The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1875-05-20
THE GRAssHoPPERs AID THE vox
POPULI
Suggestions for the Emergency.

I Soo @S~ 800
People will talk; and now the subjec
out there in the country is the grasshop
per. What Beecher's nest-hiding affair i
to the newspaper people, the hopper is Il
the crop-growers of Kansas; on'v the,
make money out of their sensation, Will,
we make money lover the left out OF ours
Bread and Butter vs.. the Grasshopper; ;
that is the issue upon which the rural in
tellect is just at this time distressedly occu.
pied.
We went to pay our devoirs.; and in the
quiet cleaning We sat and diseoursed
about the hopper; and she drew an audible
sigh for they are "going for" her dads
young oats, and millions OF them are antic-
ipating with greedy delight his springing
corn.
We talked with Hans. Snyder. Hans. is
hard worker. With the aid of Catherine
he has heretofore made good living, rals-
ing potatoes, cabbage, corn and "udder
dings" for the Leavenworth market. But
now the Flooding patience OF his German
nature begins TO weaken. lie nervously
knocfs-t the ashes out Of his pipe-"Mein
Gott," he growls; "what you dink do
Dey eats me up last year; ven dey eats me
up dis year, den l leaves dis tam coun-
try ~
Pat. Mahoney is sure the hopper popula-
ton at his place already exceeds "farty
thousand !" and if the sason only continues
favorable, he will soon be able to tally
'.farty thousand more" IAN what is a
poor diyil going to do with six little chill
ders, and farty million grasshoppers, watch
ing his potato tops to ate them off before
they come out OF the ground intirely"
But, Pat, couldn't you at least save a
small portion of your crop by keeping the
old woman and the Oldest Of the children
at work driving and "smudging" them off?
IAN do yes think I'd be afther making
my own hoppers lave, just to accommodate
the millions of nasty crathurs that would
only be too glad to drap down and take
their lavingsw
Ed. Widgers, who devotes some of his
time to the perusal of borrowed newspapers
and, by the way-an outspoken admirer
Of Mark Twain, thinks the Sandwich Is
landers must be happy, for he has no idea
grylii, with all their migratory enterprise,
will ever be able to make their way to those
serene shores.
And Col. Saunders, who was once in the
Legislature, an authority on State and Ma
tional politics-and who does not swear by,
but at the present Notwithstanding be-
means the myriad-winged desolation, and
bids his neighbors hope for nothing better
until the end OF this corrupt administra-
ton.
Pete Grimshaw, small but wide-awake
farmer, who follows his own pillow, and like
Bobby Burns, philosophers as he goes, has
discovered that this breed of hoppers does
not exactly resemble those of former years,
either in respect to color, or endurance Of
sudden and sharp changes of the weather.
While they are not As sensitive to untime- |
" frosts as peach blossoms and young pea
plants. 1t Is certain they prefer a mild |
and humid spell Of weather, such as woos
The planted kernel to terminate, and the |
lender grain plant to prick through the |
mold. He estimates the hopping capacity |
IF those on his bluegrass pasture at not |
ess than hundred horse power to the |
icre. But he is satisfied they will leave as
'Oon as they get wings, and no reasonable |
grounds that they will go sooner. From |
heir evident Partially for things that are
,reen and succulent, he thinks their flight |
will be eastward for, in that direction are
he great body of our electors who style |
themselves Liberals and independents. or
4eformers. l &C men actually think that |
he era Of official honesty and purity will |
,e at once established, when the present |
'arty is kicked out, and the Major-Generals
# the Confederate army, and the old Dem
cratic wheel-hOrses are gloriously voted in.
Niddikins takes some L0pe from an i'm
'ression that the grasshOppers are Matching
ut only short distance west of here but |
lis wife knows better, for she saw letter
hat Bol. Salters wife got from her old man |
way out out on the Kansas Paciic-and |
Ie writes that the sands on the sea-shore |
re not comparable in numbers with the |
ate Matching where he Is, and "hopes these
ew lines will find you all enjoying the
anne blessing" Widdikins is, nevertheless.
opeful, but his wife insists upon knowing
etter.
Jones, who takes long mornings" has
discovered Lat the feeding time oi the
noppers Is early in the morning and about |
undown in the evening; he proposes to
axe advantage of that item of enton,ologi-
al information to the discontinue of the
loppers and the preservation of at least his
arden truck and Early Rose patch.
And what does nearly everybody saw?
If the grasshoppers take everything this
ear, than Kansas is hopelessly busted"
his proposition is So hard to negative that
he man who always takes the contrary side
, now for the first time silent.
And what say We? For the lack of any,
hing strictly scientific, or unqualifedly
herring, we tell the boys there is no use
alking! We must make the best of this
reat calamity. If it has come to this, that
Caloptonus spretus" is to be an every year
if the rich mold of Kansas is to
e abandoned to everything but the produc-
ion OF these unmitigated pests, let US make
ne best OF it. Yes, let us utilize them
'on't be driven out and beaten by an in
ect so contemplate Let US drop grain
rowing, stock-raising, railroad building,
offce-seeking, and go into the
oultry business. Let us secure the best
reed of chickens and turkeys, and convert
Iansas into a vast hennery.
"But where would You get the grain to
inter your stock on?'
No trouble about that. Let us net, bag,
nd otherwise harvest enough Of them when
ley are most numerous, to keep our fowls
borough the Winter. They could be caught
ickled or dried and barrelled up to any
,quisite extent. That would not only be
citing them out Of the way, but chickens
ould fatten and lay we'll all the year
,und on hopper diet. The chickens
ould feed US, while the hoppers would
ed them and what with the sale of eggs,
oultry and guano, We might even do we'll.
hen it would be just the easiest thing in
lie world to elect legislature that would
i've us a "stay law" protecting the hard