The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-03-19
GRAssHoPPER PLAGUE.
How 1t Might Have been Averted--spars
the Birds.


How 1t Might Have Been Averted--spare
the Birds.
To the Editor Of the Hartford couranf:
And no wonder. The marvel is that
it does not sweep over that whole region,
when we read of the wanton destruction
of its birds. An item in a Chicago paper.
not long since, stated that 10000 quail
and prairie chickens were fed to swine In
a single day, in that city. 1t goes ON to
say that in the country west of Chicago.
quail, rllffed grouse, and prairie chick
ems are destroyed by the million, ire
spective of law or season Tons of birds
shared and shot out of season are boiled
down and fed to swine. On one day
there stood wagon on the. corner of two
streets containing $50 dozen of prairie
chickens, while on the near sidewalk
were piled thirty-seven boxes, containing
$50 dozen of quail, corrupt, decompos-
ing, and condemned by the health officers
as only fit for swine. They are trapped,
shot, and shared and sent to the market
where they find ready sale up to the
middle of March, and yet the indiscrim-
mate slaughter continues. The young
birds and setting hens all alike are cap
trlred and sent to ChicagoSand other cities
on commission, and destined to be Ted
to swine. The birds, the editor Says.
must soon disappear before such recl-
lessness and vice. Yes, the birds have
disappeared, almost entirely, from many
Western localities, and grasshoppers and
other noxiors insects have multiplied nn&
swarmed forth, to spread famine and des-
olation. The divinely arranged balance
between birds and insects has peen
destroyed by ruthless bird-lillers, and
the cry of famine rings out over the
land. Such is the retribution for the
violation of the eqripoise of nature and
the making of discord in the divine har-
mony of natures works.
This harmony runs through the whole
creation, and its disturbance always pro
duces suffering The innumerable rivers
which roll into the sea are freighted with
all the impurities of the land which, il
not abated iii some way would turn the
ocean into vast cesspool But these
impurities and foreign ingredients are alb
sorbed, or worked up into islands for the
future occupancy of man, by millions and
millions of animalcules, and other marine
scavengers. To them is given a task, in
finitely greater and more laboriOus than
the building of the pyramids, or the tun-
neling of granite mountains, which all
the mighty men of the earth could not
perform.
So the birds have task, which various
governments have tried in vain to get
done, by Offering bounties as induce
ments to their citizens to destroy the
insect pests. But it has been found that
the birds are the only exterminators of
the enemy, without whose divinely ap-
pointed labors, in keeping the insect
world in check, the earth would soon
be made void rs at the beginning, and
garnt famine would reign over all its
realms.
Some predict that the winged scourge
probable and whence viii come our de-
liverance Our natural helpers hang mp
in our meat-markets by millions, sacri-
feed to the qualification of epicurean
appetites. Not only the largest varie-
ties, but the little tiny birds with their
crops full of insects, are brought TO the
New York markets in barrels and. sold for
a few cents dozen.
The older civilizations of the East are
more appreciative and protective of birds
han our own. In Japan they are beld
sacred and never destroyed On the oc-
casion of the visit to that country in
1854, of the squadron commanded by
Commodore Perry, who opened it to the
commerce of the United States, several
of his officers, one day, went out to
shoot birds for their amusements The
natives were horror-stricken when seeing
the destruction of their favorite birds,
and ran to the Commodore to remon-
strate against the cruel conduct of his
subordinates. This soon put an end to
the sport of American bird-killers in
Japan and when the treaty between
the two countries was negotiated, the
Japanese authorities were careful ia
have inserted an article protective of the
birds of that country from Americas
fowlers.