Last time we chatted, Orville was hanging around with a possum. Today, he seems to "bee" involved with insects. (Yes, indeedy, that was a horrible play on words by Moi. Sorry.)
Due to copyright worries, I have had to rework the article, and I suspect I am still pushing the limits of fair use. The original can be found in the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, published on October 18, 1940: Blue print is from the news article. Black would be my comments or text that is paraphrased.
"BEE IS A PUZZLING FURY
EXPERTS TESTIFY AS TO INSECT'S HABITS
Defense Witnesses in $7,500 Suit Assert That a Sting Is Painful, but That's About All.
Can a man outrun a bee, how many bees in a hive, what is the life span of a bee, are bee stings ever fatal? - - these queries occupied a parade of present and former bee owners in a "quiz" session in circuit court today as defense attorneys advanced their proof in the $7,500 bee sting case.
Whether a bee will fly a block or a mile for food became a sharply contested issue in the case"
...
It seems the plaintiff in this case was suing because her sting injuries resulted in a month's confinement in bed, for which she asked for $7,500 in fees for pain and suffering.
The report in the paper had several conversations between witnesses and attorneys.
The first defense witness, "said he has been a beekeeper twenty years.
"Ever been stung?" ... the... defense attorney, asked.
"You bet."
"Hurt much?"
"Not much."
"Did you ever know a person to be disabled for life from a bee sting?"
"No, there's usually a swelling that lasts a day or two."
Then, came some interesting testimony about the speed a bee can fly and more - -
"How fast can a bee fly?"
"About thirty-five or forty miles an hour."
"Have you ever heard of a person dying from a bee sting?"
"No, but, I've read of it."
AND, now, our Orville, critter lover, appears as a witness:
"Orville Lashbrook,..., a city detective, said he has seven bee hives.
"Well, can a man outrun a bee?" he was asked.
"Not if the bee's after him," was the reply."
It seems the day prior, one of the plaintiff's witnesses had testified that he had outrun a bee.
"Lashbrook said he had never heard of permanent disability resulting from a bee sting."
And, how many times can you be stung??? More drilling of the witnesses follows. (Bees tend to "drill" me when they sting, I know, I know. Keep reading, after you stop laughing.)
A "former bee fancier, said a bee "never bothered a person who didn't bother the bee." Asked if he had ever been stung", this witness "replied "thousands of times," but always when he had stirred the bees for some reason.
"It never put me in bed, but, it hurt a little." he asserted."
And yet another witness, "who said he had been in the "bee business" thirty-two years, estimated he had been stung "about 30,000" times.
"Any bad effects from those things?" asked... the attorney for the plaintiff.
"No."
"You must be immune to bees?"
"I am."
Well, there you have it, testimony of a stinging kind. (Yes, I said that too.)
As a side note: I have to ask, was this last witness, in business for about 30 years really stung 1,000 times a year?? That's close to three times a day. OWIEE.
As a side note: I have to ask, was this last witness, in business for about 30 years really stung 1,000 times a year?? That's close to three times a day. OWIEE.
Now, if I don't get stung for copyright it will be a honey of a day. (Yep, that too!)
* Police clip art from horton-szar. Cartoon bee by openclipart.
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