Dec. 15. 1911 



769 



and when he asked for somebody to arise at 

 the close of his meetings, not a person arose. 

 He seemed to wonder why, and many peo- 

 ple wondered that the Holy Spirit did not 

 seem to be present or follow after such elo- 

 quent preaching. "By their fruits ye shall 

 know them." 



Now just a word in regard to our second 

 text. If I understand it, this applied more 

 to the laymen than to the pastors. James 

 and .lohn, and every follower of the Lord 

 Jesus Christ, enjoin us to visit the father- 

 less and the widows in their affliction, and 

 to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. 

 If this is true of laymen, how much more 

 should it be true of him who stands behind 

 the sacred desk? This poor unfortunate 

 preacher of whom I have spoken in the fore 

 part of this talk did visit ihe fatherless and 

 the loidoiv; but, oh dear me! what an awful 

 contrast compared with what .lames had in 

 mind! Instead of keeping in the straight 

 and narrow path, and "unspotted from the 

 world," think of what he did do. Think of 

 the remorse that must be just now gnawing 

 at his vitals while he is shut up in prison, 

 even if he did not actually poison the girl. 

 May God grant that this sad ending may 

 be a caution, not only to the ministry but 

 to all who profess to be followers of the 

 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of 

 the world. 



THE TRUTH ABOUT REDBUGS. 



Mr. Root: — Redbugs are not by any means con- 

 fined to Florida nor to Paduch for that matter. In 

 Texas there are thousands — yea, billions and trill- 

 ions of them everywhere in the spring, summer, 

 and early fall. In Spanish they are called arrado- 

 res, the literal translation of which is "plowers," or 

 those who plow. It seems remarkable to me that 

 the entomologists have not been able to tell us 

 that redbugs do most certainly bury themselves 

 under the skin. The tiny insect travels over one's 

 body until it finds an ideal huntingplace, and then 

 promptly burrows its head in an open pore and 

 draws a little blood, which causes a slight swelling, 

 and the little insect is almost hidden. When it 

 needs another meal it partakes of a little more 

 blood, and then there is, of course, a little more 

 swelling, and the insect is covered up entirely, and 

 after each meal it Is further and further under the 

 skin, and so it goes on for at lea-st two weeks. By 

 that time the insect is dead: but there remains a 

 great sore there, and in that sore, no doubt. There 

 are numerous offspring, and tlie itching Is intense. 

 The more one scratches, from the time of the first 

 meal until all the young disappear, the more itch- 

 ing there will be, and. consequently, the larger the 

 sore becomes. With the scratching, the blood be- 

 comes heated and the flesh irritated — two ideal fac- 

 tors for Mrs. Redbug: and every part of the body 

 where others have found a dining-room seems to be 

 in need of agitation. 



If you so choose, you can have them burrow 

 where you please. .lust irritate a certain place — 

 on your arm. for instance: and if there is a stray 

 redbug that has not already located itself, and is 

 anywhere close to the irritated place, it will very 

 promptly take up its abode there. 



I infer, from what you have written at various 

 times about redbugs, that you have never seen 

 one, so I will tell you just how you can get to see 

 one if you so desire. When you itch in a spot that 

 never itched before, don't scratch or touch it in the 

 least, but go to a .strong light and examine the 

 spot. There you will find a minute white-looking 

 bump, or whelp, and in the center a tiny scarlet 

 f'ot. The dot is the redbug. Take a sharp-pointed 

 Xo. 8 needle and pick it out and lay it in the palm 

 of your hand and you can see it crawl about in a 

 short time if you have not killed it in the opera- 



tion. After you have examined it you can dispose 

 of it any way you wish: but by popping it between 

 the thumb nails, and smashing it flat, you can see 

 its t'ny legs, finer than a fiber of silk. 



The insect is white, and undiscernible to the na- 

 ked eye until it has partaken of its first meal on 

 one's blood, so if at first you do not see it, when go- 

 ing to the light, wait a few minutes and bear the 

 frightful itching awhile. If you scratch you only 

 drive the insect further in, and enlarge the bump 

 and inflame the flesh to such an extent that the 

 scarlet dot will not be seen: whereas if you give it 

 time it will gorge itself, and the blood may be easi- 

 ly seen through its thin body. 



The way I get rid of them is to dab a little oil of 

 any kind — lard, sewing-machine oil, axle grease, 

 vaseline, or any thing greasy — on the itching spot, 

 and in a little while the insect will surely "crawl 

 out ob dar." They can not live where grease is: 

 for one thing, they drown: and for another, they 

 can not burrow over a greasy spot, because, to bur- 

 row, they must needs push and shove with their 

 feet, and the oil is to them what ice it to us. 



It is evident that the newly arrived ones are the 

 easier killed, because they are on the surface: while 

 those that have been scratched in are deeper in 

 and harder to get. 



Eola, Texas, March 25. Madeleine E. Pruitt. 



Many thanks, my good friend, for your 

 full and complete description of this little 

 l)est. During the past winter we scarcely 

 saw or felt a redbug until the severe drouth 

 came on, say along in January and Februa- 

 ry. As the drouth lieeame more prolonged, 

 the redbugs seemed to get in more of their 

 work. After our good rains, along about 

 the first of April, they rather let up: but all 

 together I consider the redbugs the most ob- 

 jectionable feature of Southern Florida, es- 

 pecially to newcomers. By the way, in the 

 life history of the insect our good friend does 

 not mention or ex})lain why people who live 

 there the year round gradually become im- 

 mune to the attacks of this insect. Bare- 

 footed boys go all over through the woods 

 and everywhere else with their trousers roll- 

 ed up, and yet they are not touched by the 

 redbugs at all, when we tenderfeet of the 

 North are scratching and groaning. I had 

 not thought of the sewing-machine oil-can 

 as a handy and ready "weapon;" but I do 

 know that grease or oil of any sort is death to 

 most if not all of these insect pests. From 

 what experience I have had. I am sure the 

 above letter is substantially correct in every 

 particular. 



A HUGE "goak." 

 We copy the following from the People's 

 Pulpit. Read it, and laugh as I did. And, 

 by the way, it is quite a gem in the way of 

 combining truth with sarcasm: 



WHY THE SALOON SHOULD LIVE? 



The Gideon answers: 



1. Because of its moral uplift in the communit.s . 

 (?l 

 "2. Because of its purifying effect on politics. (?) 



3. Because it is such a law-abiding institution. (?) 



4. Because its patrons get so much value for their 

 money. (?) 



5. Because drinking helps one to get a good job 

 and keep it. (?) 



6. Because it makes business — for the courts and 

 the covinty agent. (?) 



7. fipcause drunkards — the saloon's finished prod- 

 uct — make such good husbands and loving fathers. 

 (?) 



8. Because saloons always make cities safer and 

 better places for boys and girls to grow up in. (?) 



9. Because all right-minded fathers and mothers 

 pray that their boys may beco'iu- snlodn-keeijers. '?) 



