The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-07-14
ANTS AS FIGHTERS.
THE TINY WARRIORS ARE FEROCIOUs
IN BATTLE.

II was one Of six American miners
who were routed from their camp by Il
Venezuelan ant army" said II mining
expert who lately arrived from Vene.
zuela. 1--WE retreated before the in.
vaders without making a fight. and for
two good reasons. In the first place
we would have got the worst of the
encounter. and. secondly. we knew
that If we let them alone they would
do us a good service.
Shortly after dawn one Sunday our
native cook burst III upon lis with the
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 vas not
sealed In cans or in jars was hurriedly
piled on a table. the four legs of which
were immersed in IS many basins Of
water. Every that Is known
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 reconnoiter for the in.
vaders and to watch their assault
from Il distance. The army was max
ing fair time. An Irregular patch Of
black 10 fee, wide and double as long
was swarmlng steadily toward our
camp. AS the army was in no way
disturbed By our presence it was pos.
sible to approach it's 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
IN 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
hts had come and would clean house
for us. and therefore they were vel
come. The ants swarmed up the joists
and the dry leafy walls. and wherever
there was a spider or Il bug there vas
a brief tussle and a dead foe. But
there was bigger game in store for the
invaders.
1.-The star battle was with IN i'm.
mense centiped. u" Of the blush
gray kind. about seven inches long and
as big around as your middle finger.
He darted out Of a hole like a blue
streak, evidently trusting to his speed
and superior strength to run through
the enemy's ranks. But he didn't go
three feet before he was stopped. Ants
literally covered him. He 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 l well knew
was a desperate last one, he remained
quiet while what little life was left in
him was bitten out Of him. Later. when
had swept up the centipeds and scor-
pions and lizards and a tarantula
which the ant army had vanquished.
we put the hero Of the star battle un-
der Il quartz magnifying glass. The
bodies Of dead ants still clung to their
foe. From his back, from his legs.
from wherever there was a chance for
a hold. the bodies of ants dangled, hold.
ing n l suppose, by their teeth.
perhaps you wonder what would
happen to a man who would under
take to fight an army Of ants. assum.
ing. of course. that the nan relies OF
his natural means Of defense-his
hands and feet. I can best illustrate
that by the rare story of an unfortu-
nate who was brought to a hospital in
Caracas shortly before my return
home. The nan vas q coolie who had
worked on a cocoa plantation In a creek
not far from Caracas. Following a
habit of some Of his countrymen, the
cooIie, owing to the heat. had left his
80 IL olICLSISu III I'll tiiS
ground to sleep outdoors. Exactly
what followed no enc can say with Ger.
tainty. Presumably he was surrounded
and covered by an army Of ants be-
fore he awakened. At dawn the shrieks
and cries Of a man in agony aroused
the inmates of the camp, who ran out
to learn the cause.
"The man was ~gesticulating wildly
and calling for help, whiled he squirm-
ed and writhed and slapped his face
and neck and chest and legs In a mad
effort to slap himself all over at once.
He was standing in the midst of an
army of ants and was too distracted
with pain to run away. Then he did
exactly what a panther or leopard does
when he Is being overcome. The man
threw himself to the ground to roll his
tormentor to death. A single active
white man could have saved the poor