The Portland daily press., 1899-05-20

Walter milestone. the explorer, mar
rowly escaped horrible fate, that OF be-
ing dcvoured alive by an army Of ants in
South America He said
81 had heard much Of tho ant army
from the natives, and 1 always received
their statements cum grano sails. IL
sounded SO very remarkable that ants, in
however large numbers, could attack and
devour gorged snakes of large size and
oyerpower forest creatures possessing tho
strength of hundreds of nnts. But
found all this TO be true, as also the state
ment that ants parade through the forest
in regular military formation.
81 had been exploring forest IN
South America and had established my
headquarters in the center Of an open
glade about 80 feet wide when / became
aware Of the approach of a moving mass
of insects whose nature ] could not at first
determine, but which spread from si6o TO
side of the open space in which stood and
whose TANKS were lost in the bush. At
first watched the oncoming army with
lazy indifference Only when the insects
were close to me did the stories of the ma
tives regarding the terrible power of the
ant army flash into my recollection. Then
jumped up In q hurry, gathered together
my travelling equipments and prepared to
decamp. At the same instant 1 became
aware. from sharp nipping pains in the
lower extremities, that the vanguard Of
the army had reached my outstretched
limbs and begun the attack glanced
hastily around me and, horror of horrors,
found that the devilish insects had me in
circle, cutting off all chance of escape
except through their ranks With the
skill of expert tactioians they had delayed
attack from the front until the wings had
had time to march ahead and meet in the
rear. The cleverness of the little fends
struck me even In that dreadful moment
when the danger Of my position became
every memens more apparent and the
creeping regiments were mounting up my
limbs, sinking numberless hungry beaks
into my skin and biting like a myriad of
tiny demons.
II danced madly with the pain, crush
ing hundreds of the ants at every step, but
there were a thousand to take tho placs of
every hundred killed. rolled up my
trousers and tried to get at the ants I
brushed them off in clusters, but while I
swept them from one side they climbed up
the other, biting furiously, until the blood
ran down my limbs, providing a feast of
which the terrible insects greedily awaited
themselves Desperate and half crazed by
the pain and my own helplessness, tried
to rid myself of the insects by scooping
them off with both hands. 1t was the
worst move could have made, for the
ants settled on my hands in hundreds, and
found that my condition was worse than
ever.
"Have you ever heard Of the Hindoo
manner Of capturing tigers by strewing
around his lair leaves saturated with q
sticky mixture2 The tiger gets the sticky
leaves on his paws tries to wipe them off
by rubbing his paws across his face gets
the sticky leaves in his eyes and mouth
and rolls over to rid his eyes Of the leaves,
gets covered with them from nose to tail
and finally, blinded and exhausted by his
struggles, falls an easy victim to the ma
tives. 1t began to look as though death
was coming to me in an equally dramatic
manner. My efforts to rid myself of the
army Of creeping things only resulted in
making matters worse for me. They be-
gan to mount up my arms, and it seemed
only question of time when the attack
ing forces would reach my body, form a
junction and continue their terrible on
slaught until sank exhausted, to be at
the mercy OF the entire army then wait
ing for the advance guard to pull me
down. What a fate To be devoured alive
In the heart of tropical forest by horde
of insects which I could crush by hun
dreds; to have my skeleton found years
later with only my pack to disclose my
identity. Was there no help?
inspiration comes quickly to the man
who is being devoured alive by ants.
had In my camp outfit a bottle of kerosene
that carried always for small lamp
that used at night Kerosene knew to
be death to insects With hurried hand 1
tore open the fastening of my knapsack
and took out the oil bottle, the demon
army all the while marching relentlessly
up this red track they had made on my
limbs. A dash of the kerosene on my
tingling arms and my enemies dropped in |
masses ceased struggling and |
lay still as they struck the ground. That |
bottle of common kerosene oil was to save |
my life. poured some in the hollow of |
my hand and rubbed 1t on my tortured |
limbs. Wherever the kerosene touched 1t |
left dead ants. What mAttered 1t that |
numberless punctures smarted az though |
ten thousand redhot needles were piero- |
ng my skin? was routing the enemy.
my efforts redoubled. I poured the |
Dill down my ankles and joyously watched |
he head of the columns that were mount |
ng my shoes turn tail and souttle off,
eaving thousands of dead ants In their |
rail. The insects left on my body were
quickly disposed Of, but while was con-
,entrating my attention on those the army |
lad been pushing on to renew the attack.
Evidently they had been only driven back,
,ot routed, and those afar off were not |
ware of the formidable nature Of the de-
ense. Half the contents Of my bottle of |
Ill had been used 1t was necessary to |
ettle the ants with what remained.
Quickly l spread my rubber blanket |
IN the ground at my feet and, standing |
n the center, emptied the contents of the |
,ottle around my shoes. In this charmed |
ircle was absolutely SAFE The ant army |
harged again and again, only to fall back
,affled and terrified from the fatal oil in
which stood. The terrible insects fell
quir1ning and dying at my feet by squads
md regiments, but pass the kerosene bar
ier they could not, and at last the mass
moved of, beaten. 1 was saved. But that