The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-07

hatch and forthwith begin to bore away
from the light. AS the grub perforates
the surface of the wood, it is as large as
the point of needle, so that the hole it
makes is invisible to the naked eve 1t
grows rapidly and, by some strange chem
lstry, thrives upon dry wood, without any
moisture except what it extracts or alb
serbs from the atmosphere. 1t never
stops work until it attains its full size,
which is about five times that of the gar
den ant at home.
Then in large groups it bores outward,
producing holes which vary in size and
shape from a circle a quarter inch in
diameter to a seam six inches long. AS
it energies it has wings, and behaves
somewhat like bee in hiving season. BY
day it moves but little, but at dusk it
starts for the nearest light 1t is fasci-
mated with the latter, exactly as is
moth. 1t plunges into your lamps by
millions, and in few minutes is scorched
and wingless. The nuisance is so great
that it stops dinners and forces people
either to swelter in a close room or to sit
in the dark. In two years l have known
over thirty dinner parties to be broken
up in this manner On one occasion in
this consulate the dead and the living
ants filled every plate and glass and
covered everything and everybody in the
dining room. The next morning the serv-
ants swept out more than two bushels of
dead insects. But to this trouble one
gets used.
"The wood from which they have eaten
heinterior is a mere honeycOmb, break
ing or collapsing without warning Since
have been here the floor in my office has
been undermined in this way, and twice
broke through under my weight (the doc
tor only weighs 113 pounds) Chairs,
tables. boxes, bookcase, racks. doors
and windows have shared the same fate.
At the present moment l know that the
ants are busy inside of dozen pieces of
furniture in the house, and | can do moth
ing but await the end. For this reason /
am unable to state the value or even the
real condition of anything wooden in the
esta blishment. Minor evils are the cock
reaches, which fly in these ATTITUDES and
show strong prediction for the finger
nails and toe nails Of persons asleep, as
well as for all kinds of book binding
leather goods and old papers. There are,
too, several varieties of large spiders of
ferOcious aspect, but peaceful disposition;
red ants which fight and fear nothing
and four or five insects or microbes which
burrow into the skin and produce cuta-
neous troubles resembling itch.
"The climate is unfavorable for the
preservation of anything The northeast
monsoon is a perpetual gale and in the
southwest monsoon season we are CON
stantly visited by typhoons, which are
the cyclones of the far east. In addition
to the high winds is the atmospheric
moisture, of which we have no parallel at
home. At the camp season everything
leaks. The water cOndenses on. the walls
and furniture and runs to the floor in riv-
ulets and pools In cities like Hong Kong
architects put drying rooms in the houses,
where the wearing apparel is duly cooked
before using for the season. / beg to
suggest to the department that in books
designed for this part of the world arsenic,
mercury or such ingredients as may pre-
vent or resist the lower forms of life. ami
NAL and vegetable, should be employed in
the binding and covers"