The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-08-10
LIVING IN
THE COUNTRY.

We must.
We bought farm at willie.
MOSQUITOES. You'l never be troubled
with them. You may be surprised to
hear it, but mo:quitoes at VILE
never come into the house. They will
often be plenty outside, but they disap-
pear the moment your foot touches the
piazza.
Another strange thing about them is
that they may be abundant in the grass,
and, as you walk through, may rise up
in thousands, but they seem to be fright
ened at man, and fly away at once with
out waiting to bite" wish knew the
man who told us that. But We found
flies abundant. Now it may be that lies
are great scavengers, and save US from
epidemics, and noxious smells, and dan
gerous vapors. and that their presence is
q sure indication OF a healthy locality;
but in the early morning, whe: one is IN
bed enjoying that most enjoyable season
for sleep-the forbidden hours between
sunrise and 8 o'clock-two or three
hundred flies buzzing about, a'lghtlng
on ones face, crawling into one nos
tris, tickling every inch ofexposed skin,
are aggravating enough. In saying two
or three hundred | do not wish to be
understood as positively con!inng my.
self to that number for the reputation OF
the place and the stability OF my five
acres of lots. wish to avoid exagger-
ating and there may have been two or
three thousand.
After they had routed me out OF bed at
an hour when there was nothing what
ever to do-for the daily papers can not
be obtained in willie before nan
past eight o'clock-they pursued me oil
day long. They crawled into the cream,
the sca!ded themselves to death in my
coffee, they clambered over the butter,
dragging their greasy legs heavily and
slowly; they planted themselves on my
paper if tried to write, they filed up
nv inkstand and clogged the ink, they
scratched in my hair ee e'ecting the ten
dereut and least thckly covered spots,
and always returning to them airer be.
ing frightened away; and when, eA'
hausted with loss OF rest and worn out
with their attacks, endcavored to take
a nap, they fell upon me and banlshea
sleep from my ewes.
"Flies," said a neiehbor, when he
heard of my miseries, why 40 you not
kill them off? used to be troubled with
them, but bought some of the gray ny
paper-Berensohn's lightning killer, and
soon brought matters to an Issue. Inc
yerv first day we killed forty or fifty,
and the girl swept them up in the kit.
chen by teacups full; the supply was not
equal to the demand, and ! have not
been walked by fly since. What COM
fort it is TO sleep through the morning IN
peace and not a single buzz!'
Before night | had the famous death
dealer, and, according to directions, set
il out in saucers, covered with little
water, and watched complacently, and
with somewhat OF an about to-oe-grati'
fled revengeiul feeling in my breast, Tor
the result. waited and waited; the tlies
buzzed and crawled and tickled, but not
one went near the fatal saucer; IN every
part of the room were they except IN
that spot.
They crawled up and down the walls,
they perched on the ceiling, they com
mtted suicide in the water pitcher, they
collected in masses on the crumbs lying
about and chased one another IN playful
and amatory mood, but touch that saucer
they did not. | moved it from placet to
place aud get it near where they were
thickest, but they only flew hurrlediy
away with louder 5uzz, as much as TO
say, sect out with your old Nv Killer.
In a rage, caught some and threw them
into the poisoned chalice, but they
whisked out again with shake OF their
wings and went off as diabolically busy
and buzzy as eyer.
poured out come OF the water, tear
ing the attraction was too much Diluted
then, finding that that did not answer,
| added an extra quantity, but the re-
suit was the same. The only part OF the
70 M entirely llee from flies was the
neighborhood OF the fly paper. ! was In
despair until happy thought
struck me; taking two OF the sheets,
which are conveniently stuck together at
the edges, laid them over my face and
composed myself for sleep. The effect
was magical. Not fly came near me and
NV nap was delicously unbroken,
We bought two pups and two kittens.
This was with view to the extermina'
tion OF the rats and mice that ate our
oats and danced nocturnal ligs IN the
partitions and ceilings OF the house.
Whether the pups would have caught
rats or the kittens mice is hard TO tell, as
they were altogether too busy worrying
or being worried to devote much atten-
tion to the chase, and many was the
battle waged between the bel!igerents.
The entire science Of strategy could be
learned from studying the conduct OF
this feline and canine war, ana nave
ALWAYS believed that Grant and Lee had
both gone to the cats and dogs to acquire
their knowledge. Felis, being the
weaker, retires behind her lntrenchheht
OF boxes or chairs and takes advantage
OF the natural deienses OF corners anu
heles, while CAMS, being driven 10 the
attpck, exhausts his ingenuity IN en-
deavoring to turn his opponent tiahH'
or TO inveigle her from her intrehch-
mentE IT.,
There was but one matter in which
the kittens and pups all four agreed ana
that was to steal whatever they had the
slightest fancy for. Milk was the weak
ness of the kittens, and, provided they
could discover any unguarded pan,
! truce was declared, and friend and Zoe
united in toraging upon their master.
On such occassous they were content 10
drink together from the same dish IN the
most sm!cable way although the mo-
meut the feast was exhausted the cats
fled to their intrenchments, without so
much as cleaning their whlskere' ana
hoslilities were renewed.
When not busy with the flowers they
devoted themselves to the vegetables
One was delighted with hunting hop
toads," and as these abounded in our
five acres and we're particularly fond OF
hiding in the watermelon patch, he
hunted it over and over again, larry
plowing it up with his nose, crushin the
vines. tearing The leaves to pieces, nhI
breaking off the fruit. 'f he hnd Killed
the toads his proceedings mght nave