Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-06-17
TCOMMUNICATED.l
Tine Grassl,opper Rayages.
EAST kICHLAND, O., June 10, Is

the great GrasshOpper Plague in Kan
saS and Missouri-that a shower ef
rain destroyed them all, and that there
will be the usual crop raised in that re-
gion. l send You few extracts from
| letters received here this week from
individuals who reside in the plagued
districts, and which shows the utter fall
isity of these statements. That there will
be famine in that region unless prompt
and effective aid is rendered, there can
be no doubt.
One letter dated Greenwood, Jack
son county, Mo-, May 9th, reads as
follows:
Now, in regard to the letter l wrote
some ten days ago, giving detailed
account of our condition here, together
with that of others, will say that in
deed, the destitution is proving to be
much worse than was at first supposed.
Upon Investigation it was found that
many families are living upon bread
and water; one family had lived for
over a week on elm bark; and still
worse, one poor widow woman, living
down below Pleasant Hill, after being
without food for forty-eight hours,
wrote note stating the fact, then gave
her children poison, took poison her
self, and were all found dead together,
one child in her arms. But, thank God,
it has aroused a feeling of sympathy
all over the country, and meetings are
being held everywhere to devise means
for the relief of our suffering people.
Delegates from each district were re-
quested to meet at Independence yes
terday, and tomorrow there will be a
meeting held in Greenwood to ascer-
tain the condition of the people here.
The ravages of the hoppers have been
worse for the last week than ever be-
fore. | could only estimate them by
the acre. They cut off all our first
plant of corn, but we went ahead this
week apd planted all but ten acres;
will plant no more till 10th of June,
nor then, without a better prospect.
But we will stick to it a few weeks"
Another from a minister reads as FOL
lows:
Truly, the condition to
which we have been reduced is embar-
assing, but it is a source of comfort TO
know that you sympathze with us,and
are so ready to assist Us. We thought
x
without asking for assistance from any
one, until within the past month. But
since the grasshoppers began their
lOng-continued work of devastation OF
all vegetation, it has been impossible
to procure provision without the cash.
| have been able to procure the bare
necessities of life since my school was
out. | might add here, so that you can
the more fully understand our true
condition, that my wages last summer
and winter | was compelled to apply
on incidental expenses, and the debts
we were compelled 10 contract for food
and clothes. This took all L could
make, and left nothing to buy pro-
vision during the present summer. AS
| stated, l have been able to pay for
what we have been obliged to have so
far. But the general panic of the last
six weeks, has not only cauSei mer-
chants and business men who have all
the provisions and money in their own
hands to close down, while it has caus-
ed the congregations generally to stop
employing preachers, consequently L
cannot hope to realize anything from
that source any more, and it will be
several months before anything is
raised-ifa at all-and it is impossible to
buy anything to live on without mon
ey; SO we are compelled to have aid, or
starve, or leave the country. A
spoke in his last card Of reading ac-
counts in tho st. Louis Globe, of grass
hoppers in this country; but if they are
all like the account saw, he will have
a very mistaken idea of the damage
they have done. read an account in
the issue of May 18th, in which the Ed
itor, / suppose, states that "GrasshOp-
pers have appeared in Cass and jack
SON counties, but were not doing any
serious damage at that time. That it
was hoped that their long flight from
the mountains had SO wearied them
that they would soon die, and that
some had disappeared, and it was sup
posed they had died" Now, any one
in the East reading this, would come
to the conclusion that people here were
only scared when they write such let
ters as mine. In the first place, if the
writer knew anything about what he
wrote, (and if he knew nothing he
should have said nothing), he knew
that all the meadows and pastures en-
closed had been stripped as bare Of
grass by the hoppers as if they had
been burned off; he also knew that they
had destroyed all the small grain that
had been sOwed last fall or this spring;
and had also eaten all the gardens, the
potatoes and corn that had been plant
ed; that even the woods looked as if
big fire had run through it. This was
all done the first of May, and he GER
tainly knew it. He must have known
that they were not more than half
grown, had no wings, and consequent
ly were not badly wearied by their
long flight and were in no danger of
dying from that cause. All the dis
appearing they have done was just to
leave field after they devoured every
thing in it, and hop or crawl until
they found something else; in this way
they disappear in some spots, only to
appear in another not UeTy far distant.
The cattle nearly all died some time
ago from eating buckeyes. If they
had not died then they would now
from starvation, as the hoppers eat all
the grass In the woods, and in some
places stripped the bark and leaves
from the trees; the cattle and horses
still living get nothing but 'brouse.'
Steps have been taken in both jackson
and Cass to get relief. In Jackson they
have made arrangements to get seed on
six and twelve months credit. In Cass
they have sent about twenty agents
East to solicit aid. We are in Cass, but
nothing has been received, and when
it is it will likely be distributed by
cliques, clans and parties, 80 that there
is no certainty that we will get any
thing. There has already been consid-
cradle suffering. Many families are re-
ported destitute in every neighbor-
hood. Some have been known to live
week on elm bark, while many 9th
ers never have more than a piece of
bread and q cun of wafer If would