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The story of a fierce night! 
jungle battle between Negro 
boys and hundreds of thousands < 
of driver ants has been radioed ’ 
to the Smithsonian Institution by 
Zoo Director William Mann who 
is heading the Smithsonian-Fire- 
stone hunt in far-off Liberia for 
animals for the World’s Fair and 
local zoo. 
Some of tlie boys were painfully 
injured in the .sultry blackness of 
shock troops. - ' , - • : 
The ants advance in columns, ap- 
parently directed by an uncanny in¬ 
telligence but without a leader; and 
what makes their mass formations' 
more amazing is that they are entirely 
blind and never retreat after starting 
for an objective. The last insect “sol- 
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Entomologists call them the Huns of 
the insect world, but really know little 
about them. They have no fixed home 
and are creatures of darkness. As 
far as is known they can't endure the 
rays of the sun; by day they rest in 
rock crevices, holes in the ground and 
under roots of jrees. 
Their soldiers bite, sting and tear 
the flesh. They have been known to 
attack the largest and most deadly 
snakes and literally devour the reptile 
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Man’s best- course is to break camp 
and flee, putting distance between him 
and the slowly-moving columns. How¬ 
ever, Dr. Mann reported it was impos¬ 
sible to abandon the Liberian camp 
on which this insect army descended, 
so the Negro boys stood their ground, 
fought off the ants and were badly 
bitten and stung. 
Pull details of the battle could not 
be included in a brief radiogram. 
