The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1901-11-29

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the docirin territorial expansion;
was Il a caN forcing n higher order
Of civilization upon an energetic and
unwilling race; VAS II retaliation for
real or fancied Insult to national honor;
was it. perhaps. because Of an interest
IN the slave trade on n gold mine or a
diamond mHc. was It any or none Of
these rcnsO6s that led to the terrific
and decisive battles Of which l was an
interested Witness some years agOY 1t
viii perhaps ley BE- determined what
were the causes underlying q struggle
Of three days duration, marked by car
mage feats of strength and deeds of
valOr such as Is rarely the lot Of his
tOrian to record.
/ was sitting one summer afternoon
IN the shadow OF my cottage near a
stunted lilat bush when my attention
was attracted 10 a horde Of large black
ants CROSSING narrow roadway which
lay between house and that of a
neighbor i e same yard. Their OBJ
jective point. i soon perceived, was the
foot Of the lilac. the ground around
which haaaneycOmbed by little
red anti arge as the others.
There am unusual excite
mengf y a sentry or scout
had In rs to the colony of the
appro. ehlEE az At least they were
not being attacks unawares. The in
vaders wsae met sar the foot of the
bush and the. war was on. The bat
tlegrOund was confined TO a space per-
haps three feet square, but here among
the hili0cfg and favines I'm miniature
an the tragedies and triumphs of war
were enacted.
There was at first arrangement and
order when .ypn met van, but the con-
hict soon we'd itself into n general
catch-as-catch-can encounter. Woe to
the red ant luckless enough to get
into the Jaws Of its larger foe. One
closing up Of those powerful instru-
ments and n crushed, helpless a
was flung aside. The smaller, however,
had the advantage both in numbers
and agility and fought in pairs or trip.
let's. Thus, while the black ant gener-
ally killed one or more Of its antagO.
nists, it was itself doomed. The dura-
ton Of TRbattle varied from five to
fifteen minutes, ceased by the disap-
pearance of the invaders, to be sud.
denly renewed later.
1t was pathetic during these periods
of truce to note the casualties and the
movements on the fateful field. Busy
little army surgeons or possibly mem
befs Of the Red Cross corps hurried
from one mangled body to another.
Sometimes a feeble response On the
part of the wounded soldier to the
anxious inquiry of the relief was no
ticeable. The sOlicitOus and universal
sympathy of the unframed for their
less fortunate companions was Il sight
never to be forgotten. The ground
was strewed with bodies in all stages
of dismemberment-legs gone, anten-
nae missing, head severed from the
body, the body itself sectioned. Here
and there one MORALLY wounded
dragged itself slowly and painfully to
some obscure spot to die. Others We're
helped away to a place of security, but
in such condition that it is safe to in
fer thu they passed their remaining
days ma hospital or some home for
the disabled. For three days, In at
LAS mauy battles each day, the
Each dav Witnessed a
pefc i0le Uihnlng ont Of cne runKs,
but the vigdr and spirit of the contest
kept up TIN near the close.
Desirdus Of knowing what effect the
presence of strange surroundings
would hive on the combatants, l pro-
cured a large glass dish and captured
several Of both species. This l repeat
ed Mt v%afious times. Invariably. while
at first trying to escape, upon becOm-
ing aware Of each others presence
they grappled and fought to the death.
YalOr, hpnor. hatred, revenge-what
was it?7dOminated entirely over fear.
Agains the stubborn resistance and
greater bumbers of their antagonists
the invaders could not hold out. A pan
ic finally seized the survivors such as
comes upon human warriOrs-an I'M
utterable, un%reasoning fear-aud, thor
Oughly dffeated in their object, what
ever it might have been, for days af-
ter hOstillties ceased any unusual noise
near their dwellings would send each
individual hurriedly to shelter MS ii
an avengpr were at his heels.