Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-07-15
THE FIRST MOSQUITO.
A Pest That Visits Man Nearly Every
where.

thriyes in lands both tngid and tropi-
cal; from one end Of the world to the
other the little tyrant persecutes man
kind with his vicious bite and tantaliz-
ing singing.
In Alaska, during the summer time,
his presence makes life almost intoler-
able, even the tough old moose and
caribou and shaggy coated bears are
driven from the valleys and compelled
to seek shelter on the hiIltops, which
are swept clear of insects by the con
slant breezes. o
When the Indian Is resting in the
woods he sets lire to the leaves and
twigs around him, making smudge
which protects him against the cloud
Of insects till he is ready to shoulder
his pack and take the trail again Be
fore leaving he never thinks Of eX-
tiuguishing the fire he has made, and
big forest fires often result from his
neglect a breeze will fan the shoulder
ing embers into a flame, which will
creep up into the dry spruce and hem
lock and rapidly spread till miles and
miles Of timber lands are burned to
Dlackened stumps
When travelling in Alaska the white
man smears his face and hands with
bacon fat and pine pitch us a defense
against mosquito bites, but even with
this unsayoIy preCautiOn | have had
my head so swollen by the poisonous
singing that L could not wear my hat
Sleep is simply impossible without
the shelter OK good mosquito net,
and this must be carefully tucked in,
for all night long swarms Of mosquitoes
will be creeping all over it, persiStenuy
seeking an entrance and If there is a
spot in your Notifications it viii be dis
covered. When by some accident u
man finds himself at the mercy of the
matter what the risk.
| remember that one time in Alaska
was hunting mountain sheep on some
heights which could only be reached
by dangerous climbing Late in the
evening | found the darkness closing
round me, and / was at an elevation of
5000 feet; at all points steep slopes
searching for a possible means Of de-
scent, l finally discovered the head Of
small cascade and | decided to follow
this. At first the little stream tumbled
over huge bOulders, among which
carefully made my way without acct
dent, but then | reached point where
the waters flowed over Il smooth face
NJ, . Il
for fifty feet AS | was hesitating
about continuing my journey by this
dangerous route clouds of mosquitoes
were swarming around me and l de
termined to escape from them at all
hazards. Throwing my feet out in
front of me. l let myself slide down
the steep rock. For some distance |
sped along merily, but | was unable
to stop myself. and upon reaching an
uneven stretch of stone | was thrown
off my course and tumbled head over
heels, in which undiguided position l
continued for a few yards until / was
flung broadside onto hemlock stump
which stopped my further progress in
"a nerve SCATTERING manner This to-
bogganing experiment had been un-
pleasant / was bruised and scratched,
and stabbed all over with the spikes
of the devils club plant but as / sat
in the smoke of the camp fire that
night ! felt grateful for having escaped
the mosquitoes, even ut such a cost.
The Alaskan Indians have a legend
regarding the origin of mosquitoes
In the oldeu times there lived in the
snow buried mountains of Eleca an old
giant, hidcous to behold and mighty
in strength. He lived with his wife
and three biz Sons-all were CannibalS
and they subsisted entirely upon human
beings. The old father had snares and
spiked pitfalls on all the trails leading
To the interior with which he caught
the unwary traveller SO successful
were the giants inhuman efforts that
the powerful nations of Chlcat and
Goonennar dwindled down TIL only a
few families were left. Eventually a
medicine man. ambitious for glory, de
eided that he would put his natural
cunning and supernatural power
against the giants strength and skill,
Armed with a keen-bladed knife and
an assortment Of wonder-worktnE
charms. the doctor started or for the
contest. He approached the traps very
carefully. and then purposely and with
but slight injury, he caught himself i'm
one W the snares and lay still as
though dead. Soon the Old giant,
making his rounds i'm the morning,
came along. and seeing the sleek ear
casS Of the doctor chucSled to HIM
self Mt his unusual success, and putting
the body into a sack which he always
carried for the purpose, he started
home 10 receive the congraulatory re-
marks of his family upon his fat catch,
and upou his reaching his hut preparl-
tons were 1T once made to convert the
doctor into a dainty meal. Fhc smould-
erine enbers of the fire were blown
into flames. snd big cooking pots had