The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-04-27

What John A. Cockeriii Last Wrote About
as Correspondent.

as Correspondent.
Colonel John A. Cockerill, in his last
letter to the New York Herald, written
only o few days before his mournful
death, at Cairo, Egypt, and dated March
20, 1895, dilates upon the Egyptian
Fly" as follows:
Aside from its dust, its importunate
beggars, it's snake jugslers, its table d
hote dinners and its screeching donkeys,
Cairo has one nuisance which will always
be serious impediment to its expansion
as resting spot for the weary and the
jaded. I allude to its flies. OF all the an
cient plaques Of Egypt this one has been
carried over In all its diabolical, pristine
vigor. The average domestic fly in most
lands possesses a slight share of timidity.
II can he f1ecked ana scared, and there Is
a limit to its pertlnacity ana persecu-
tion. Not 30 with the Egyptian fly. 1t
has so long enjoyed immunity at the
hands of the natives that Its impudence
knows no bounds. The natives either
love the tickling sesation produced by
flies or their religion, which teaches con-
sideratiou for all forms .of life, carries
them to the extreme in their tolerence
toward flies. They seldom brush them or
interfere with their pastimes. Nothing is
more common than to see child sitting
I'm the sun placidly, with hundred flies
crawling over Its face or percbing upon its
eyelids. The fly, enjoying such privileges
for ages has come to think that he has
vested rights.
The white invader is his special vanity.
II you sit down to read he fops down
on your nose with q thud. He ses ms TO
weigh at least an ounce. You make q
dive at him with your left hand. He
springs out OF the way, but quicker than
stroke Of lightning ne 10 back IN the
repeats the same performance. You keep
on sngr,ly slapping at him, but the
malignant devil continues to cling to
you. You finally desist Then your
prosecutor unlimbers HE suction pump
and proceeds to insert 1t into your
epidermis. The sting suggests the Jersey
mosquito in his busiest season. BY this
time he has been reinforced by a dozen
hilarious companions, who plaft their
hind legs and balance on their noses
while imbioing your best elixir. You
their saltatorial performances again. but
they never desert you. You are again
exhausted ana angry. You swear and you
brush the whole lot away with your
newspaper or book.
But the Egyptian fly has his rights,
You have an attack en- masse, and you
spring out of your chair and move TO an.
other spot. There you find fresh lot CT
enemies, who beign their prosecutions,
and In sheer despair you give up ana
start out for walk or drive. But your
foes continue with you, and you never
feel quite safe from them until you curl
up under your mosquito bar at night.
The natives sell to you gaudy, short
banded fly brush, wherewith you may
protect yourself from the pests. But they
are awkward and ugly. Nothing is more
ridiculous than the spectacle OF an aged
English tourist sitting on a hotel veranda
lighting f1ies with his little brush, and
fairly anathematizing his ancestors for
bringing him into the world without
consulting his wishes. Col. Sellers could
see great demand for his eyewash in
sore-eyed Asia, but the man who finds
the means of destroying the Egyptian
ity, will not only win the everlasting
gratitude OF the white race, but put
considerable sum OF piasters in bis pocket
"a we'll AS