The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 29, 1903, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL. worla's w there ext insects is usually carried on by small bo: ers as to who will catch After a successfu have been counted, the by is regarded fn quite «s d and honorable a light for on \ [ > N7 ’V R (N below the surface. rar: s are notor4 fously lazy, and seldom dredge out tyeir domestic establishments, being quite con- tent to occupy some deserted gopher hole, making no alterations in the general ar- rangement of the place except to hang the if higher wall with gauzy drapery, just as amon; the 1 punt, and warm rivalry i a record in athletics. The the housewife would hang her curtains. to annihilate the spider ‘When the boys find a promising looking the largest, blackest hole they pour in a quantity of cold water, nd most pompous ones are desirable—is for whjen tarantulas have an intemse Aurge water Pueket. (& DRis oF s aversion. Their black, hairy coats are clate the mestic affections of the spiders resdlve it does from a duck’s back, buf never- these spiders into hatred when they are placed together 'N€less they don’t like such tréatment, s 5 Captivity S abl. ek and eat one And come forth in response to the deluge, souven nother with the most delightful ferocity 21} blustering and bristling, and prim- ey are put s reason se till October when the wir the su Vhen the helr s he upper worl der is g with erbial ment to be higently homes, wt s loom over shooting silken of the hole ting these venomot many cans are needed, so that each spider may r al quarters youngsters set ula expediti aphernalla of their craft, they present earance of young hobos. thrown a tinware. pull their hats and caps onishing angles happiness of a meadow tin cans jingling a merry ac- 1est clothes, localities where tarantulas are numerous the boys search for the entra which are always designated by a web that and gives a smooth and ele- gant finish to the wal ed for battle. But they are unable to cope with sthe enemy and his pincers, and are immediately grabbed and placed in cans, where, in defeat and anguish they clash their mandibles together, just as hu- man beings would grit their teeth. The headquarters of this remarkable in- dustry {s located in Pasadena, California, and the youthful tarantula venders find no difficulty in selling all the bugs they can catch to the dealers at two and one- half cents each. The old superstition that fever and all ills may be “cured by wear- ing a spider hung around one’s neck in a nutshell ” evidently counteracts the an- cient Kentish proverb, “If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive,” for although the artist who guides the tarantulas through the pgocess of taxi- dermy kills fully 6000 spiders each year, he is healthy, happy and prosperous. One by one this man thrusts the “varmints’ into gasoline and turpentine and a tub the same receptacle. be relegated to forth on a laden with all the Over one sack all wear their gunny They and whistle with es to the spider outlines the rim for an inch or two rull of the writhing creatures pregents an original and startling appearance. Some- times in their death struggle they grap- ple with one another, getting their ten legs irreparably tangled with those of their combatants, but usually deach comes tog quickly to permit such’ occur- rerces. Chloroform is sometimes used to kill the bugs, but it is objectionable. be- " cause it loosens the fuzz of the spider, which, if dropped on the hands of the taxidermist, sometimes causes an irrita- tion of the skin. The process of curing is simple, only arsenic and white cotton batting being used. After being em- balmed, the tarantula's legs, which curied tight under them during their final ges- ticuladbns, are stretched out into natural angles, pinned Into position on boards and left to dry. When ready for the market they are mounted on cards and sold at from twenty-fige to fifty cents each, ac- cording to the¥size of the specimen. In spite of the extensive trade In venomous goods no one is known to have been bit- ten, both men and boys taking the great- est precautions. California tarantulas are of the specles Mygale avicularia, and in size are im- mense, sometimes covering a space as large as a man’s hand. The body is two divisions, each one being as large as a small bird's egg, while the four-jointed legs, five on each side, and ranging from two to three inches in length, stretch out from the body in symmetrical angles. Just above the mandibles, which look-like two fat hairy toes ,with sharp-pointed nails, are eight tiny eyes placed close together. 11 ‘I'ne corselet is hard and hairless, but the rest of the bug is covered with hair. The males are black and have sharp claws on their forelegs, which in fight are mur- derous weapons. The males are never seen except in breeding time and then they are scarce. The females are in color a light brown and have no claws on their forelegs. Their maternal instincts are strong. The Mygale mother carries her eggs inclosed in a cocoon of white silk of very close tissue, forming two rounded pleces united at ‘their border. She sup- ports the cocoon underneath her corselet by means of the antennulae, and trans- ports it along with her. When pressed by enemies the cocoon is tempordrily aban- doned, but the mother is faithful, and if in she survives the battle always returns 'to her babies. The little ones are disclosed in rapid succession and are white, the first change in their appearance being a tri- angular hairy sgot which forms on top of the abdomen. Sometimes 2000 spiders is- sue from the same cocoon, and to one who witnessed a mother spider covered over with clinging progeny the question arises, “Why is the earth not overrun ‘with spiders iIf each female brings into the world so large a family?” Entomologists claim, that there being o suitable food provided for the spider children, they are compelled to eat one another. Thus in a family of 2000 only six or ten of the stronger ones survive. By that time they can catch flies and insects and therefore give up their cannibalistic habits. Tarantulas have been reputed to be too dignified to run, but they can run if the occasion warrants, darting over the ground with the swiftness of a mouse, A spiders, stat a spider | out to take it place. avolded. in sun scorched dark. supply of bugs and sleeping bird, a ro they throw away. An the agility of a gnat. eral times their size. idermist will tle. dibles protrude in a the face, force of which the enemy. other is the first result. man who has careruuy s as an absolute a leg another will sprout This is a delig provision of nature, and if men were c structed likewise much trouble might be Though frequently found roaming about flelds, partial to nocturnal pilgrimages, and most of their banqueting is carried on after When they have insects times climb a tree, where they capture a chewing for sucking the blood till nothing is left but d ball of skin and feathers, which interesting tarantula incident told by a man who, when taking a jaunt woods, discovered a big spider quietly meditating on the bank stream. Wondering what the bug would do under calamitous conditions, he tossed it into the water with his walking stick. The spider lit on its back, but immediately righted itself and skipped over the ripples to the opposite shore with the ease and Tarantulas are formidable fighters and are capable of overcoming enemies sev- Y Sometimes the tax- place severs table just to watch their methods of bat- In preparing for the attack stand almost upright on their four hind legs, open wide their fangs until the man- stralght line from then with all they are, launch themselves forward, sinking their poison-laden mandibles into When one tarantula bites an- the one bitten acts like a being under the influence of liquor. Then comes a numb- ness, of paralytic condition, which often o TARANTOLR TTT observea fact tha tnese it 1asts for a week, during which the splder , but is unable to move. At the end of that time he usual ul The n- f which tar- rantula hawk, hes in length, d golden wings, is to utilize pid ich to breed its progeny. These wasps sting the spiders and when they are paralyzed with poison drag them to some subterranean burrow, where they an egg on their back, then coyering the inanimate heap with dirt they leave the embryo to de- velop. At its birth the prospective wasp is a grub and feeds on the spider on which it was born until it undergoes a trans- formation and is large enough to cope with the world. Even rattlesnakes are powerless to strike terror into the tarantula’s mental physiogomy, as exemplified not long when a ter captured a small 1 placed it on a table beside a great pompous spider. The battle that ensued was terrific, but In the end the snake lay dead, while the tarantula strutted about imperfously, viewing his work with evident admiration ars ago, when ers flocked to this southern country, tarantulas were as nu- merous in the as wild flowers, and the oid sixteer iry proverb that “spiders be true signs of gold” seems to bave been well chosen, for at that time California was superabundant with tar- antulas and gold nugge: But civillza- tion has frightened away and greatly de- pleted the spider throng, while human enterprise has brushed earth’s golden car- pet until it is almest threadbare, and so both gold and spiders are passing oyt to- gether, leaving the hau they have so long occupled, and causing commercial vacuums along the course of their flight, HELEN LUKENS JONES, prineip tarantulas are exhausted the they some- hours and was of a spiders on a they the muscular capable they the flesh of human This A Chance Shot By HENRY WALLACE PEILLIPS. s s w he escaped Indians must think I volous disposi- with that he heaves le of all the six- see. It made my something for a The Lost Opoortunity By EDWIN LEFEVRE. A Wall street story founded on fact charactersyin which may be easily essed. The story relates the course long fight betWween two financial and gives a clear impression of »ds of stock manipulation. The King’s Iryst By ROBERT BARR. King James V of Scotland, at twenty- two, was susceptible, which fact led him into the Douglas castle among his ene- mies. The Douglas sisters pian to mur- der him, but his strategy enables him to ape unharmed, and his gentlemanly courtesy to his captors makes him a very romantic hero. The Nightman’s Story By FPRANK H. SPEARMAN. Bullhead, the hero, always bore the reputation of being the dullest man in the railroaa business. He was about to resign when one night he distinguished himself by an act ot heroism that every one agreed nobody’ but Bullhead could have done. The Nightman tells a story full of intense interest and action. Jan, the Unrepentant The Wiper’s Stoty By FRANK H. SPEARMAN. Whiskers on the rail caused a train to run away, and McGrath, the wipera This is the first half of the splendid list. As The assistpnt, saved it from wrecking. a rewhrd he is made an engineer. story is full of thrilling action. By JACK LONDON. A humorous story of the Northwest. Jan was aupposed to have killed a fel- low-miner, and the others decided to hang the murderer. After a long fight, Jan is tled and just as he is about to be swung up the corpse comes to life and fights the murderous Swede. THE SUNDAY CALL has secured the exclusive rights to the greatest fea- ture ever offered by an American ‘newspaper Siwash By JACK LONDOXN. old on the way to the Klon- aiie !1:;'{ oiner about his Indian wifc who had lived faithfully with him fo. seven years before she died up on the Chilcat Station. Her devotion woulu have honored the best\ white woman that ever lived. The Slapping Sal By A. CONAN DOYLE. One of the sea stories which gave Doylee nowecelnl reputation as a rival of the bestssalt-water writers. The pres- ent tale relates to the end of “The Slap- ping Sal” and of her captain, a villain, but a Briton—who lived like a dog, but died like a man.” On Sentence Day By JOSIAR FLYNT and FRANC1S WALTON. A story of grimn life in which is re- vealed some of the ideas of criminals on imprisonment, judges, etc. Ruderick tells how he trained the Michigan Kid into a successful career of crime after ltla!mn: to persuade him to give up the e. school. The Madness of Philip ° By JOSEPHINE DODGE DASKAM. A story of the pranks of Philip in The kindergarten teacher who spares the rod, the loving mother who ap- plies .t and a visiting committee are more or less minor but. yet important charac- ters. One of Miss Daskam's best stories. Irinket’s Colt By E. OE. SOMERVILLE and MARTIN ROSS. The most surprising situations fill this tale with rollicking humor. Major Yeates unwillingly assists in stealing a horse, and in dodging the police, but not the owner. He is acquitted because the real thief has devised such a funny way of concealing the horse from the owner —his own grandmother—thar she- car- ries out her old promise to give the colt to her grandson. For the Hand of haleem By NORMAN DUNCAN A beautiful love story of the Syrian quarter of New York. A baflad in prowe, of East and West, telling how Haleem, the sloe-eyed, was loved and lost by Alois Amad, the Syrian, and wooed ana won by Jimmy Brady. And there are still others betfer than these.