THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1901. Notes and Comments.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 130, 30 March 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1901. Notes and Comments.

Few of those who have not cam

ITftijfiif'rl on tho South TUB louse African voldt can underIN war. stand tha power of the

louse. We sp;<ak lightly of tho power" boliixl »ho throne, nnd apply the saying to Borough Councils and other moiwahip.a less absolute; but the power behind the louse is one to be spokon of with bxted breath. Tho South African louse is, it is said, and fervently hoped, a product of. that, soil, and, with his foot on the native Boer, who heeds him not, or on some one less susceptible, he is not to be lightly reckoned with. The first intimation one has of his presence is early in the stilly night. Just as you aro dreaming of the meals you left behind you there is- a concerted movement along your spine, and a column of sections, extending from your neck as far as possible into your tight ridingbreeches, scurries around your frame at the gallop. Anon they (i front form," and in rapid succession exhaust

all orders in the " Manual," never forgetting to throw out scouts andflankers, nor to have a strong' rearguard following. The duty of this rearguard is to bite you in the places the others have missed, so that by the end of a parade the human form divine feels as if a bath-in ice cream would be the only alleviant. But this is from behind the scenes. The fuller view consists of as many men as are olf duty for any length of time sitting on the ground naked to the waist, and intently peering into any likely cover in their one body garment. Something is discovered ; there is a pinching of two thumb-nails, and another of Britain's foes- is bleeding on the earth. As the louse in question possesses the stature of a small housefly, and as he is of a gregarious nature, his presence is- easily visible to the unaided eye. When he is unusually numerous a very effsctivo method is to lay the seam of the garment on one stone, and pound it with another. A small a||ck to scrape-off the remains cornpljjpHi this simple outfit. For one half-hour the pest i 3 thus appreciablydiminished, but at the end.of that time the survivors have invited their friends, and" have agfain entered into possession, and the trooper's body being once more apportioned into parade grounds under the lease-in-perpetuity.