St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-23
STORIES ABOUT SPIDERS.
Queer Doings Of These Strange Great
ureS.
SPIDER AND TUNING FORK
Giant Spiders Of Geylon--Cangh
a Welt Spid-
er,


Far up in the mountains of Ceylon
and India there is spider that spins
web like bright. yelIowish silk, the CEN
tTal net which is five feet in diameter.
while the supporting lines, or guys, as
they are called. measure sometimes ten
or twelve feet long. and riding quickly
in the early morning you may dash
right into it, the stout threads tWining
around your face ike a lace veil, while,
as the creature who has woven il takes
up his position in the middle, he gen.
orally catches you right Oh the
nose. and, though he seldom
bites or stings. the contact OF his
large body and long legs is anything but
pleasant If you forget yourself and
try to catch him. bite he will. and, al
though not venomous, his Jaws are as
powerful as birds beak, and you will
not forget the encounter.
The bodies of these spiders are very
handsomely decorated. being bright
gold or scarlet underneath, while the
upper part is covered with the most del
ieate slate-colored fur. So strong are
the webs that birds the size of larks are
frequently caught therein, and even
! the small but powerful Scaly liz
ard falls a victim. a writer says
that he has often sat and watched
the yellow and scarlet monster,
measuring, when waiting for his prey
with his legs stretched out. fully six
inches. striding across the middle of the
| net. and noted the rapid manner in
which he winds his stout threads around
the unfortunate captive. He usually
| throws the coil about the head till the
Wretched victim is first blinded and then
chOked. In many unfrequented dark
hooks of the jungle you may come
across most perfect skeletons OF small
birds caught in these terrible snares,
the strong folds of which prevent the
delicate bones from falling to the ground
after the wind and weather have dis
persed the flesh and feathers from the
body.
A SPIDERS BRIDGE.
Some sarcastic writer has said that
philosophers. like spiders, spin their
web QUE of their own inSideS: but not
every philosopher would be able to get
out of a tight place" as quickly and
safely as did the particular spider of
whose exploits writer in the Hearth
and Home relates this story:
One day bought spider and brought
him into the house to play with.
L took basin and fasteEed a stick in
II. Ike a vessels mast or liberty pole.
and then poured in water enough to
turn the mast into an island. On this l
placed my splder-CruSOe, as l called
him.
As soon as he was fairly cast away he
began anXiously running around to find
road to the mainland. He scampered
down the mast to the water, stnek out
font If of ShRnt- II nd tho
stick and tried the other side. and finally
ran back up to the top again.
Here he stopped as ii to consider the
matter. put little molasses Oh the
strick. A fly came, but the spider cared
not for flies just then.
He went slowly down the pole TO the
water and touched If all around. shaking
his feet like cat when she vets her
| paws in the grass. Suddenly, as if in
| Spired with plan for escape, he
mounted to the TOP like a rocket. He
| held one foot in the air. then another,
and turned round two or three times.
| He seemed excited, and several times
nearly stood on his head. He had some
| how discovered that there was wind
enough 70 carry line ashore.
He pushed out web that went float
| ing in the air until it caught on the
| table. Then he hauled on the rope until
/ it was tight, struck it twice OF thrice to
| see If it was strong enough to hold him,
| and then he walked ashore. He had
| earned his liberty, and l carried him
back to his home web.
| A KINDERGARTEN STORY ABOUT 4 SPI-
DER.
Baby Land
Yesterday, as I was going to take
| drink. l found spider in the glass. [
Nnla 1,I,. i Il L.
| let it be. and she would show US some
thing. She sent Stella after some water.
| Then she took a dish, filed it with
water, and set the glass in the middle
/ of it.
Now" said she. "the spidercan get
! away without Wetting its feet
1--WE could not think how the spider
| could possibly do that. We tried to
| guess, but she said it would neither
| jump nor swim. As it had no wings, of
| course it could not fly.
1T kept crawling round in the glass.
| Finally it came clear up to the top.
Then it began to go round and round
| the rim of the glass. We kept watch,
| but it did not come across.
| Miss Marble said it might not come
/ for ten minutes, and that we could
/ study our spelling with one eve and
| we began to study, and every little
while we would look up at the spider.
"All of sudden Allie called out that
it was across. and sure enough, there it
was running away.
| ave do not know just how the spider
| did it, but it must have spun a thread.
! and let it GOAT across the water until it
| caught the edge of the dish. Then it
ran over on the suspension bridge it had
| made"
That was Minnie's story. We did not
kill the spider. but let it run away and
| enjoy its little life.
CAUGHT A WOLF SPIDER.
| Chicago Tribune.
1t is not often that a wolf spider is
| found in Illinois, and it is not surpris-
| ing. that R. NJ. Truax, of Morgan Park,
was considerably startled the other
| morning while trimming his lawn to
run across one of these i'll favored in
sects. He quickly recovered from his
surprise, however, and soon had the
creature safely imprisoned in
bottle. The spider belonged to
the Mygale family, and is dig
| nified with the Latin name Tycosa
Fatifera. OIL wolf spider The specimen
in question measures one and one-half
inches in length, and its body is covered
deadly poison. 1t is a native of North
ern Europe, although branches of the
Mygale family are found in the warmer
climates of America. Mile. Merriam is
authority for the statement that the
American Mygale attacks and kills
small birds, even going so far as to drag
humming birds out of their nests and
deyour them The wolf spider is the
most feroeious of the Mygales. which.
according to NJ. Walckenaer, are divided
into thirty-six species.
The question is, how did the spider
get TO Morgan Park? Mr.. Truax's
theory is that it was in some wav
brought over by gang of Italians who
recently arrived in this country and are
now at work in Morgan park.
4 RACE FOR A GIRL,
RicyeI0 a CainSf RuQE pd-V aw