Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-10-05
TRAINED FLEAs.

TRAINED FIEAS.
'Cnsl,os racing. Ballet Dancing and TIGHT.
rope Walking Among the Fent..
A correspondent sends the FOLLOWING
from Dantzig:
There was a fair going On outside the
gaees OF this most picturesque citv.
wandering among the booths. onr
curiosity was aroused by one which
bore the following inscription: spa.
riser f1oh Theater.." The theater was
ABOUT the size of an ordinary tambonr.
Inc, which instrument it greatly re-
sem Died. We looked with interest AZ
certain cardboard boxes which stood
oesioe the theater. One of these was
open and showed a number of tinv
Teh'cles' carriages. bicycles, engines.
Roman chariots, all as minute as
possible. The other boxes. with
lids, contained the actors them
selves The enterprising manaperess.
stout lady in cotton dress.
ing-gown, placed herself opposite At
the table and prefaced the entertain
mens with a short but interesting adj
nress. The ordinary domestic fiea."
sne began, lis a creature of considera-
Ole intelligence and capable of a high
degree OF intellectual cultivation. We
nave no less than three hundred in
TINS esta adjustment. They are not hun.
cry" she added hastily, in answer to
some slight expression of anxiety that
doubtless portrayed itself on our coun.
1enances. 81 engaged a man to come
every day and feed them"
He bares his arm. the three hundred
are placed thereon and they suck until
they are satisfied. Our immediate ap-
Prehension thus allayed, the lady pro.
~ceeded to explain that the first process
In the great work of tanning and edu.
eating flea was to fasten an invisible
gold thread around its neck, by
means OF which it could be
lifted o at pleasure or harnessed
to any of the vehicles dis.
played in the box before us we'll.
nurtured specimen will often live to the
age of eight years, and with evident
pride she remarked: 1--WE have several
among our troupe who are already six
years old" and so saying she handed
us a powerful microscope and gratiied
us by the sight Of one of these vener-
able fieas (magnifed to the size of
weep kicking and plunging violently,
In nowise impeded by the weight of its
golden collar. The entertainment be-
gan with a chariot race by feas of
various nations. The Russian was at
tached to its native drosky, the
Siberian to a sledge. England, France
and Germany had each their repre-.
Sentatives, the former harnessed, I
think, to a common London omnibus.
Each competitor was supposed to be
able to draw a body of six times it's
own weight. The stage was slightly
tilted, however, in order to assist the
runners.
Next we were treated to a ballet as
danced by some really superior artistes
The lady opened one of the cardboard
boxes and extracted thence with a del
icate pair of pincers a dozen of dancing
fleas, each elegantly attired in-or
rather. should perhaps say, covered
by-a petticoat of tissue paper, red,
blue, green, yellow, all the colors Of
the rainbow. Each dancer was an
nounced by name as she entered upon
the scene. Mess Elizabet, Fraulein
Anna, Mamzelle Barbe and others, and
each and ali. encouraged by the voice
of their directress, performed the most
astonishing evolutions, whirling and
hopping, skipping, leaping wildly into
the air in a way that was comical to
behold 1t was as if the minutest
of ballet girls had been cut in
two at the waist, the lower half
performing minus the head and
shoulders, or like Sabbatical
dance of fairy lamp shades bewitched.
Now and again, after some unusually
prodigious leap, an artist would be up
set. Then, beneath the gay, volumin-
Gus skirt, the struggling insect was for
a moment visible, quickly replaced on
its legs, however, by the watchful care
of its mistress.
Now came act the third, when the in
terest was supposed to eliminate, and
with much verbal flourish of trumpets
a female rope-dancer was produced,
second only in renown tosthe famous
Blondin himself. The young Ilady's
name was Eliza. She lived in a nest of
cottonwood with one other companion,
who was probably in delicate health.
as she was not called upon to perform.
Eliza not only danced on rope, but
twice traversed an imaginary unfath-
ENABLE abyss on a nearly invisible wire
suspended between two pins.-PaE
Mall Gazette.