forth their sweetest notes. The
hands were engaged in setting hop
poles, and as was not muscular enough
60 do the hop-hole setting act, the "boss"
gave me the easy job of making the
holes with a two hundred and fifty
pound crow bar. 1t was hard work,
and along towards noon l began to
flag" as my stomach began to remon-
strate with my other digestive organs.
Although a mere boy, had man S
appetite and stomach like a soldier
lSnapsack. AS the boys were wont to
remark, had ian appetite that could
eat the screeches off a wheel-barrow. -
AT noon the hired girlinflated her lungs
md blew the dinner horn. Years after
ward from a twenty-five dollar seat in
the theater l have listened to the sweet
strains of an imported sweet strainer
without experiencing half the emotions
chat that old dinner horn created in my
manly bosom. Aye, the sweetest music
so me was the blast of that old conch-
shell horn which echoed over hill and
dale every day at noOn-time. True, |
satM soaring from the subject. AT the
call for dinner, the men mechanically
dropped their tools and splitting the
worn out tobacco guilds from their
smeuihs, started for the house. On re-
Stunning to the field after dinner, l
E9oked around for my crowbar, but ii
could not be found. In vain went over
the ground traversed before dinner 1t
was the most mysterious case of dlsap-
pcarance that ever came under my no.
tice. Finally, the 'old man." who was
as nervous as an eel, and had had his
eye on the sun as if counting the golden
moments that are being lost, ordered
me TO ego over to neighbor Jones" and
b@grOw his crowtar. In the center OF
The field, and directly in my path was a
sall elm tree As | approached | was
startled by wild unearthly yell, ac-
eompanied by grating of teeth. The
sound came from the leafy branches OF
the old elm. My heart jumped into
my throat (of course this is a
physical impossibility but it is allow
able in tales of peril) My blood
9tnrned colder than a cake of ice,
c{Another p. i) as visions of panthers
who could spring five hundred feet upon
their victims, and other perils which
had read of, arose before my startled
vision; tried to turn aside, but some
strange fascination drew me on. The
yells increased, the grating of the ami
mails teeth continued; soon | stood di
rcctly underneath the branches of the
cree. AT that moment an eXcruciating
,Aowl of anguish caused me to up lift my
eyes, while mechanically my lip
hreathed a--no, it was not prayer
gentle reader. With my eyes uplifteC
| beheld strange sight. The frs
shiny | beheld was the missing crowbar
in Che grasp of a strange animal, from
which was proceeding the soul-splittinI
cries. | Immediately went over m,
natural history to find out what name
of beast this was. The long sharl
linger-nails looked familiar; also tn,
,swOrd-shaped beak. The wings, which
hung like the sails of a ship in +;
calm, were recognizable; at last the
terrible truth rushed like whirlwint
to my mind. Eureka l cried, as
&urned from the spot and rushed to tn,
house after my shotgun. Loading tn
gun with nails, railroad spikes ant
other effective projectiles, | hurriedl
returned. The cries and scream
warned me that my game had not We
down. Raising the gun to my shoulde
took good aim and pulled the trig
ger. Mingled with the report of tn
Suu was one lOuS SpdSHOulC yen
which afterwards was informed by
man of unquestionable veracity wa
plainly heard in the adjoining county,
heavy object came tearing to the ground
bringing with it several large branches
As the smoke cleared away, l gaze
upon my victim. There lying on tn
ground in the last throes of death, wit
IFS life-blood staining the young grass
was the largest specimen of the E Plur
hCS UnUm q don't know the Lati
name exactly, but as it is customar
10 give some jaw-breaking nam
guess E PluribuS will do) l eve
&cheld, l measured that mosquit
(and have the exact measurement il
dcilibly stamped upon my memory i
figures that never lie); it measured ju,
14.7 feet from wing to wing. l coul