The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-06-30
Grasshopper Tactics.

For two weeks past the grashoppers
or locusts, rs they should be called, have
been departing from the districts IN
this State and Kansas to which their
deprcdations were at first limited, to
the infinite delight of the inhabitants Of
these districts, and seeking fresh fields
and pastures new.
The movement of the insects has
much about It that is curious, and some
thing that is awful. It's the methodl-
cal march or flight, ol II great host, AMI
mated by u common instinct and II Is rs
irresistible as tn. advance Of mighty
army. The ample and interesting cor
respondencc of the Republican from the
infested districts informs u OF the details
of the programme. The insects assemble
in squads at various points, between nine
clock and noon, aS II IN obedience 10
general order and with promptness
and good order that suggests thorough
dIsclpineand Il perfect system ot author
lty. At frstt here are apparently almless
and accidental movements observable
among the assembled squads; but when
these are carefully watched, they are
seen to assume regularity and order; the
dctachmcnts rise into the air by zig-zaS
maueuverS, gradually increasing their
altitude by what appears TO be painful and
experimental efforts, till they nave
cleared all terrestrial impcdiments, and
reached plane that leaves the highest
soaring birds between them and the
earth. The great movement is now fair
" begun. The detuchments are now
fairly dIstinguishablc; II unity of motion
and purpose animates them, and the be-
holder on looking up to the heavens
sees one cloud ot insects filling the whole
ornament, and moving silently, ,solemnly
and mystcriously before the wind. Be-
tween noon and two o'clock the move
ment exhibits the greatest proportions;
alter that time il dwindles till four
o'clock, when the Struggling flight Of n
few delayed detachments is all that Is
left Of il. The march is repeated next
day. in the same order, and with the
same unvarying acconpanImentsi 1t has
been going on over Sedalia, Lexington,
WurrcnSburg and othcc towns in that
region for four or five DAYS, without any
| prcceplible ubat cment, and letter from
Oregon, Holt county, in the northwest
ern corner Of the State, informs us that
OH the 18th instant the mass, resembling
asnow.cloud in It's appearance, had been
steadily drifting over that place for
| sixty hour>-thIrty to seventy miles In
width, half II mile in depth, and of un-
| known length, Whether the insects
move only by day, or continue through
the night, as well, Is Il disputed question
All accounts agree in saying that after
four o'clock they begin to descend, the
precipitation being most rapid and heavy
at six O'Clock, when, as correspondent
writes they come down in line ex-
tending all across the country IN such
tremendous clouds as to frighten people
/ \ gentleman who was riding along the
road during the descent says 1t was "likc
II vast storm cloud coming down over
/ the whole land, with Il sound that rcscm-
/ blcd that made by II locomotive with II
. long train oi cars In some Instances,
urrSons out of doors have fled to their
nou.r> and closed the doors, apprehcn-
,ivr of being smothcrcd by the descend
ing mass.
Whittier are the lCcusts NOV NJ?
What l. Their objective point? All ac-
counts concur IN saying that they
move in Il northwest direction, with the
wind. This ought to bring them into
Northeast Missouri, Iowa and Northern
Illinois; but we do not hear of them IN
either of these regions. Those that are
seen passing over the northwest corner
of Missouri evidently come from Ne
bra,ka and Kansas, and yet may be-
heard from IN Central and Western
Iowa; but up to tins time no general
and permanent descent Of the insects,
followed by such ravishing of the crops
aS took place in Kansas last year, and III
some of the western counties of Mis-
souri, six weeks ago is reported. This
Is the more singular rs the crops and
heritage in the region over which the
insects are moving are just now in the
most tender and inviting condition.
What Is the animatlng cause of their
migration, what is the aim Of it, and
what i the result of it, are questions
that cannot be answered yet. The insects
are not in quest of food, for they are
constantly flying over rich pasturage,
aud even when they alight for few
hour, halt on their mytcrious march,
they rarely attack the crops. The
amount of damage they have committed
up to this time Is limited, and being
repaired by rcplanting, and as they are
moving more north than east, it Is pos
sble that they will disappear forever in
the inhospitable region of British Amer
lea.