CATCHY, BUT INACCURATE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 195, 7 May 1918, Page 6

CATCHY, BUT INACCURATE

A. WARNING TO PHRASE-MAKERS. Sir. —The continual repetition by the newspapers oi' the Dominion of a saying by tile Hon. Mr. Wilford "that' you cannot iignt a boa constrictor with .% feather duster" compels ino to give an. . experience of my own and this; should warn the- Marcus Aureliuses of the danger of making statements 011 matters beyond their knowledge. In order not to take up too much of your s-pace, i win. five the short extract i'lolll my diary, fcieptember 5, lipi:—. "Wo were sitting in the patio aUei breakfast planning a Jsliiug espeaitio" \>n the Pilco Mayo River, vhen theio was a rousing yell from round the corncr Juan, who had been Ousting taran* tula spiders' webs from the patio, had departed 011 our approach, and as 110 iounded tlio comer of the 1 ouse he canw face to face with an jnormons n M . con ™' which immediately raised itself in tnfr uir to strike. Juan, Laving nothing els® but his feather duster, thrust it at tha wake, which was j-st opening its mouth. By extraordinary good luck UlO feather duster went into Ins throat, oiid lie became a wriggling mass trying to extricate the feather d«ster. rhis 1 10 could not do,for, as related w 'The Voyage of tho Beagle, these and many oilier snakes, including tbs boa constrictor, haw the points of their teeth set backwards towards their gullets, anil this prevents the stuff from coming out again. Juan began a iong harangue m Paraguayan. I asked Holden what h» saidand was told that there was « old «aying in Spanish America, lyt'P your "mouth shut when feather dusttrt tivo about/" . . .• -f ■ This diary was written during a i w to Paraguay in the year Toatherston, May !>. ,