The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-01-05
THE GRAssHoPpER PLAGUE.

THE PERIIs OF THE WESTERN sErTLERs-rAh
PEOPLE WITHOUT FOOD AND CLOTHING
Eli Perkins has written a letter to the
New York Sun of the 26th inst, from LIN
coin, Neb., concerning the grasshoppersln
that country, which is good piece OF work
for humorous lecturer. / have crossed the
great bread-producing region of the United
States four times within 30 days. 1 have
tried to fiud the boundaries OF the great
crop-destroying drought OF last summer.
The drought in all instances destroyed the
corn crop before the grasshoppers or chinch
bugs came. The insects were only supple
mentary in completing the destruction OF
every living leaf. blossom, tender stalk,
unripe grain, and fruit. The famine
or drought district 1 find to be more
extensive than is generally believed. Ii
does not embrace simply Kansas ana Ne
brasks. 1t embraces corn, grains growing,
and pork and beet producing country seven
times as large as New England. The
drought and grasshopper plague destroyed
the corn crop almost totally. The region
of country devastated by the drought
and grasshoppers embraces the lower
quarter of Dakota Sasr,.s. hft R.nss OF
Colorado, and the Indian Territory, the
bulk of Missouri, and parts of Illinois and
Arkansas. In Kansas and Nebraska the
corn crop was total failure. The drought
commenced in June and continued TIL Au-
gust. the ground was parehed, and IL
cracked open in many places. leaving holes
half an inch wide aud two feet deep. Grass
was dried to hay, and fires ragged
where cattle ought to have grazed.
Wells and streams dried up, the
heat was intense, the corn siiked
out In a sickly way, aud then tassel and silk
dried mp. too. The grssshoppers came in
July. They invariably came from the
West, from the mountains. A fearful
drought had dried mp every vestige OF living
| vegetation beyond Colorado, and the grass
hoppers were driven eastward into the coal
fields. They appeared first in Colorado,
then swarmed through Kansas and Mis-
souri,. The last was
DYING IN INDIANA,
near vincennee. The grsshopper was like
tie ordinary insect seen in New England,
from an inch to an inch and a half
in length. 1t was ravenous eater. 1t
would eat four times its own weight in a
day. II seemed to be little mill to grind up
food. The natives likened it TO sausage
machine. Its fsvorite diet was green corn.
When this was gone they ate the leaves off
the trees, green apples, and peaches, and
rather than go hungry they would deyour
each other. If one died, dozen
mourners would gather at the funeral
and eat him up. Near Topeka, Kansas,
talked with farmer who planted thou
sand acres of corn, bat did not gather an
ear Last year he sold corn for IL cents, and
this year he was shipping 1t from Iowa at
81 25 He sat on his balcony mourning the
utter destruction of his crop.
Chow did they oome-the grasshopp.rs!"
l asked.
"They came like shower. sir" he re-
Piled. ''They filled the air. They darkened
the sun. They covered the stalk OF corn I'M
til it was black. Then they ate every leaf,
ate the stalk downt to the young ear, and
then ate the little ear, too"
"Cob and all, sirf"
Eyes, cob and all. Why, don't you see
that thousand acres of corn out there nowf"
he exclaimed, standing like broken whip
stocks7"
"What else did they eat?" 1 asked.
"Why. they ate every leaf off Of the peach
trees, ate the Young peaches, leaving the
stones, and there stood my trees leafless,
bearing a crop Of peach stones. They ate
little cottonwood limbs an inch thick they
ate my beets, turnips and onions clear down
into the ground-hOllowed 'em out, leaving
the rind-ate cigar stubs, sir, and"
AVERY TOUGH STORY.
"Hole upv said, "thst's too much,
that's
"But it's the solemn truth, sir. Why, one
night sat on the balcony with the engineer
of the Santa Fe road. The hoppers had
piled up against the west side OF the house
three feet thick. It was crawling, stink
ing, nasty pile. The balcony was covered.
l threw down quid Of tobacco, and the
hoppers covered it and ate it up in a
few minutes, and when 1 put my
foot on a pile of them, the rest sailed
in and ate the smashed ones up. Why,
when went to build my fires this fall, the
stoves wouldn't draw, and, on examining to
learn the cause, 1 found the fiues full of
hoppers. They filed the air with horrid
stencil. They covered the pools and springs
with their poisonous green excrescence, and
made the cattle sick; they made the hens
aud turkeys sick, and they fairly made me
sick. Why, I've seen them so thick on the
railroad that they'd stop train-grease the
track till the locomotive wheels would roll
over and over"
"what became Of them?" asked.
"They flew east. They always flew in the
day tine, and ate at night. They went
through my corn field in day, and the
next day were a half mile to the east"
"And the trees?"
"Why, they all leaved out again, and
many Of them blossomed over again. and
tried to bear fruit, and did bear it till the
frost came. In my trees you'd see dead
peach stones and pink blossoms-an to-
gether. Oh, it was mournful sight, sir
dreadful" and the farmer drew long sigh.
THE IOWA LYNCHING.
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