The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-12-17
GIANT APEs Of nonnEo.

4tHWi AFE9 ~ o%Es
Intsr-sfins Fnefs AbeGt Ah1s-bsdl>d -
fhropo1ds That Live = Trees
my acquaintancc with apes has been
chiefly made In Borneo,v said Prof.
Henry A. Ward. the famous natural
{ science collector. the other day. THAT
/ great island Is the home Of the orare.
which is the most arboreal Of all
/ monkeys The animals live in trees
altogether, rarely If ever visiting the
ground II takes two good marksmen
| to shoot one, because they dodge
around the trunks They do all their
fighting aloft, and it is great fun to see
them drop the armfnls of fruit they
have gathered in contests for its posses
sion. They are plentiful in the low
lands near the coast 1t Is rarely that
any body ventures into the interior, be-
cause there the ead-hunting natives
| prowl. Among them each man is re-
quired to have secured . head before he
| Is permitted 70 marry. and on this &C
count the young gentlemen savages are
continually looking about for some
body to kill This makes travelling dis
agreeable.
s.Onc Of the most noticeable features
Of the landscape of Borreo is the nests
Of orangs which are scattered about
thickly among the tall trees From
their number one might get greatly
exaggerated impression of the plenti-
fulness of the species. unless it were
understood how and for what purpose
these roosting places are constructed.
The beasts are greatly annoyed by
flies, from which they are able to pro-
tect the front part of their bodies with
their hands, but they cannot keep the
vicious insects from biting them in the
rear, and they gather q quantity of
leaves and bran hes and make them
| into couches to repose against among
the boughs. A protection of this sort
serves very we'll for awhile, but pres
emily its material begins to decompose
and the decaying leaves attract the
flies, which the orang is SO anxious to
! get rid Of. TIL en- he is obliged to make
another nest of fresh stuff, and so he
may require dozens of them in the
course of ye ar. Inasmuch as he does
not take the trouble to remove the old
ones, they rem lain to adorn the tree top
| in which he sw ings about
'.Orangs have very curious method
of fighting. In their conflicts among
themselves, which are frequent, their
effort is Away to seize the fingers of
their adversaries and bite them. A
very beautiful groupof these animals at
the National m useum, mounted by Mr..
Hornaday, admirably illustrates typic-
al encounter of the sort. 1t is owing to
! this method of battle that it is almost
impossible to procure a skin which does
not lack some of the fingers. If defend
| ing itself against man the beast will
always attempt to grab the arms Of his
human opponent SO as to chew off his
| fingers For this purpose it's jaw is ex-
cellently adapted, being enormously
powerful and equipped with huge in
cisors.
1.-THE favorite food of the orang is the
| 'durion' fruit, which is, perhaps, the
| most delicious in the world, uniting, as
| it does, the favors of the peach, the
pear and the straw berry. Like most
things nearly perfect, however. this
fruit has a drawback. namely, that il
| leaves a bad taste in the mouth the
next day after it is eaten which is more
abominahle than can either be de-
| scribed or conceived. To protect itself
from the rain the oranse crooks its arms
over its head. The hair on the orang's
| upper arm points dowr.wards, while on
| the lower arm it points upward, the
apparent purpose being to she'd the
rain like thatch when the attitude
have described is assumed.
| 1.-The other great ape which makes
its home in Borneo is the gibbon, which
| is small animal compared with the
| orang, weighing only about forty or
fifty pounds. 1t is very frail in its
bodily makeup. The head is sci
| squarely upon the shoulders, and il
Hooks upward. When walking on the
| ground it balances itself along
ike walker on the tight rope. Its re-
markable power of grasp and dexterity
in using its hands is equally with the
| shape of its Uranium an index of its SUI
perior intelligence, perhaps because it is
able to take hold of a greater mum Der oil
| things and examine them. The gibbon
is natural acrobat Its trapeze per-
formances in trees are simply marvel
| GUS.
THE animals go in droves, whereas
orangs live by families, and one of the
most interesting spectacles imaginable
is to see troop of them crossing q
great gap in the forest by throwing
themselves in succession through the
air, each one taking swing or two to
gather momentum before launching
himself So great is their agility that
in executing feats of this sort they seem
| like birds.
Natives in the countries inhabited
by great apes, regard them always
rs human beings Of inferior types, and
! it is for this reason that for long time
it was found impossible to get hold Of
/ an entire gorilla skin. because the
savages considered it religiously neces'
sary to cut off the hands and feet of the
animals when they killed them Just a.
they do with their enemies, possibly
for the purpose of rendering them
harmless in case they should by any
chance come to life again. "-Rochestei
IN W Star.
Smoking Under Water.
Here comes smart fellow down the
toboggan chute, smoking short cigar
as he slides He has taken occasion Il
shout to his fellows that he will wager
hat or Seat his shirt" or .'bet hi.
sweet life" that~'he can continue tc
smoke the stub under water. Having
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