Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-07-28
Che family Circle.
How the GrasshOpperS Came.

How the GrasshopperS Came.
wish to tell the readers Of St Nicholas
a story about the Gle eat American Desert.
where the gri>>hoppers made such Il fear
full raid last summer.
When YOU see the little creatures hop
ping larmlcs>ly about in the green grass.
Won can think of what Il power for evil
they possess when they gather together in
such armies as those which Ovcrran our
part of the country las year.
The weather WAS intensely warm here
al last season. and for thirty days within
the space of six weeks the thermometer
ranged from 1907 to llG0.
Ii was during this heat in the latter par
of July that our Swede girl, Selma. said
She must 90 home to care tOI her aged
mother. Pete and Polly, our two mules.
were harnc>sed 10 the express wagon in
the early morning. and Il pleasant little
company of us started out to take Selma
home.
Oar road lay up the banks of n clear
whining stream. on each side of which our
Industrious Swelc nciwhbor> have settled.
and turned Owe the virgin soil of this
Garden of the DESERT nppn which ap-
reared fields of waving grain.
We hid not ridden far before Pete and
PIlv. who had been whskin" their Ion"
rlrS very cont, ME Nv brTan to lay them
buck and toss their heads into thu. ali
* they tossed thrm higher and higher
we noticed that Il gri>shopp'r came III in
lcrvrlS with Il pounc.. into our laps or hit
orr Ii indl~ and fees, an th. further
went north the more frequently their whiz/
md click assaulted our car-. or their >hlrp
WINS struck our noses. till we svmpi
ihizcd with our restless mules. soon we
nut cd The lit.l,. brown DO hes and TrlN
wiurS living in piles along the shady ~il'
of our track and thrt the green leaves of
tn. com hung like slit ribbons >wHN ing in
the breeze: and farther on there WAS here
.nl thee u field that hal been planted ON
the sod where nothing but the stalk Wa
left. and we SAID. - see what the grass
hoppcrs haze been doing.
We set Selma down ut hcr door. and
turned toward home. wondering if the
gras>hoppcrS were going to do much
harm.
The season had been unusually dry. a
we'll rs warm. and for that reason the
small grain, though Very light. was ready
for the reaper. or already tut,
soon after the hlrvr>,er> hl1 repaired To-
he field that afternoon. the cry wis heard,
e" The ~ra>>hopprr- have ftl'cn on To tn
corn fields" Then We knew We had me-
the >cuuting PARTY in he murr inc. ami
th-t bv some wonderful insect power.
they hal autographed to tn" main body the
news O oar rich fields.
We had :, corn-tld of twenty acres
h1t WAS the pride of our forrmcn. ami
a., In ,II.i ,pf
miles up and Il wn the valley. The ,!e
>troy,r> were at work upon it. but the men.
hoping to save :, part. left HE harvest ana
built fires all along the rows They whip-
ped and switched and smoked. running
from one part Of the field to the other in
the heat. but it was all of no avail. The
little invaders ate on, and at night nothing
WIS left of our boaS ed c0rn-tirld bat tn,
tall bare STALKS, looking like bean poles
The Indian, women had corn and bean
patches near Us, and when they came and
saw their work AL d,S.roved they weep
and moancd. and said " Tod is not pleased.
or He would not send the GA shoppers to
eat what we need"
TIL" next day the raiders came TO our
g;,rlen>, and though we covered he plants
with b,rrrlc and boxes and sheets. Though
wv ~liio\''i 'li't NIliI'I'' anu III tiNtIf'
hoping To save some vegetables they SEEM
ed to laugh 1t our d-mtv. and kept >tr:tdi-
" work. even eating Our onions AMI red
peppcr-,tnlks down to the ground.
They stripped young fruit trees Of their
leaves AMI gnawrd oar shrubbrrv and
flowers till there was no green thing left t.
cover the brown earth. and then they
mounted or >lt le trees, and the groGnd
,,-ith III
The heat WIS intensified by he presence
of such II mass of animal m,,trr. and oar
nights. usually 81 cool were hot AMI I'M
comfortable. The rlnwontrd sound IF tn.
ru>tling of millions of wings caused ,hr
dogs to howl ,Ioefullv. and Il vague terror
began to steal over our hearts
Near ni.h.fail of The third LAY of the
presence of the foe, brisk brcvzr blew
came t. the door. and sud DO Won see
h Nv the smoke is rising on every side of
us?
We cou Il see from ten to twenty miles
in any direction. and Ill tb ut us were
pvrlmidal columns OF smoke, Us thought.
rising toward the heavens. "lIow is it.
We asked that these great D,1S>es of smoke
'ppe Simultaneously ut every pont?"
AMI rs We Tazcl AMI saw them slowly
rr"w blarkrr IN rise higher. IN indrtinl-
Bile dread OF some fearful coming took pos
session Of us.
Two of oar number were ont taking \
~allop on their ponies. On their return
they said. Did you sec the grt>>hopprrs
rise? We heard Il oInd like Il ru>h;nr
wind. and thought we were riding into the.
edge of Il whirlwind (>urh rs are. often
seen here. carrying pyramids of dust and
sand many feet from the carth. bat. look +.
iny Il moment, SAW the gra>shuppcrs roinr
up in ou,l-likc misses, and they passed
off south "
"Ah, that WAS the gra>shoppcrS, and we
thought it >mokc," we exclaimed: AMI
the wei hit WIS nfteL from
our hearts. Some gr;,,shopper, were left .
near our buildings, but they were merely /
going To rest for the night, and by noon
next day very few were to be seen. In
Just one week from the day of their first
Il great shower of transformers fell
aS;.ln, ano began to devour what the {, hers
had left. One corn field which the others
had left in part, anl which still promised
Il small harvest was attacked by these lat
rr marau lers, and our last hope for corn
that season soon vanished
C"l s'E'''e-tItts were entirely stripped Of
their leaves. the netting screens in our
doors and windows hung in la.terS, and
the greedy millions made their way into
our hoses to devour plants which we
though. hidden from their inSatiate little
Jaws They ale holes in clothing, in cur
ains and in pin-cu>hions and heard of
one "ontn who found the ,lauyht of her
stove clogged with grasShopper-, they h,v-
ing fallen down the pipe i'll such numbers
a. to till it.
The houses and fences were soon black
with the millions of these insects. We
;"ud not even see the bark on the trees
because of the myritds of wings, and we