Smyrna times., 1929-01-16
BILLIONS OF BLIND
ANTS BESET VILLAGE
Inhabitants Vainly Try to
Stem Invasion.

Julian. Neb.-African ants, billions
of them, are literally eating the in
habitants of this little town out Of
their houses and work shops. And in
the meantime the people are using
cyanide fumes, one of the most deadly
gaseous poisons known to man, In
their terrific battle with the insidious
foe that is threatening to reduce the
village to sawdust.
So far the 250 inhabitants of the
village have made little or no head
way in their battle. Against these
250 inhabitants is an army of ants
numbering countless millions. In fact
the ants seem to thrive on the deadly
fumes which are being used in the
desperate attempt to eradicate them.
The invaders are known in Amer
lea as the African ants However,
they are different from the insect
usually known as ants. These mites
are blind.
The termites live on wood. They
resemble ants in physical appearance,
but they are white, of nocturnal hab-
its and work only in the dark. When
they are in the light for a short time
they seem to wilt and die
Origin. Unknown.
Where these ants came from no one
knows. They made their appearance
two years ago. At first they were
seen only in small numbers and cen
h.
especially the older ones. They were
quite curiosity at first and natives
of the village took keen interest in
their workings.
However, before six months had
passed they had increased in alarm
ing proportions. 1t was then that peo-
pie here commenced pouring kero-
sene and various sorts of dips on
them-but they seemed to fatten on
this kind of poison, which gave them
energy to work more actively and
destructively than ever.
No amount of research work has
been able to shed any light as to how
the insects first came to this territory.
The attack Of the termites first as
sumed serious proportions a year ago
when they commenced to undermine
the $4,000 brick school home built
only ten years ago. Since then ants
have increased to seemingly millions
and millions. The Methodist and
United Brethren churches and parson-
ages besides more than q dozen
homes, several stores and many outer
buildings have been targets for their
attacks. Thousands Of dollars of
woodwork have been totally destroyed.
Eat Through Woodwork.
The termites eat their way through
the framework of the structure,
through the joists, sills, scantlings,
rooms and floorings, leaving only
hollow shell almost as thin as paper
behind.
Now the churches and schools
have been closed and a cyaniding ex-
pert is carrying on a vigorous warfare
against the pests. In the meantime,
school is being held In a private home
and church services have been post
poned to once a month. And this is
also held in a private home.
At present six homes are vacant,
besides one store, two churches and
the sehoolhouse and a dozen sheds
and barns.
The queen ant lays sixty eggs a
minute, or $4,000 a day. A large por-
ton of the first brood is undernour-
ished and never grows up. The In
sects of this brood are sexless. The
workers feed the queen, who in turn,
feeds its millions of children from the
contents Of its own stomach. The sec
ond brood constitutes well-nourished
group of soldiers. The third and best
nourished group is made up of
workers
AIaskans D;ccouar