Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-21
CHRISTOPHER RUIN.
The whole Northwest Threatened
Chicago and Vineennes Already
Reached by the Vanguard OF the De-
Errnrara

AANNHNACeA " AAAC IONS AAfAAo " NaS ~
Chicago Tribune.
The great army Of grasshoppers that
pourt d its vast multitudes over the
Northwest last summer reached far in
this direction, the van penetrating as
far as Vincennes, although not in sufi-
cient force to make any general devas-
tation. An irregular triangle, with
that for its apex and the Rocky Noun
tains for its base, would include the
territory thus far swept over by the
victorious pest, including large portions
Of Kansas and Missouri, and almost all
Of Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and Da-
kOta. The question which now agitates
the commercial interests of the country
is, Can the grasshoppers be kept within
that territory, or will they, as some
predict, Overrun Canada, Northern
New York and the Eastern States?
1t is held that in thickly settled parts
of the country, where small farms
abound, there can be no great danger
from them, as the birds and domestic
fowls Will keep down their numbers,
but if the invasion Is made by such
overwhelming hosts as defeated all
measures of protection last summer,
such instrumentalities will have little
efficiency at first, however powerfully
they may thin their ranks IN course Of
time. And even IN the event Of the ad-
vancing plague being successfully stay
ed IN its progress east, it can hardly
be expected that Illinois, lying as it
does on the border line, and already
partially invaded, will escape the at
tack of voraciOus legiOns, if the vast
hordes of grasshOppers shall issue
forth again. The intense cold of last
winter and the prOtracted frosts Of the
spring have been relied upon by the
agricultural community to efectually
rid them of this plague. As late
as the last day of April there
was severe freeze, doing
much damage to fruit, but which was
borne with cheeTfulness as being sure
death to the grasshOppeIs. Now the
report comes that In Southwestern Mis-
souri, 1.-The young grasshoppers are de-
vOuring everything green. The people
are panic. stricken. Cattle and horses
are dying of starvation. Everything
is being eaten by the pests Similar
news comes from Southern and West
eTn Kansas, and large sections Of Min
nesOta, Iowa and Nebraska are declared
to be doomed. In the southwestern
portion of the latter State, they are al
ready swarming out by the million,
with millions yet in the ground. All
this, and only two Weeks since a frost.
With the cessation of the cold rains and
the increasing warmth Of the sun, it Is
to be expected that the millions
of eggs in the ground will send forth
their myriad swarms, and the invasion
Of the grasshoppers begin. In that
case it can hardly be hoped that Chica-
90 will escape a visitation. Already
the premonitory signs have appeared.
The warmth Of the sun during the past
week has had the effect Of causing the
appearance Of young grasshopPers IN
the southern sections Of this city, on
the Hyde Park line, and, although at
present IN a state Of inactive tOrpOr,
the establishment of warm weather
viii send them scUrrying through the
air, their numbers rapidly increasing,
until the vast and compact host Of the
main army joins them.
The sO-called grasshoppers that have
been the plague Of the West are really
a species Of locust, and nave all the
yOracious appetite and OmniyerOus
taste of the genuine African locust.
Instead Of proceeding by jumps ike
the common grasshopper, these locusts
90 long distances in the air, flying and
borne by the wind. They move along
at a height Of from 30 to 100 yards
above the ground, and ex-
tending upward as lar as
as the eye can reach. These flying
swarms are described as looking like
great banks Of snow when Illuminated
by the sunshine, and again like clouds
tossing and rolling in a strong wind.
When making their descent upon the
country, and under impulsion from the
wind, they rattle against the window
panes like hail, and beat against the
face of whOsoever may be out at the
time, descending IN such myIads that
1t would be as impossible to escape
their contact as 1t would be to avoid
being rained on when out IN a shower.
The conclusion Of their mil
lion of wings on the air
makes a whizzing roar, plainly
heard as they fly overhead. 1t is this
ability to make long and high flights
that bids fan to make them such a pest
in Chicago. They fly with the wind
and without intelligent direction, drop
ping, after a flight of few hours, on
any place they may happen to be over,
whether land or water, town or cOun-
try, and attack destructively whatever
they can. The country is stripped
bare of green and living things; cattle,
and even human beings, die Of starva-
ton. Gen. Ord, commanding the Mil
itary Department of the Platte, last
fall reported that the bodies Of people
who died of starvation we're found by
his men in their marches, and men and
women were discovered whose only
means Of subsistence for days was
clothing, which they gnawed at like
rats. Had it not been for the efforts Of
the charitable all over the country,
thousands whose crops had been de-
strOyed by this pest would have starved
to death last winter.