The Bessemer indicator., 1894-08-11
THOSE BorHERlNo Locysrs.
How They Should He Met. Dosod and
Persuftied to Die.


Pcrsufded to Die.
With tho intention of observing
the homo life of the cicada, & re-
porter ioe me Nov York Sun went to
Staten Island one day and walked
along tho terrace for mile to an ac-
compartment OF eruuchirg Insects.
Staten island Is one mass of tho in
sects. They are overhead and under
foot and the trees are obscured by
them A mathematician in Blooming
dale has calculated that il mans
vocal abilities were as great In pro.
portion to his size us u cicada's he
could make himself heard three times
around the world and have enough
voice left over to tic in double bow
knot at the ends.
What is bothering the Staten
islanders now is TO find some use Tor
their visitors. This is particularly
interesting, us it may be that sec
ond instalmcnt will arrive later In
tho year Tho reporter intervi.,7ed
number OF Stnteh Island men on
the ci.ai question: What are You
/ going to do with them?" and hero
arc some OF the answers:
"Sct tho place on fire and burn
'cm out"
Poison 'om with paris green and
use the bodies for fertilizer"
Train ON up TO hunt mosquitoes.
"liire 'em out In gangs to We tern
land improvement syndicates to clcur
away underbrush.
"Emigrate to Europe anl let them
colonizc the island"
"Damiino.
Most of those interviewed con.
curred III the opinion last given.
But the oldest inhabitant-thevh have
separate oldest inhabitant for
every important occurrence in Staten
islanG-gives II still moro hopeless
roply.
"'Tain't the question, " said he,
what wero goin' to do with them
eermin. The question is whut's
them vcrmin goin' to do with us?'
This particular Oldest inhabitant
is IN cx-sailor, with little home
near tho watorsido, He say he
knows n'l about cicadas, Us he &
seen swarms OF them in aii parts of
the world
''Thcss's trouble COMM" said ho;
'sure 'nough trouble. Somethin'
terrible always happins when them
animiles hoaves In sight. When
was travelin' ocrcst The country
oncst ott on the plains there came a
swarm SO thick it stopped tho train
and near threw it Off tho track. The
very next week lost a wallet with
81. SO in it."
"Have you ever soon tho insects
on Staten island before?" asked the
reporter.
"Yes, l seen 'em moron fifteen
year ago, an that worry year my
brother William fell down and bust
ed his leg plumb OF short. | knowed
tnese were comm and got all
ready for 'em an closed my house all
up. My little sloop lies out there in
the bay, an l slowed away all her
sail under lock an key. What fer?
why, young man, the las time we
had them animies here swarm OF
Gem flew out to schooner bclongin'
to me an my brother an ate every
stitch OF canvass ofr'n her. They
didn't even leave the ropes an STAYS.
| amt runnin' any risks like that
ag'in.
"They're cute devils See that
ellum tree out in my yardP Well.
that's slippery ellum an on Sun.
day mornin', whom tho animiles first
came up from the ground, they
spotted that tree They went to
work an cat all the bark off in limo
up an down. an then they wont slid
in down tho slippery place jos like
toboggan slide, an they was so
many of 'em that it was Just one
long line. roun' an roun' until l got
so dizzy had to get out my garden
hose an wash 'em off. That's tho
reason you don't SEQ many of 'en,
for when they sees meant business
they left.
"Speakin' OF locuses, I'll tell you
how they saved my life once when I
was clim bing u South American
mountain by gittin' in between mo
an avalanche an stoppin' the ava
lanche. Talk about big swarms!
Why. that was tho biggest. What's
that? Your train. Welcome down
again any time you want to know
anything about them animics."