The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-07-24

going to be without avail His first
onslaught on the hosts had left the
rails smeared and Shiny. Since then
new patches of worms had crawled
recklessly over the bodies of the slain.
These later arrivals were crushed into
the mess left by the first victims Even
the sand worms could not cut the coat
ing so that the drivers could rub the
rails. The locomotive came to a halt
with its pilot just poked over the first
sleepeFs of the trestle .ss
Worms Do Not Mind water.
There was a second council of war.
The engineer suggested that he take
the coll of hose in the cab, hitch II 10
one of the cocks and sweep the rails
with water. This recourse was tried.
But as soon as the water began to run
each worm halted and chung with all
its legs to rail or sleeper. He was
able to fiatten himself in such fashion
that the water Sluiced over him inef
fectuallY. AS soon as the stream
stopped the worm placidly resumed
his course. The water in the tender
couldn't be wasted in this fashion. for
steam must be kept up.
1t was then suggested that the train
wait patiently until the worm army
had crossed over. but after watching
the progress of a sample worm for a
few moments the conductor decided
that this would not do The worm did
not hike right along nor did any of
| his fellows. Each hitched and UNI
dulated for an inch or so and then
| used up valuable time in accommodating,
| The worm lifted his head, jabbed his
stubby snout first to right and then
to left. and took long and contempla-
| tive survey. Then he hitched along
few more inches and repeated the leis-
urely survey. The situation was worse
than that of a trolley car behind a
watering cart in narrow street.
The Broom Brigade ut Work.
One of the passengers on the train,
Western farmer going back to his old
| home in Germany for summer visit.
| said that he believed the only way was
to make brooms out of birch withes
| and sweep the tracks. He declared
that he was willing to assist and on
| this many of the passengers volunteer
ed Getting the train out of it's predic-
ament was a matter in which all were
| interested. So the train crew and the
| others set to work cutting withes down
| in the ravine, and several in the party
tied the withes into brooms for the use
| of the others. In ten minutes fifty men
were out on the trestle, sweeping away
| for dear life. The air below the frame
work was filled with flying worms.
They battered like green rain on the
| leaves of the trees below.
To be sure, there was q quarter of a
mile of trestle to clean, but it seemed
like, a fairly easy proposition. Here,
| however, ensued a complication The
| complication first tackled the men who
went into the bushes after the withes.
| Up from their retreats came the black
flies. the hinges and the mosquitoes.
They chased the choppers out of the
woods, and then fell upon the men who
were sweeping the tracks.
A person who has not been in the
Maine woods cannot understand the
tortures that these little terrors infiict.
They are at their worst in July. Per-
sons who do not understand those
things may think it sounds puerile and
cowardly for man to admit that black
| flies have driven him" But even
hardened woodsmen and guides will
not venture into the woods in June and
July until they have smeared thei-
leather hides with grease and tar and
| other compounds.
Black Flies Take "a Hand.
The passengers and the train cre&
were wholly unused to the pests of
the Maine. forest. Many of them were
from cities, and If black flies ever
| laugh, these terrors of the Moxie must
have chortled when they espied the
fair white skins of these, strangers
| who had. suddenly dropped among
them like mama from heaven. BY the
1 wireless telegraphy in use in insect
1 land the news was sent abroad, and
clouds Of pests came w1nging In over
valley and hill. Mosquitoes arrived
and went away in content. Black
| flies splotched the faces of the toll
ers. These flies do not fear any move
ment of man, and settle on the. face
and hands in patches. Their bite is
| acute agony. They must use saws
where mosquitoes use drills, to judge
| from the sensation.
Each worn sweeper was followed by
clouds of these flies. streaming out
| behind in the air like bannerets. The
hinges. such tiny specks as to be
| hardly visible, came too. and burrow-
| ed in the skin in all the claims that
had not been staked out by their big
ger brothers. The sting of a minge is
not a whit less agonizing sthan the
bite OF the black fly ss
AS the workers perspired the plague
| grew worse. At last fully half the
| men threw down their broom and ran
| for the shelter of the cars fairly
screaming with the torture the insects
we're inf1icting upon them. Only
| sportsman who has been in the Maine
woods during the summer can under
stand how Internal this insect persecu-
| ton Is. Other passengers worked on
welding the broom with one hand and
| swatting flies with the other. 1t was
| necessary to keep one or both hands
whirling constantly around the head
| in order TO escape being eaten alive.
| But fighting the pests was about like
kicking out against a breeze. The
natural relief from such Intellectual
warfare is TO. swear. SO the passen-
gers swore and swatted and swept, and
swept and swatted and swore, their
perspiring faces putting redly with the.
poison that the insects were pumping
| into them. At last even the bravest
gave up the job and they retired to
the cars and left the worms and the
insects masters of the trestle. The
lliputians were the conquerors of the
day When night came on and the in
sects went away the fight on the
worms was resumed, and at last the
train got over the grade and away.
But when the passengers got off at
Jackman their faces were so swollen
that they could barely open their eyes
sufficiently to see the way to the store
where an enterprising Yankee keeps
face lotions.
Roof DweIIers of New York.
From the Ledger Monthly.
Perched high up in mid-air. atop the
ioftv onHco huiIdfnqq Of the CITY are