The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-07-06
GRASSHOPPERS.
Billions of Them I'm the Yellowstone Coun-
try-An Old Vets Story Of What He Saw.

tramplng around after Indians for several
years past, arrived in Chicago Saturday
evening from Tongue river, with his dis
charge papers in his pocket. Templeton
says he was reluctant to give up soldier
ing, which possessed a peculiar fasci-
nation for him but he was so broken
down in health that his services were no
longer of any account to Uncle Sam, and
his discharge followed as a matter OF
course. He was in the field all through
the campaign of last year, but partici-
pated III no fighting of any account,
though he was at the scene of the Custer
massacre after it's occurrence, and saw
the fresh trenches in which the victims
were laid by Reno's command.
Mr.. Templeton tells a grasshopper
story which smacks, at first blush, of the
incredible, but which must nevertheless
be true, since man who had served his
country WELL and been honorably dis
charged, could hardly have acquired the
habit OF lying so soon after quitting the
army According to his account, the
country south of the Yellowstone river
is literally black with young 'hoppers.
Off ON the eastern slope of the Big Horn
mountains is where they swarm the
thickest A detachment of cavalry belong
ing to Gen. Miles command recently
travelled for three days through the SER
ried ranks of the infesting army OF in
sects. The whole surface of the country
looked like one huge grasshopper, so in
Vulnerable were the pests. They covered
all the rocks; every tree, from the roots
to the topmost branches, was black with
them, clinging and hanging together in
solid masses rivulets were choked and
damned by the writhing, struggling,
half-drowned millions, while the air as
high up as the eye could discern was
swarming with them. Once in while
brisk gust of wind would set them in
motion, and, rising from the ground en-
nldsse, they would dash into the faces of
horses and riders, completely binding
them for the time being These sudden
uprisings frightened the animals, and
frequently set them dashing and cavort-
ing about in the widest manner. Once
the grasshoppers arose in such binding
and oppressive swarms that the horses
plunged, kicked, laid down and rolled
over, and several riders were unseated
from their saddles and went cropping
about in the animated darkness, but fort
unately escaped contact with the flying
hoofs of the scared and bewildered Dob
bins. At night the soldiers slept on soft.
crawling, downy-like beds of grasshop-
pers, with thick, warm covering of the
same, in place of the vermin-infesteh
army blankets. Strange to say, these
grasshoppers had not devoured every
thing in the shape of vegetation, but dad
spared much of the grass and foliage.
They seemed to be fasting, or waiting
for the crops to mature in the States
east of the Missouri. They were head
ing for the Missouri river, though their
progress was slow, and they seemed
rather to be maintaining O mastery mac
tivity, moving only when obliged to. 1t
is the opinion of the officers in command
of the detachment that, later in the
season, this throng of insects will take
TO wing and devastate the maturing
crops in the Northwestern States. They
must have something to snbsist on, and
there is not enough vegetation in the
Yellowstone region to afford them one
good meal, if they should all get hungry
at once.
How the Chinese and Philippine Islanders
Exterm,nate the Pests-Stretching Nets,
Burning Rubbish, Etc.
From the Chicago Tribunel
In March last letter was dispatched
from the Tribune Office to a gentleman
in Hong Kong asking him for informa-
ton concerning the Chinese methods of
destroying locusts. His answer, pub
Gshed below, gives an outline of the
means employed, which may be operated
efficaciously in the destruction of the
grasshoppers with which the Western
country has been for years afflicted. So
far the only remedy devised has involved
time and tedious labor, and it is doubt
full if hauling a tarred iron drag over a
field of 'hoppers will ever become gen.
eral so as to rid the country of the pest.
, Mr.. Souza has kindly forwarded some
chilly seeds, which the Tribune holds in
trust for farmers, who will be supplied
on demand, as far as they will go:
Hone KONG, China, May %. 1877.
i am in receipt of your letter of the 2Sth OF
[ March ultimo, requesting me to supply you
with information regarding the method adopt
!, ed by the Chinese for the determination of To-
Gusts. l am glad to be able to inform you that
, the Chinese, from time immemorial, have al
) ways successfully destroyed these cursed yer-
I min by means of nets thrown across their rice
fields. They also make large pyramids, at a
: distance Of one Ii Ca quarter of amile) between
; each other, composed OF all sorts OF lnf1amma-
l BILE rubbish, with quantity OF dry chillies
{ sulphur, and some tar. On the approach OF a
cloud of locusts the pyramids are all at once SET
! on fire, and the dense smoke issuing therefronl
: soon makes the locusts alter their course, and
u very often, after short pause in the air, turn
e backward and disappear, even against the cnr-
e rent of the wind, if not too strong.
4 In the Philippines, where the plague is very
: prevalent, the natives have constantly regu.
lar deposit Of rubbish, dry leaves, etc., round
e their plantations, ready for the first alarm OF
: the approaching danger. They also fire rock
cts at the cloud of locusts with good effect, and
! discharge firearms loaded with paddy. AL
,ocusts found in the fields are eagerly collected,
cured and devoured by the natives, who con-
S slider them as one of the best delicacies. Under
. the name of ldngostd they are sold in all mar
- ket towns in the Philippines
The law forbidding the destruction OF birds,
and the periodical importation Of large guam
titles of Chinese martins, which subsist entirely
on young locusts, have contributed great deal
to the destruction of the insect in the Phihp-
: pines.
: Dry chilies may be obtained in any quantity