The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-06-25
The GFasshSPPer Plegas In Nebraska.
EBrownsville, Neb: !, C Correspondence s Chicago.
Tribune '~ 's' : = !:


r. All along the river bottom the grouut
lis bare and barren as if swept BY 1 fire
and on ascending thu bluffs L found tn,
trees stripped Of; their leaves and tn,
points Of the limbs white ID bone. No,
T. speatof grass was; visible many OF I'll,
yards, nor was flower or shrub to be
)seen anywhere. The grass is eaten into
parched d II 'drisd wv 'Sv e's
fire. The people here prided themselves
on their beautifully.laid out and we'll.
kept grounds, and q few weeks ago the
yards were green as an emerald
and the trees covered. with luxuri-
ant foliage. Flowers bloomcd every
where, and the houses nestled among the
green trees. +Allis now = barren, waste.
Thousands on thousands Of grasshoppers
crawled about the streets, covered the
fences, and lined the sidewalks Some of
them were so small and young they could
not get out of the way, and were crushed
to death beneath the feet Of the passers.
by and under the wheels of wagons and
carriages. Others were large and strong,
and flew away by hundreds, only to be re.
placed by new hundreds apparently de-
scending from the sky. The stencil from
dead grasshoppers at one time became so
great that the people feared disease and
cleaned the town of their carcasses. They
crawled everywhere, lighted on nv
clothes, and even in my lace. If the
plaques of Egypt were any worse than
these, then the Egyptians ought yet to be
remembered with pity and sympathy
by all civilized nations. 1t is>useless for
me to attempt to describe it tn you; it
must be seen and endured to be under
stood. and | assure you never fully re-
allied until to-day what the grasshopper
plague was. Countless millions have been
passing overhead all day, high in the air,
but the people seem to care very little
whether they descend or not, as all is
taken, and think the farmers would
rather delight to see the disappointment
Of the countless millions who could come
down only to find that their ravenous
predecessors had eaten up all there was
for even grasshopper's supper.
To-day | rode out to Gov. Furna's
place, about two miles from the city. He
had beautiful farm, well stocked,
hedged, and the best nursery in the
county, containing 100 acres in fruit,
and not tree escaped.
Twenty acres Of peach-orchard on which
a few days ago hung 5000 bushels of
peaches, is completely ruined. Not a
peach remains, and the trees are leaAess
as if in mid"wintcr. Many of them are
badly eaten, and will die. The apple or.
chards ate still worse and soft wood of
this years growth being eaten, and the
bark stripped from the limbs. They
look white as picked bones, and many Of
them are already dying. The nursery
plants are eaten down to the ground. The
Governor loss is over $4,000, and it
will take him five or ten years to
replace his fine orchards. Millions
of grasshoppers were still at
work on the trees eating the bark
and soft wood. They rose in swarrs
around us at every step of the horses,
and we could distinctly hear the whirring
noise of their wings witnessed grass.
as it is called. Thousands
going up into the air and
circling about. could liken it to nothing
but bees swarming. They filled the air
in countless millions and then struck of
northwest. In the corn they were sti'la
work. Not spear was to be seen above
the earth, but on going to the hills /
found them sticking in the ground eating
the roots. Some had burrowed over an
inch deep in search Of the green plants. 1
rode over mile and saw not living
green thing but little milkweed and
some sumach bushes, and here and there
! patch of prairie-grass. All the tame
grass seemed to be taken.
Another Boston building Destroyed
by a Mysterious Explosion. y
At three o'clock on the afternoon of
Wednesday the 18th inst, terrible ex-
plosion occurred in two story building
near the corner Of Kemble and Farnham
streets, Boston, used by G. E. Martin as
a manufactory Of fire works. Ten men
a nd bows mara ovun1ouo1 IN tho hu;11inu