Rat Army Invades Texas

Feb. 1920

Rabbits, Too, Are Now a Pest on Many Farmsteads

ODEM, Texas — For the past several months rats and rabbits have become so plentiful that the damage done by them is becoming serious. A conservative estimate is $100 damage to each farm, done by rats to grain and seed in the barns alone. Some farmers estimate they have 1,000 rats in a single barn.

Rabbits are doing thousands of dollars' worth of damage to cabbage and garden crops. It is not uncommon to see Mexican boys coming in after a few hours' hunt with from ten to fifty. One farmer shot four rabbits with two shots in his cabbage patch and killed seventeen in one afternoon.

The peculiar thing is that these pests are new to the country. Two years ago it was a rare thing to see either a rabbit or a rat.


Kid McCoy, Former Boxer, Staging Billy Sunday Role in Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — "Kid" McCoy, former pugilist, is at Marion, the county seat to assist in knocking out the devil at evangelistic meetings now in progress there.

The ex-fighter is declared to be as eloquent in the pulpit as he was aggressive in the ring.

Mexican Jumping Beans Once Known as "Devil Beans"

1878

"Devil Beans"

In some of the mountainous regions of Mexico, there is a shrub which bears a triangular fruit, composed of three seeds, or beans. Into these seeds, when young a little moth deposits eggs, which hatch into larvae resembling the worms often found in the chestnut.

These beans, we are informed by a correspondent, are collected by Mexican children and brought to the sea coast to sell to sailors and passengers in steamers, which may chance to stop on the trip up or down the coast.

If one of these beans is placed in the hand, or near a stove, or even in the rays of the sun, the little inhabitants will soon begin to twist and turn in his cell, and the greenish, coffee-shaped bean will begin to roll around, sometimes skipping to quite a distance in successive jumps.

If kept in a cool place these beans can be kept several months, but when placed where it is warm for several days, there emerges a little light brown, satin-winged moth. After several months, when the beans are kept cool, the larvae die.

From the fact that these little inanimate berries will become so lively and active when held in the hand for a few moments, the Mexicans and Indians call them "devil beans."

Why Lawyers Escape Going To Hell (poetry)

1902

WHY LAWYERS ESCAPE.

The devil came up to the earth one day,
And into a court house he wended his way.
Just then one attorney, with very grave face,
Was proceeding to argue a point in a case.

Now a lawyer his devilship never had seen,
For to his dominion none ever had been.
And he felt very curious the reason to know
Why none had been sent to the region below.

'Twas the fault of his agents his majesty thought,
That none of these sharpers had never been caught.
And for his own pleasure he had a desire
To come to the earth and the reason inquire.

Well, the lawyer who rose with a visage so grave
Made out his opponent a consummate knave,
And the devil was certainly greatly amused
To hear the attorney so roundly abused.

As soon as the speaker had come to a close,
The counsel opposing him fiercely arose,
And heaped such abuse on the head of the first
That he made him a villain of all men the worst.

Thus they quarreled, contended and argued so strong,
'Twas hard to determine the one that was wrong,
And concluding he'd heard quite enough of this fuss,
Old Nick turned away and soliloquized thus:

"If all they have said of each other be true,
The devil has surely been robbed of his due;
But I'm satisfied now that it's all very well
For these lawyers would ruin the morals of h—l.

"They've puzzled the court with their villainous cavil,
And I'm free to confess they have muddled the devil.
My agents are right to let lawyers alone.
If I had them they'd swindle me out of my throne."

—AARON LISCHY.

—Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN, June 23, 1902, p. 4.