The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-05
THE ANTHROPOPHAGUs oHIGGER
The Bane of the Picnic season In old
Missouri and ThereaboutH.

The Bane of the Picnic Season In old
Missouri and ThereaboutH.
From the Kansas City Journal.
simultaneously with the advent of the
merry picnic season comes the chigger,
a beast OF mystery and of a retiring dis
position. His habits are predatory, and,
like the wicked flea, he frequently goes
where no man pursueth. But while not
possessing the saltatory powers of Pulex
lrritans, he Is much harder TO hold up.
Those who have had the good fortune to
witness lovely woman capture a flea al
ways have high praise for the expert
manner in which 1t Is done, but the CHG
ger laughs her TO scorn, and hides his
diminished head beneath her cuticle with
great speed and consequent irritation to
the surrounding tissue. He gets there be-
fore she does, and even the new woman
cannot circumvent him.
The chigger is no respector of person,
and nobody is exempt from his raVages
The statesman of high degree and the
tender maiden are alike meat for him.
and equally toothsome. 1t is said that
cat may look upon a king with the calm
est composure, and so, indeed, might a
chigger but a king cannot look on a CHG
ger by reason of the smallness of the bug
and that is where the chigger 'lays ii
Srer" royalty. Certain learned gentle
men who are Versed in insect lore tell us
that the chigger is a mite, and there is
probably no one with the temerity to dis
pute the assertion. He is indeed mitely
and will prevail in spite of our most de-
voted efforts.
But 1t Is especially at those rural festf-
walls called picnics that chigger disports
himself with the greatest abandon There
he has his innings and proves himself a
Nemesis of the deepest dye. Enjoy YOUR
selves while We may, We merry picnickers.
for on the morrow we itchl The delights of
the merry-go-round and the custard pie
are but evanescent things, soon to fade
away, but the Chgger burrows like the
any other mathematical computation suf-
fcient to convey the idea The habitat of
the chigger is among the weeds and grass
es. There he remains in outrageous re-
firement, enjoying the beauties of nature
and biding his time. The time soon comes.
A fair summer girl trips along with dainty
footsteps or perhaps reclines at ease upon
the emerald sward, when the chigger
marks her as his prey and takes possession
at once. 1t is a fair land of promise and the
grazing is good. The chigger rolls that
damsel under his tongue as a sweet NOR
sci, and in the exuberance of his glee
shouteth Yum, yum"
The remedy for the chigger is various.
Every woman has her own private formula
for potent chiggercide, ranging from
face powders to spraying with franeiDanni
but they all pale into insignificance beside
the ancient and time-honored practice of
Amounting with bacon. A crfsp niece Of
breakfast bacon showing a streak of lean
ana streak of fat in the proper proper
tions IS poison to the chigger: a sad COM
mentary upon his epicurean tastes, but as
he Is strictly anthropophagou this is not
matter of great surprise. To pour oil into
the wounds made by the chigger is to
grease with bacon. 1t is like the precious
ointment which ran down upon Aaron ;
| beard, and its influence Is as balm upon
the distraught victim of the chigger's vo-
racity But one thing must be borne in
mind. While
Bacon may render vain the chigger's sharp
bill,
The scent Of the smokehouse will linger
there still