Newspaper Page Text
| SOJUE JJEW FE/\TU]3FS
I/J Tj-’E flflTS LIFE
BY J. CARTER SEAxO.
THE recent discoveries of Was
nmn, Florei, Belt and others,
added to the wonderful re
sults of the investigations
made a few years ago liy McCook,
Mogcridge and Bates, have deservedly
awakened anew interest in everything
connected with the lives and habits of
ants. The remarkable evidences they
exhibit of something which, notwith
standing its limitations, seems akin 1o
human intelligence; the perfection, as
compared with other insects, of its
physical structure; the greater propor
tion borne by the brain to the rest of
the body; and its wonderful social life,
so much more highly developed than
that of the bees or of the wasps, have
/: , 4..
workixs holding leaves in place while ot -r LAR
VAE TO BIND AND CEMENT THE LEAVES.
Inclined those who study it the closest
to believe that, making allowance for
the great inferiority of the class of
invertebrates, the Formicadae certain
ly hold among Invertebrates a rank
commensurable with that sustained by
primates, including man, among vetc
brates.
Taking into account the compara
tively enormous masses of brain mat
ter belonging to a number of large
animals which exhibit a marked de
gree of incogltance, and the intelli
gence manifested by members of this
division of Hymenopetra, the claim
made by Darwin that the anterior
gaugiiou in the bend of an ant consti
tuting Its brain "is the most marvelous
atom of matter iu the world,” is jus
tified.
It is interesting to notice how diverse
are the methods adopted by inverte
brate intelligence from that of man in
attaining a desired result. For In
stance, men make the tools they re
quire for carving or for digging, in-
HEAD OF WORKING ANT
' Showing toothed mandibles, -.
sects grow them; vessels being needed
as receptacles for liquid food, man
learns the art of the potter, but the
curious honey ants transform them
selves into living bottles, to which the
working members of the commune re
sort for refreshment.
The tools of Insects, exquisitely
fashioned and finished, are much more
perfectly adapted for the purposes they
serve than are any contrived and
manufactured by human beings, but
there is a disadvantage connected
with them—they cannot bo laid aside.
The tools dominate the tool-bearers
and check development in any direc
tion not connected with their use.
This leads to the extreme specializa
tion we find among insects. The egg
producer, the queen of the termites,
although she possesses the usual num
ber of limbs belonging to her species,
Is totaliy incapable of locomotion, as
are the living bottles of the honey ants.
The queen lays eggs; she can do noth
ing else; the living bottles store tip and
yield food to other members of the
formicary, and are as incapable of per
STATE ELEPHANT OF THE FHEIDOLOGETON LARGE WORKER
CARRYING TIIE SMALLER ONES.
forming other uses us if they were
mere lifeless cells in a honeycomb.
Among the Formieadae this tenden-
W t 0 specialization has resulted la eg
tnbllshing species limited to particular
industries or to particular methods of
living. Some species of slave-making
ants, for instance, coniine themselves
HEAD OF WARRIOR ANT)
pointed and curved man- /
dibios unfitted tor work.
so enlirely to military affairs, and
have so entirely lost the arts of peace
and efficiency in domestic matters, that
they are not only obliged to depend
upon their slaves to care for the young
in the formicary, but to have the food
placed in their own warlike mouths,
and would starve in the midst of plen
ty were this not done.
The mandibles of these ants, Polyer
gus rufescens and P. lucidus, the form
er a European, the latter an American
species, are entirely unfitted for work.
They can neither crush, cut nor saw;
but, being sharply pointed and curved,
they make most serviceable weapous;
with them in attacking an enemy,
Poiyergus seizes the head of her foe
between the points of ihese curved
poignards and penetrates the brain at
once.
A number of ants among those of
very different species are distinguished
by possessing relatively large beads,
the use of which is extremely problem
atical. ,
And yet the smaller members of the
commonwealths find a use for the
great creatures. Numbers of them may
often be seen riding about, as human
beings do upon elephants, upon the
backs and heads of their gigantic con
freres. Even this use, however, does
not account for the disproportionately
large heads of the giants. But the Col
obopsis ants, which burrow in
brandies, seem to have discovered how
to profitably employ the big-heads
among them. They are placed at the
entrances of the Formican dwellings,
their great heads fitting in and filling
the doorways. Asa worker belonging
to the household approaches she is rec
ognized by “the animated and intelli
gent front door,” which draws back
sufficiently to admit the entrance of
its friend and then resumes its double
office of sentry and of barrier.
The Ecltou are the Arabs of tho ant
tribes, always at war with all other
animals, with no settled places of
abode, but ever wandering in journeys
that have no end. Yet in their tempor
ary resting places the necessities and
instincts common to the whole Formi
oau family impel these nomads to build
habitations which conform to the char
acter and style of the fixed and per
manent abodes of ordinary ants. As.
however, both tlie time and natural
apparatus for digging possessed by the
latter are wanting to excavate gal
leries and apartments necessary for
feeding and sheltering larvae aud
pupae, these remarkable animals
overcome the difficulty in a most as
tonishing manner by constructing liv
ing habitations, using their own bodies
as building materials.
But the most amusing Instance of
the manner in which an ant left by na
ture to her own devices overcomes a
difficulty is perhaps that of the Oeco
phylla smaragdina. This ant, one of
common occurrence in Eastern Asia,
forms shelters by bending the edges of
the leaves of the trees upon which it
lives and fastening them together. The
THE WEEKLY NEW'S, CARTERSVILLE. GA.
adult ant possesses nothing with which
to secure the edge of the leaves togeth
er after they have been brought into
the required position; but its larva is
furnished with glands that secrete an
abundance of adhesive, gelatinous sub
stance, by the aid of which it forms
its cocoon, and these intelligent in
sects actually make animated mucil
age brushes of their larvae in order
to effect their purpose. A number of
the ants, seizing the edges of the
leaves in their mandibles, bring them
together into the form needed and hold
ihem there, while other ants, each one
of which bears a larva in its jaws, ap
ply the mouths of tho larvae to such
parts of the leaves as require to be
cemented together, and induce their
offspring to disgorge as much sticky
material as they find necessary to ac
complish the desired result.—Scientific
American.
THE CULTIVATION DF EDCDA
IN THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS
TO the active young man pos
sessed of a limited amount
of capital, who is looking for
an occupation as well as in
vestment, in the Lesser Antilles or in
many parts of Venezuela, the cultiva
tion of cocoa is at the present time
the most inviting of the agricultural
pursuits. The island of Trinidad,
which is the one most familiar to the
writer, produces cocoa of a quality sec
ond to none, and only equaled by that
grown in the vicinity of Caracas, and
always brings the highest price in the
London market. Considerable patience
is required to grow it from the seed
lings, as it takes five or six years of
cultivation before there is a harvest
worth mentioning, and seven or eight
years before a full crop can be real
ized, but when the trees are once full
grown they will continue to bear fruit
for an almost indefinite time.
The cultivation of cocoa consists
largely of draining the land, keeping
down tho undergrowth of bush and
weeds, and trimming the trees. The
flowers occur in clusters on the main
branches and on the trunk of the
trees, usually only one of each cluster
reaching maturity. The fruit, which
is seen in the illustration, is a hard
pod six or seven inches long, resemb
ling a cucumber, growing from the
trunk or large branches, and looks
very much as though it were artificial
ly attached. Buds, blossoms and fruit,
—
COCOA DRY-HOUSES IN TRINIDAD-MIXING THE BEANS
in all stages, occur side by side, and
ripened fruit is harvested at all times
of the year. The main crop, however,
matures in the dry season, and is usu
ally harvested in February, only small
quaatttos ripening during the remain
der of the year.
The pods each contain five rows of
seeds or beans, quite similar to a
large, thick Lima bean, embedded in
a pink, acid pulp. These seeds are the
cocoa beans of commerce. The har
vesting consists of cutting off the ma
ture pods by means of a knife on a
long bamboo pole, gathering them into
heaps on the ground, where they are
allowed to lie for about twenty-four
hours. They are then cut open with
a cutlass, the seeds aud pulp coming
out in a mass; these are carried to the
dry house.
As soon as the beans reach the dry
house, they are placed in the “sweat
box or pit, where they are closed up
tight and allowed to ferment for some
time.
The next process is tho drying, which
is accomplished by spreading the beans
in a layer over the platform and dry
ing them in the sun. Laborers are kept
constantly stirring them, while exposed
to the sun, with a wooden rake, so
that they will dry evenly. Each morn
ing, during the early stages of the dry
ing process, the beans are gathered
into a heap in the middle of the floor
aud given a thorough mixing. This is
sometimes accomplished by the labor
ers mixing and kueading them by
treading them with their bare feet,
as shown in the illustration. This Is
known as “dancing the cocoa” and
renders the beans smooth and uniform
in color. It usually requires ten days
or two weeks to finish the drying, de
pending on the weather. The dried
beans, when ready for market, are put
in canvas bags holding about 150
pounds, and the name of the planta
tion stenciled on the bags, these names
or brands at times becoming very
prominent in the market for the quali
ty of cocoa the plantation is reputed to
produce.
The manufacturing, which is invari
ably done in Northern factories, con
sists of roasting the beans in a revolv
ing cylinder; this develops the aroma
and fits them for crushing. After the
beans are crushed they are screened to
separate the or crushed nuts,
from the shells. The nibs are then
ground to a flue meal; this is put in
sacks and put in a powerful press,
COCOA PODS ON THE TREE.
where it is subjected to heat and pres
sure, and the fat, known as “cocoa
butter,” is squeezed uut, and the hard
substance left in the sack has only to
be broken or powdered to become the
pure chocolate, aud this more or less
adulterated is the chocolate of com
merce.—Scientific American.
Author Reveals Spider’s Methods.
Professor D. Hess has just pub
lished an interesting treatise on house
insects, with especial reference to spi
ders aud flies. The spider, he says,
is a blood-thirsty insect of prey. But
she is also a great artist and a most
-
tender mother, fiercely defending her
eggs and her young ones. First, he
says, the spid#r weaves a silken bas
ket like repository for the eggs, using
the rear part of her body as a form.
In this basket she lays the eggs,
piling them up carefully and neatly.
Then she covers the exposed eggs with
a fabric of silk threads, the whole
forming a minute hall within which
the eggs lie snugly well protect-
ed from cold, etc. If this be instinct,
a good deal of what is called “human
intelligence” should be called “in
stinct,” too, says the author.
Keeping Up the Heat.
•rne top of the stove is often crowd
ed. There are dishes that are cooked,
but must he kept warm. This can be
accomplished by the device shown in
the cut.
A box just a bit higher than a hand
u
lamp has both top and bottom re
moved. Across the top are stretched
wires. The box is then set down over
a lamp, and tho kettle or dish is set
upon the wires, where its heat will be
fully maintained.
This device will often prove of the
greatest service, and can be made by
any one in ten minutes.
Quite Like a Jewelry Store.
la a Kansas town the other day
Miss Ruby Opal entertained Miss
Pearl Diamond. They were seen
romping on the emerald green of the
lawn with sparkles of fun shooting
from their turquoise eyes.—Denver
Post.
The man who shakes hands most is
generally the hardest to shake.
FOURTH’S RECORD
OF CASUALTIES
Chicago Paper Presents
Summarv of Accidents.
DEATHS LESS THAN LAST YEAR
Number of People injured In Cele.
bratinjf Independence Day
Overtops the Record.
The Chicago Tribune in its issue of
Friday presented reports from all over
the country showing the number of
persons killed and injured as a result
of celebrating the Fourth of July.
The number of actually killed is less
than last year, being nineteen against
thirty then, hut the number of injured
is considerably larger, the figures be
ing 1,611 against 1,325.
The real list of fatalities will, how
ever, not be known until the number
of deaths resulting from lockjaw caus
ed by toy pistol wounds comes in.
Last year in Chicago there were no
deaths reported on July sth from toy
pistols, but before, the month was out
twenty-five had died from the resulting
lockjaw and the remainder of the coun
try sent in equally fatal records.
Chicago last year had one death and
forty-two injured. This time no death
is reported, but there is a list of 103
Injured.
The number of wounds from toy pis
tols, however, is limited to five, which
would indicate that the prohibition put
on that dangerous toy was at least par
tially effective.
Of other cities Philadelphia makes
the largest showing. It reports 175
casualties of every kind and descrip
tion and Cincinnati comes next with
150. New York was singularly lucky,
being behind Chicago in the list of in
jured, but it had three deaths result
ing from an explosion of fireworks,
and New London had a premature ex
plosion of a cannon by which two more
were killed.
In Quincy, 111., there was also a fa
tality from a runaway caused by
horses becoming frightened at fire
works, and there were a number of in
juries in various cities growing out
of the same cause. In the list of fatal
ities explosions of fireworks and the
careless handling of firearms caused
the majority of the deaths, but ovei
one-third of the ipjuries were caused
by the careless handling of fireworks,
especially skyrockets.
After fireworks comes the toy pistol
in the casualties list. Two hundred
and forty-nine children were injured
by these “toys” in various cities of the
country and the question is now what
will the fatality list amount to?
By the premature explosion of can
non in the hands of people who are not
accustomed to their use, in several
cases unfortunates lost hands and
arms. A lamentable case occurred in
a small town in South Dakota, where
a boy was instantly killed by the explo
sion of an anvil which was being used
in lieu of a cannon.
The loss by fire resulting from the
careless use of fireworks or their pre*
fnature explosion was less than in pre
vious years, the fires as a rule beinp
small ones and the damage light. In
the entire country, from reports re
ceived, it amounted to but a little over
sub,ooo.
DOWIEITES MOBBED.
Fakers are Doughty Handled Ry Cit
izens of Chicago Suburb.
Twenty-one disciples of John Alex
ander Dowie visted Evanston, a Chi
cago suburb, Friday night and despite
the efforts of the entire police force
of the place, a mob of 1,000 people
drove them out Ol town.
Several days ago four of Dowie’s
missionaries were egged and driver
out of Evanston, and Friday night’s
visit was intended to convert the peo
ple of Evanston and show them the
error of their ways.
The instant the Dowieites begax
their meeting they were assailed with
eggs, vegetables and other missiles.
The guard of policemen was too small
to afford much protection and the
would-be angels wore soon on the rue.
DEATH OF COXGRESSMaX STOKES.
South Carolina Representative Passes
Away at His Home in Orangeburg.
Dr. J. W. Stokes, congressman from
the third South Carolina district, died
Saturday at his home in Orangeburg,
after a long illness.
At Washington the following com
mittee of representatives as appointed
to attend the funeral:
Representatives Elliott, Talbert,
Latimer, Johnson. Finley and Scarbor
ough, of South Carolina; Small and
Thomas, North Carolina; Adamson.
Livingston, Maddox and Fleming, of
Georgia; Senators Tillman, McLaurin,
Pritchard. Simmons, Clay, Taliaferro
and Carmack.
FORKIGXERS XOT IX IT.
Rights of Aliens Xot Recognized By
Alabama’s Xew Constitution.
The Alabama constitutional conven
tion Friday adjourned in a tangle over
the political rights of foreigners who
have only declared their intention to
become citizens. It settled the quesc
tion Saturday morning by throwing
the whcle thing out and the new con
stitution will say nothing about them.
Your Hair
“Two years ago my hair was
falling out badly. I purchased a
bottle of Ayer’s Hair Vigor, and
soon my hair stopped coming out.”
Miss Minnie Hoover, Paris, 111.
Perhaps your mother
had thin hair, but that is
no reason why you must
go through life with half
starved hair. If you want
long, thick hair, feed it
with Ayer’s Hair Vigor,
and make it rich, dark,
and heavy.
SI.OO s bottle. AH dmtfistc.
If your druggist cannot supply you,
send, us one dollar and wo will express
you a bottle. Be sure andgivo the name
of your nearest express office. Address,
J. C. AYER CO., Lowell, Mass.
Your Tongue
If it’s coated, your stomach
is bad, your liver is out of
order. Ayer’s Pills will clean
your tongue, cure your dys
pepsia, make your liver right.
Easy to take, easy to operate.
25c. All druggists.
Wttfit your moustache or beard a beautiful
browi or rich black ? Then use
BUCKINGHAM’S DYE Whiskers j
SO f TANARUS. 0* o"l’rr,lETs. p. P. D*lL & Cn . ?..*■ ft, N H.
Life of Luxuty For a Shove).
Chicago officials have so tar been un
able to make tip their minds just where
they ought to keep a shovel which orig
inally cost about $2. but now represents
an outlay of about $44,000,000. It is
the shovel with which the first spadeful
of earth was dug in the construction of
the great drainage canal which takes the
waters of the Chicago River through
many States to the Gulf of Mexico.
The shovel is to have a silver plate
fastened on the handle, with an inscrip
tion somewhat as follows; “A $44,-
000.000-shovel, which opened the way
from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico.
Paid for by the people of Chicago, 1892-
1900.” The cost attached to the shove!
marks the total sum which will have
been expended by the sanitary district
when all the work upon the main chan
nel and the Chicago River is completed.
The date, “1892-1900,” marks the open
ing year of work and the final year in
which the water from Lake Michigan
was turned on.
WHY SHE DIDN’T.
“Julia has given up her proposed trip
abroad.”
“Wily so?”
“Well, her passport described her as
having a large mouth and she wouldn’t
go.” —Baltimore World.
Best For (lie Bowels.
No matter wliat ails you, headache to a
cancer, you will never get well until your
bowels aro put right. Cascsrets help nature,
cure you without a gripe or pain, produce
easy natural movements, cost you just 10
cents to start getting your health back. Oab-
Candy Cathartic, the genuine, put up
in metal boxes, every tablet has C. C. C.
stamped on it. Beware of imitations.
The judge may deliver a very long sen
tence in a very few words.
A Crntenarian.
Dr. Graham, of Kentucky, who lived to bo
one hundred years o.d attributed his long life
and freedom mm illness to the use of Crab
Orchard Water. It was his only medicine.
Some men would like to deliver their
own funeral orations
* --
See advt. of Smithpeal’s Business College
A musical composition is often sold for
a mere sonc.
Each package of Putnam Fadeless Dy*
colors either Silk, Wool or Cotton perfectly
at one boiling. Sold by all druggists.
\ irtue is its own reward, but some few
people are good because they really like
to be. ,
Dealers say that the hammock contin
ues to hold its own.
Are Ton lwing Allen’s I‘ooi-Faae 1
It la tho only cure for Swollen, Smarting,
Tired, Aching, Hot, Sweating Feet, Corns
and Bunions. Ask for Allen’s Foot-Ease, a
powder to be shaken into the shoes. Cures
while you walk. At all Druggists and Shoe
Stores, 26c. Sample sent FItEE. Address,
Allen S. Olmsted, Lsltoy, N. Y.
The Bank of France compels customers
checking out money to accept at least one
tit ih in gold coin.
When the Eyes Are Sick
Something must be done and done quickly.
Little ueslects brine big diseases. Wlien t!j
eyes are sore or inflamed use .iohn R. Dickey’s
Old Reliable Eye. water. It stops Inflammation,
cures granule ted lids, aud-brings ease at on<-e
It causes absolutely no paiu. 2,Vts. Dickey
Drug Cos., Bristol, 'l’enu.
The coal miner generally finds himself
m a hole.
FITS permanently cured. No fi ts or nervous
ness after first day’s use of Dr. Kline’s Great
Nerve Restorer, if 2 trial bottle and treatise free
Dr. B. H. Kune, Ltd., 931 Arch St., Phila. P a
There may be plenty of room at the top,
but some people prefer to get at the bot
tom of things.
Conductor F.. D. Lcomis, Detroit, Mich.,
sava : “The effect of Hall’s Catarrh Cnro is
wonderful.” Write him about it. Sold by
Druggists, 75c.
Some people seem to think they fall into
luck when they fail into debt.
Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup for child ret
teething, soften the gums, reduces inflamma
tion,allays pain, cures wind colic. 25c a bottle
The chronic kicker deserves to stub his
toe.
I do not believe Pieo’s Cure for Consump
tion bag an equal for coughs and colds. —Joy*
F. Boteb, Trinity Springs, Ind., Feb. 15,1900.
It’s a good thing to swallow your pride,
provided you can digest it.