Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-10-05
The Heel Fly.
Reprinted by request.


the land. How I come to know this
so we'll. was sitting on the front
'veranda de porch" of my spacious
"dugo1t" the other evening, not think
ing of anything in particular but
kinder" chewing my "cud" of ''six
inches for ten CENTS" and wondering
what an old COW of the half brindle,
half Durham family, standing in the
shadow of the Presbyterian church,
was thinking about She, like the
writer, was chewing her 'cud' and
looking with a sad expression about
her eyes down Chestnut street as Bill
Spriggins delivery wagon went by
hauling a peck of Irish ''taters' and
a box of safety matches out to Bill
Browns place, corner of Chestnut and
154th street, south. She looked as if
dressed for warm weather, or long
race. Anyway, she had on the usual
coat of long hair brought over from
the winter campaign, while the bal
snce of her wardrobe consisted of
horns, hoofs, hide, long tail, ETC., and
as she stood there she seemed to pos
sess only vitality enough to wag her
jaw, tilt her ears forward as she saw
Bill Spriggins' wagon go by, but how
painfully little We know of the great
reservoir of force, heat and ''get up
aud get out of the way children for I
am coming" there Is to an old COW,
when the heelfg touches her between
hoof and hair. All at once her Jaw
became as still as that of the sleeping
dead, 'hydrsfoby" glare shot from
her eyes, her tail went up at angle of
45 degrees, and she lit out on a dead
run down East Third street for the
cool, limped waters of Cedar Greek,
and having lived in Texas for one
hundred and fifty years, knew at
once that heel fly was toying with
her heels. She is now standing in
water near the ice factory. looking as
knowing as lead yoke of cattle or
city girl at country dance, aud in
her glory we leave her, and turn our
attention to the matter of enlIghten-
ing the uneducsted on the origin and
peculiar characteristics of the heelfg.
Many we'll informed and good mean
ing people, and fairly correct histor-
ians on other and commonplace and
less scientific matters, have held that
the heelfy is purely an American bug,
and indeed, Governor Roberts staked
his reputation upon it's beng purely
a Texas production. The same opin-
ion is held by ex-Gov. Hoeg, Col.
Peter Smith of Fort Worth, Frank
Holland of the Texas Farm and
Ranch, but I have not heard how
Gov. Culbertson and Stump Aashby
stand on the question, but all the
others referred to are mors than bold
in the assertion of the opinion that
the heelfiy Is the fruit of legal union
between streak of lightning and
Mexican pepper, after a night out
with the boys on MUSICALE" Any
way the native heat about It's BUSH
ness end can couse an old COW to
make figure nine out of her tail and
get on move that is astonishing.
Now for few words as to the true
history of the haelfy and the subject
will be left somewhere in the pre-
cincts Of where I found it. have
gone clear down the line of ancient
history consulting all the ''horn books''
and4h 1t was citizens loag before
Cortez and Pizarro were born is evil
denced by the fact that Mexican cat
tie, when they land in Texae, never
mistake the hum of the heelfiy for
thst of the domestic humble bee.
That it was common in Egypt during
the reign of the Ptolomies, is clear,
from the figure cut in solid stone, and
that strong force of them went out
with Moses and his people into the
wilderness is equally true. They
however. changed the name and called
it the flying fiery serpent. and SO on,
all the way down the line to Noah
and, but at the ark. the line is cut,
for all agree that if Noah had have
had any Leelfies on board, his assort-
ment of Durhams, white faces, Poland
Chinas. long-eared muleys. ''Dogies,"
Mexicans and Texas long horns would
not have tailed out satisfactorily at
the end of a 40-dsys cruise.
The heelfy is about the sra of q
honey bee, but it don't make any