Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-07-20

| NS'o NTH<-N"aUh9 tne Bite mat
Meant Madness and Then Death.
The tarantua is much larger in Mex
leo than in Italy. His four pairs of
fuzZy legs. his speckled bulging belly,
his abnormally fat head. armed with
vicious nippers and equipped with eight
eyes arranged in transverse rows, suf.
ice to ill you with wholesome desire
to give hin the right of way without
ado
Owing to the fact that he has an un.
welcome habit of leaving his own
realm In the tropical vines to make
Sociabe little visitations to the cor
ners of your bedroom it had always
been my custom TO search every nook
and crevice of my sleeping room be-
Tore retiring for the night. Twice had
] seen native labOrers. poems, in the
agony of death due to tarantula bite.
80 II was not surprising that this
creeping thing headed my list of the
many dangers to be Stunned in Mex.
leo.
| had just reached Vera Cruz from
Mexico City. very tired, and decided to
seek my room early in the evening.
which. indeed. is the only safe and
proper thing for an unaccompanied
woman in Mexico to do That part of
the diligencias in which my room was
located was evidently undergoing re-
pairs, for pile of timbers was includ-
ed in the furnishing of my apartments
No particular reason occurred to me
why ] should investigate this lumber.
and. little realizing that II might shell
ter lurking danger. | flung my weary
head on the dirty pillow. But as lay
qnietly doing off to sleep | suddenly
heard a soft little noise, which one
might describe as cross between a
hum and a hiss.
AS a precaution against the many
venOmous things that creep and crawl
even in the well beaten paths Of Mex.
leo had made a careful study of the
arachnids. TO which class the tarantu.
las belong | recognized that soft un-
OstentatiOus warning that announced a
roommate as undesirable as one could
we'll wish
Cautiously stretched out my hand
to see II by chance there were some
matches on the little stand near my
bed. with the result that | knocked the
unIiGhted candle upon the floor. That
was enough for my mettlesome room.
mate: he bad been personally insuted
by the noise. and suddenly in the utter
darkness. that black stiffness which
sirkPninS Odor. the warning of the
angry tarantula.
! strained my ears TO detect the soft.
characteristic click that the male, the
deadliest Of the species. employs as
fancy frill to his malicious song My
blood chilled as | heard his muffled
hum-click. hum-click, hum-apparent-
ly not three feet away. held my
breath. incidentally my nose. and lay
wondering how long 1t would be ere
should feel his big fuzzy feet sneaking
up the side OF my neck or before his
soft woolly body would light upon my
face. II was not at all comforting to
cpntricities is to find his way TO point
on the ceiling directly over the object
Of his anger and then TO drop uncere-
moniously upon his victim.
II was the only time in my life when
longed for the bliss of ignorance
Would to heaven had not studied this
hideous horror Of the tropics! But ]
4 h. f,,I
effects of his worse than fatal bite.
whose work of destruction was merci-
lessly long drawn out.
II the bite of male tarantula infects
a large artery 1t throws the victim into
a dreadful state of craZed nerves. The
incipient stages Of the poisoning are ac-
cOmpanied by accentuated meancholia.
followed by shatterinG of the mental
ity. On gradually absorbing the venom
the unfortunate subject reels and raves
In a mad whirl until he swoons from
pure exhaustion. The tarantella, the
graceful Italian dance so often de
scribed In musical literature. derives its
name from this hideous poisoning.
All this and more darted through my
mind rs ! lay there in the darkness
wondering If |, too. were doomed to
die like dervish. As the night wore
Oh the buzzing grew less sedulous. I
lay motionless during the thousand
years I'LL dawn. which came at last, a
divinely soft. blue. shimmering shaft Of
light, which made things family Wis
ible. Cautiously drew myself up to a
sitting posture and craned my neck In
a searching survey about my chamber
of horrors.
There in torture worse than mine.
hung my roommate. four of his legs
pinioned beneath the timbers. There
he spra wled. manned but angry pris-
oner. His eight eyes winked me mil
itant Good morning." and ! forthwith
returned the compliment with the slen-
der shaft Of my hatpin.-New York
Sun.