The Dickinson press., 1889-06-15
FROM THE FOOTHILLS.

HOMESIck FOR SOME CHEERFUL
TROPICAL PRODUCTS.
He Yearncd for tho Society of the Cent?
petles and Scorpions of Dcrmuda-A
Graphic Description of the Get Up and
Habits of tho Tarantula.
Dye know whar come from, strangcr9"
said thin man with big whiskers and wide
trimmed white hat. "Course ye don't I'm
Jest in from the foothills of the Sierras. Dye
know whar I'm headed furt Bet ye don'tl
I'm pnted straight fur Nassau and Bermu.
dy Never out among the foothills, reckonl
Thought yc wasn't. It's a great country. But
there hain't no centipedes out thar missed
the ccntipcdes. was kind O used to 'enl,
navin spent year or two with em down in
i'erinudy and Nassau. Another drawback
to the foothill country is that it's littlo
short o scorpions. Thurs few out thar, but
not enough to make it cheerful, and it'd have
been IL tritlc dull for mo If it hadn't been for
the tarantulies Know what u tarantuly is.
don'tyes Course ye know that.
A REGULAR LADY KILLER
Guess We never SEQ one o. them big spiders,
though, did yes Thought not. They size up
first rate out on the adobe grounds of the
Sierra foothills but they amt more'n half rs
ols as arantulies is in Bernudy and Nassau.
I've seen en- down thar rs big as your hat.
But guess they hain't got no more fire in
their jaws than tho foothills tarantuly car
ries Tarantulies is thick rs flies out thar
,nong the foothills When tho nights is warm
they sally out on the promenade so numerous
that ye have to watch out or yell step on
some cf 'cm and hurt en-. Many fine
mornin' I've got up and seen tarantuly hair
enough on the ground to temper square rod
o mortar It's hair they shed in FREQ fights
tween themselves durin' tho night. You
might walk over the adobe grounds of tho
foothills for Il month and wouldn't notice 20
was walkin' over q tarantuly settlement.
Maybe ye'd see what ye thought was n dead
leaf or a piece o. dirt mako n sudden flip kind
Of n movement, but the chances is that yc'd
think it was OWN to tho wind n stirrn'
Somethin or other Oh the ground. I'll bet
that's what ye'd think. But it wouldn't be
the wind Il stirrin' nothn'. It'd DO tho trap
door of n tarantuly's den closin' shet. A good
many folks'd think, when they first sec II
tarantulys den, that it's dice box some
hody's dropped I'll bet you'd think SO yer
self, now. Tarantuly's dens looks n powerful
lot like dice boxes but don't ye never so and
pick one up, thinkin' yer found a little curl
os.ty, or yell SEQ that yer found curl
osity bigscrn heap, and maybe there won't
be whisky enough in yer flask to out pizcn
the pizen the tarantuly has sockcd into yc
But when sc SEQ what yo might think was
the wind n stirrin' u leaf or somethin, that'll
be II tarantuly shettin' his trap door. He's
been apecking out at yc, and, not likin' yer
cut, has shet himself in, and 20 can bet he's
holdin' the door, too. That door is fitted on
TO the den by hinge on one side. Its made
out o leaves and sticks and dirt, which is
glued together with some patent cement the
tarantuly makes himself.
ut hain't no sign that tho tarantuly is to
home wien his doors shet, for he always shets
it when he goes out on the war path or on the
mash. Didn't know the tarantuly was great
masher, did yea Cert'nly ye didn't. Why,
he's regular dude on the mash. He'll stand
on the corners by tho hour, strokin' down his
whiskers with some Of his paws-and n tar
antuly is close on to all whiskers and paws
aud watchin' out for lady tarantulics. When
one comes n,a:.g toward whar he stands, he'll
pull his chin whisker and strike u poss::;ah md
|
| tuly rs she promenadcs up his way If she
passes close enough to him he II shoot out one
of his long forelcss ut her and givo it little
twitch, and draw it back quick, just as if he
war tlirtin' with her and sayin', oh, you
sassy thing, you'll Ill strike yo real hardl'
Wouldn't hardly believe that, would yc!
Course SO wouldn't; but it's true us some
prcachin I've heard. But it's when the Ia
rantuly of the adobe ground foothills comes
home that hos great He comes homo with
Il rush. He sails up on the dead run, and be
fore yo can begin to SEQ how he docs it he
throws that door O his'n open and is insid.
his shebang with tho door shct and locked
uuickern the brown lizard cr tho foothills
can shake OF its tail Tharl Thar's some.
thin, too, that helps to drive augwee off, out
thar 'mong the foothills.
LIZARD TALE
You wouldn't believe that there's lizard
out thar that's built so that it can flip its tail
off as easy as you can snap yer fingers, and
then set right in and grow another inside OF II
week. would yea Hardly, yc wouldn't. But
that, the kind of II lizard that sprouts out
thar. And tho fun Of it is that there hunt
nothn' that wiggles that tho adobe ground
tarantuly dotes on more'n he does on that
brown lizard He'll walk ten mile any time
o day or night to sock his jaws into ono of
en- And yit it hain't more'n once in n hun,
drel times that he can make his meal on one.
Them lizards is swift on their feet, but the
tarantuly is swifter, and when he gifts on the
trail of 1. lizard he's sure to haul up with it.
But he always grabs for its tail. Quicker'n
an lnjin can steal yer blanket the lizard gives
that twtch O his'n and the tail comes off and
the lizard goes right on. Thur never was
full grown foothills tarantuly that haint had
lizard trot away from him and leave moth
in but its tail in his mouth more'n hundred
times, and yit every time it's dono tho
tarantuly's eyes hangs clear out on hi swhis-
kcrs, he's so took back, and he can't never
seem to understand jest the how of it. Seems
little tough, don't its 1t docs that, but any
body that's ever been out to the Sierra foot
hills II know that lin givin' it to ye straight.
The tarantuly bolts the tail, all the same, as
soon as he gifts over his surprise, and then
terages around fer another lizard to tackle.
Yes. sir! Tho tarantulies goes good ways
toward cheerin' up Teller and livenin' up the
landscape out thar; and, takin' them and the
rattcsnakes and tho Injins, feller ought to
be able to content himself and not git lone
some and down in tho mouth. now, had hel
But somehow got tho blues. | couldn't
shake 'cm off. Then of q sudden l know'd
what was ailin' me, and packed right up.
Now. bet you don't know what allied me.
You don't know what I'm headed fer Ber-
mudy and Nassau fers Course yo don'tl Jest
fer the scorpions and tho ccntipcdes. I'm
dead gone homesick over 'cm, and that's all
that ails mc!'-New York Sun.
Tho Mean Thing.
Private Secretary Pearson, of Governor
Beavers Office, Harrisburg, Pa. had = curious
and somewhat startling experience with the
graphophone. He began to turn the crank
and supposed that he was aboutsto cause tho
machine to give out to the young lady type
writer a message which the governor had