The National tribune., 1908-07-23

suddenly disappearing. They are also
| remarkable actors he says. showing
| this in the way they deceive the birds
who are their natural enemies. While
| the butterfly is tempting and sayory
morsel for the bird, all varieties do moi
agree with his internal digestive ap-
paratus, and such he avoids. The clever
little butterfly, born actor that he is
takes advantage of this fact, and by
wonderful powers of mimicry manages
in nine cases out of 10 to pass himself
off as one of this undesirable class. and
thus avoids the extremely unpleasant
fate of being eaten alive. Butterfiie:
show a great inQuisitiveness, too Ere
quently when certain very rare and
beautiful variety has proved itself I'M
usually wary and difficult to catch, he
has been secured by killing some other
and pinning it down. Hundreds .o1
these little creatures, attracted by the
smell, will come to see what has hap
pened, and with them, most likely, the
particular one desired. Then it is thai
the net comes into play. 81
/ A California man who is the owner
of a large prune orchard has been sub
jected to no end of worry and trouble
when the time has come to pick the
prunes, having to depend on the Japs
who have become so independent and
insolent that each year he has resolved
that he will never employ them again
AS it is impossible to get white men to
do the work, he has been cudgelling his
brains to see what he could do to solve
the problem, and thinks he has done
SO. What do you suppose he has de-
cided to do? Why, train South Amer
lean monkeys to do the work.-He has
ordered consignment of the simians,
and when they arrive will start in to
instruct his class of prune pickers. If
he succeeds what light will be thrown
on the vexed question of obtaining la
borers during the harvest season in
the West! If monkey can be trained
to pick prunes. why not other things ?
And anyone who has stood before a
cage of monkeys in any zoo or circus
does not feel quite certain that they
could not be trained to do anything
with those unpleasantly human-like
hands.
The Olympic games, which have been
taking place in London recently, have
not calculated to increase that spirit
of brotherly love which is supposed to
exist between the two great English
speaking countries of the world, and
which should exist between them. Our
picked athletes, who went over to par
differently received, were not made
very comfortable as to their quarters,
and on the opening of the games re-
ceived what looked like a deliberate in
suit in the absence of our flag from
those which waved a welcome to the
competing teams of the other coun-
tries. To be sure, this apparent dis
elimination was afterwards apologized
for. and the American flag displayed
along with the others, but that tardy
act CT justice was not sufficient to re-
move the unpleasant impression al
ready created. The games have not
been very well attended, as it has
poured rain every day but one, and the
temperature has been so low that our
boys have gone around shivering in
their overcoats. The rulings in the
contests have been considered by them
to be more or less unfair, and in favor
of the English teams, and this general
dissatisfaction was so intensified by the
flagrantly dishonest method of the
English in conducting the tug-of-war
test, which took place on the 18th, that
the manager of the American team,
Mr.. Halpin. at first determined to with
draw our boys, but finally decided to
allow them to participate, just to show
how unfairly they were treated. 1t
seems that in this pulling contest, the
British Olympic Association has estab-
lished the rule that no contesting team
shall wear shoes prepared with project
ing nails or In any way calculated to
hold them fast to the ground, but that
ordinary shoes must be worn. Our boys
appeared for the test, exciting admira-
ton by their fine, stalwart appearance,
clad in their neat athletic costumes,
and wearing their street shoes. OPP
posed to. them were some teams of
Liverpool police. the men wearing
enormous calf-Skin shoes. so heavy that
they could hardly lift their feet from
the ground, and which were in addi-
ton provided with steel rims around
the heels. Mr.. Halpin Indignantly COM
planned of this evident disregard of the
aforesaid rule and of the unfair ad-
vantage II gave the Liverpool teams,
but his complaint was treated arbi-
trarily, and dismissed, with the remark
that the shoes were the kind commonly
worn by the Liverpool police.
Mr.. Halpin's decision to let his team
go on for first pull was a wise one,
for every person in that crowd of spec
tators, whether English, American, or
of any other nationality, saw at once
the immense advantage which the
heavy shoes Of the Liverpool men gave
them. As soon as they took their
places, the heels of their shoes cut
thru the turf and gave them hold i'm
possible to break. 1t was foolish for
the Americans to make any serious at
tempt to Withstand them, and they
were promptly pulled across the line.
Manager Halpin then withdrew the
team, an official announcing thru a
megaphone that the Americans had
gone off because they had had enough
of It." Those of our countrynnen now
in London, who are connected with the
teams and otherwise, are very much
Disguised with this spirit of unfairness
manifested by the English, but the
Americans have pluckily determined to
finish the games. The trouble is said
10 be that the sports have been man.
aged by the local associations, which,
OF course, have been prejudiced In fav-
or of their own teams. Whether on ac-
count of this feeling of the Americans
or not, the Olympic Association has
concluded not to decide the champion
ship of the nations competing in the
games this year, as had been contem-
plated, by the offering of trophy to
the country obtaining the greatest
number of points In all games. The
English and American scores have been
vastly different all thru, the latter scor-
ing themselves several points above the
English, and visa versa Altogether, as
before said. a good deal of bad feeling
has been engendered which 1t will
probably take some time to eradicate.
The Olympic games of ancient Greece
date from 776 3. c., according to most
historians, and were originally relig-
ious festivals, held in honor of the all
powerful Zeus or Jupiter. They took
place every four years on the little plain
of Olympia, not far from the modern
city of Pyrgos, and lasted for five days.
AS the time for the games approached