The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-15
TN AN ANT ARMY'S TRACK
4
Exusrience Of Mining Engineer in South America When
he yry Ground Seemed Be Alive and Moving Nothing
8 Can Withstand az Attack by the Lille Insects. Xa

ceeded about it's business. Outsldt 0k
tho provisions rescued on the fortified
fable everything WAS cleared out OF
the camp as clean rs whistie n
prpat bunch OF bananas that had hung
i'm n corner had disappeared, all but tile
bara stumps But within the building
,here was not thing of life IP1s.
Not a fly. not a spider. not even
rival ant was 10 be found in the place.
and the floor was eaten clean ana as
t,ear as II it had been swept ano
scrubbed.
..Rut tho army was not finished Win
its destruction in our Immediate he'sh-
borhood. A huge tree-larger thah 'he
| biggest oak have ever seen anywhere
was stripped of its foliage III iesS
than an hour The tree was hSe iee1
IN diameter. and the way the little ones
tackled it showed both sense anu
system. Up one side they Went, crawl
! ing and pushing, and presently ao""
| tho other side of the trunk came GOWN
| tina vanguard, while the army stoo"
| hacked TO a standstill to give the lead
ORG a chance to mount the space 100
,,rrovv to accommodate the entire
,um,,a, ,t once 1t was as ii 4 human
army had suddenly come to halt ne
q bridge to give those ahead chance
to cross.
"As each ant came down from above
ho carried q small triangular piece OF
leaf. half as large as thumb nan.
Each laborer held the leaf Oh ms oack
with two tiny forefeet anu pio"ae"
, along with incredible swiftness mo
n the Jungle, We never found what they
= did with the leaves.
=, ..The stories that some OF the natives
r tell Of the strength Of an ant army
!. would nut the best old-fashioned IN
4 nnior there re-is-strength-fable' to binsn.
leonard or panther is hopPlessiy
lost when surrounded in his sleep NY
!, an ant army. The death Of the amman
- is a dreadful one. Ants get INTO niS
5 hide and they bite deep till the leopard.
-. or whatever it happens TO be, TOLLS
~ himself on the ground in the nope OF
t. escaping his pursuers. II the amman
, could stand the torture long enough
~ to clear the army in few BOUNDS lie
Y would be saved. but no animal, save
ms the monkey OF the ape, seems TO nave
,~ sense enough for that. lnsteau, the
nd one overcome begins TO tight. Inc
10 more he fights the more he is beset
nd by the little pests, and the more he 1s
he beset the more he rolls and screams III
Of main, Exhaustion comes after hHe.
of The struggles become weaker ana
weaker, until finally they cease ana
nc the unfortunate brute lies still, unable
hc. to move, with no help except TO oe
,at eaten alive, by inches.
IN "Nothin. on the face of the earth i
Inv dreaded by the little ones The larGes
ION boa cons trictor is tackled with 1h'
,vo same furious persistence that I'M
ar smallest spider is overcome and ae
,,se voured. and the poisonous snakes ar
of no more dreaded than the smailes
of tarantula or centipede.
,o;t "Ip a village OF bush negroes o.
tho Saramacca they showed hall
,,,c w;tted man who had been MANNED int
tho his condition by being caught IN III
foo. midst OF an army of ants. The story
,,.o+ that the man was suffering from an 4
,;,v tack of Jungle fever, and had been lei
o,,+ in q hut bound hand and foot, for Il
,on. was in delirium and smashing thing
o+ There he was left by the half savage
into unyersed in medicines and human zee
III, incs. arl when lis friends returned
+he night they found him in the midst (
unit an AMI army ASnt'h%7 Ao- A'.s 49,.
inc the unfortunate victim. anu
tho rose 70 his feet. and amid shrieks
hose anguish, dove into the river, 're
and where he vas rescued.
ards. nc man never ies"ineu ~"
with He was originally a coal-black bu
,hsv negro. the lineal descendant of Atrlt
= thc slaves. and III patches his skin st
II, i, showed ebony blackness. But he w
), wi. covered with red and pink scars whe
he had been hitten by the ants.
tines the scars would break open, II
then the fever of the ants came BACK
,',.. him. lIc would become violent un
1.,4 il was necessary to tie him. ana III
90. aclirium he saw the army OF ants
sp vouring him alive, rs it had be:.Un
a,.o, him years before. The mere ~isht
= .,, an ant was enough to unnerVe
..a, idiot. and no white man who ever s.
.,. the victim doubted the story as toiu
',A' the artless savages Of the Sarama'
clear 'ii. ~ '
him, tribe
'''s Up north here people may ere
the kin-ship of the Jungle to the
~. =, or to the tiger, or any one OF IN
.v ,,.,. species. but the zeal jungle man
- - man who ought to know-fears III
:, I'm. OF all the army OF ants.
'helf 1t Was Not a Dressing Room.
eraly 1ondop Truth tells a strange st
eninS of , 1-icitor tn COytQt Garden.