The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-08-24
ANTS AS FIGHTERS.
THE TINY WARRIORS ARE FeRocioUs
IN BATTLE.

m BATTLE.
So Yicieus Are They That Even the
Largest Animals Dare Not Meet
Then In Combat Man Whom
Their Bites Made . RavtnE Maniac.
Il was one Of six American miners
who were routed from their camp by a
Venezuelan ant army" said a mining
expert who lately arrived from Venc-
zuela- I'VE retreated before the in
vaders without making fight. and for
two good reasons. In the first place
We would have got The worst Of the
encounter. and. secondly, we knew
that II we let them alone they would
do US a good service.
shortly after dawn one Sunday our
native cook burst In upon It's with the
news that We were about to be attack
ed by an army Of ants. We had heard
enough about ant armies to know
what to do. We arose hastily, and ev.
cry ounce Of provisions that was not
sealed in cans or in jars was hurriedly
piled on a table. the four legs OF which
were Immersed In rs many basins of
water. Every maneuver that is known
to the armies OF civilized humans you
may safely expect from an ant army.
but the little black warriors have never
learned to swim. Our provisions thus
protected. we left the camp to itself
and went out to rcconnoiter for the IN,
vaders and to watch their assault
from q distance. The army was max
ing fair time. An irregular patch of
black 10 feet wide and double as long
was swarming steadily toward our
camp. AS the army was I'm no way
disturbed by our presence 1t was pos
sible to approach its lines closely.
There must have been millions upon
millions Of little soldiers marching hip
to hip. At the head marched the lead
er. On went the army. up the posts
Of the camp and then within.
"Once within. the army spread itself
in all directions, forming hundreds OF
little attacking parties. The camp WAS
| an old palm matched affair and SO in
| tested with scorpions, centipeds and
| spiders that we had been on the point
Of destroying it. Now. however, the
ants had come and would clean house
for us, and therefore they We're well
come. The ants swarmed up the joists
and the dry leafy walls, and wherever
there was n spider or a bug there was
brief tussle and a dead foe. But
there was bigger game in store for the
invaders.
| '"The star battle was with an I'M
mense centiped, one Of the blush
| gray kind, about seven inches long and
as big around as your middle finger
He darted out Of hole like a blue
streak, evidently trusting to his speed
and superior strength to run through
the enemy's ranks. But he didn't &c
three feet before he was stopped. Ants
literally covered him. lie turned on
himself and swept them from his back
but before he had gone another three
feet he was buried beneath another
swarm OF his plucky assailants. And
then began a fight to the death. Again
and again he swept his tormentors
from his back while from all sides
hurried streams Of ants to take the
place Of fallen comrades. The wrig
Cling Of the big fellow became less vio
lent as the fight progressed. and final
ly, after an effort. which | well knew
was a desperate last one. he remained
quiet while what little life was left il
him was bitten out Of him. Later whci
the army had retreatcd and when W.
had swept up the centipeis and scor
pions and lizards and a tarantul:
which the ant army had vanquisheu
we put the hero Of the star battle un
der a quartz magnifying glass. TIN
bodies OF dead ants still clung to thei
foe. From his back. from his legs
from wherever there was a chance TO
bold, the bodies Of ants dangled, hold
ing on. suppose. by their teeth.
perhaps you wonder what woul
happen to q man who would under
take to fight an army Of ants. assun
ing, Of course, that the man relies o
his natural means Of defense-hl
hands and feet. l can best ilIustrat
that by the rare story Of an unfOrtt
nate who was brought to a hospital
Caracas shortly before my retur
home. The man was a coolie who ha
worked on a cocoa plantation In cree
> not far from Caracas. Following
habit Of some OF his cOuntrymen. I'll
coolie. owing to the heat. had left b
camp and stretched himself on I'll
ground to sleep outdoors. EXactl
what followed no enc can say with ce
e tainty. Presumably he was surrounde
and covered by an army Of ants b
\ | 10 4 4 s,t, f<.l
8 and cries Of a man in agony arouse
e the inmates Of the camp. who ran ol
e to learn the cause.
| "The man was gesticulating wild
0 and calling for help. whiled he squirI
q ed and writhed and slapped his Ia
o and neck and chest and legs in n ma
I effort to slap himself all ever at ono
4 He was standing in the midst OF Q
army Of ants and was too distracts
with pain to run away. Then he d
s exactly what panther or leopard do
q when be Is being overcome. The IN:
q threw himself to the ground to roll b
4 tormentor to death. A single acti
# white man could have saved the po
q wretch. but the stupefed. barelegs'
# coolies dared not. or thought not.
n rescue while the victim himself w
"a too craZed with agony to seek 9th
- than instant relief. From q slight pt
% sonal experience I know the poor 4
= low was burning In fire which wou
n take hours to Kill him.
FINALLY a bystander resained
wits and rushed into the midst OF I
army and dragged the man after hi
and threw him into the creek. i
n, rescue came too late The victim
* came unconscious. His velvety. bro'
* skin was a pink mass OF raw bit
= When he came TO the hospital. he "
~ bound hand and foot. maniac. who
~ continuous notion was that he was
% ing eaten by antA"-Sew York Sun.
he
1.