Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-07-25
GRAssHoPPERs.
The Crops on The Frontier bsinH Destroyed
BY them---The Area Attacked.

From the st. Paul Press, July 81
A few days ago rumOrs were IN cir
culatiOn that some portions OF the
upper Minnesota country were over
run bv swarms of grasshOppens; but
at the time, however, the matter was
not regarded seriously. The agricul.
tursI interest of this State, as well as
that OF the States below, has suffered
severely from the remarkable series
OF hail storms and tOrnadOsas, whOse
frequency and destructiVena aSs have
been commented upon as a peculiarly
of the season. Terrific winds have
swept over sections of the State,
destroying buildings and tossing about
their tImbers and covering as il
they were merely feathers upon
the wings Of the gale. Many lOcali-
ties which had escaped the crash
Of the hurricane, and were CON
graduating themselves upon their es-
cape from injury, have been silenced
in their rejoicing by the advent OF
hail storms, as destructive In their ef-
ia-ts as the tornado, If not Is terrify-
ing 10 the bshOlder. Prosperous conl-
muuities have been almost disheaTt-
ened by these unexpected calamities,
and 3 wide range of territory has
been swept OF its products by tempest
and hail. These rapidly multiplying
evils were considered sufficient unto
the day" " and a strong hope has been
felt everywhere that further losses
from the seasons peculiarities might
b,e avoided in the future. But the in
forn,atiOn OF another scOurge, which
NAV ultimately prove greater than its
predecessors. comes in such shape
mat its existence can no longer be
doubted. Ihe ravenOus sWsrms of
the great Western deserts have
taken wing, and are now blasting
veTatatiOn from the minnesOts river to
the British possessions. The state
ment has been received from reliable
authority that the southern wing OF
this devOuring army has already GRE
ated CONSERVATION and inflicted losses
up0n the farmers of Renville county,
embracing some Of the finest tracts of
farming lands in the State. Leaving
Renyille. no reliable intelligence OF
their appearance has been received
from points below Alexandria, but in
that vicinity the GUdEt -cOJ1-iers Of the
swarming millions have appeared,
and are rObbing the fields of their
wealth. The damage thus far inflicted
in that section has been slight, but
fears are entertained that they are
simply the fOrerunners Of greater
destruction to come. One hopeful
feature in the accounts OF their raV-
ages is, that they are generally NOV
ing in a nOrtherly direction, and may
possibly, and probably Will, avoid the
more thickly populated regions in the
interior and eastern portion Of the
State.
Gentlemen who have just arrived in
the city frOm Fort TOGten, Dakotah
Territory, state that they have swept
over that post in countless numbers,
pursuing the same direction IA those
observed near Alexandria and appa-
rently a traction of the same vast
swarm on its devastating mission
nOrthWard. The people in the settle
ments attacked express fears that the
disaster Is only begun, and that their !
prosperity, for the present at least, |
Is to be affected and perhaps destroyed |
by this living and devOuring cloud |
sweeping up from the south. II, how
ever, the new scOurge keeps within
its present limits, and pursUes the
same direction for few days longer,
the grain crops will be placed beyond |
their power to iniure, and it is sin
cerely hoped that this may he the |
of the pests which have |
50 frequently swept over the earth |
and LETT desOlatiOn and ruin behind |
them.