The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-01
A CHRISTOPHER PLAGUE.
A STRANGE STORY OF INSECT RAW
AGES IN KANSAS.
Grnsshoppers Coming In Countle ~
Millions and stripping the Coun-

millions and stripping the Coun-
tryof Vegetation In n Few Days
An old resident Of Kansas has given a
New York Tribune correspondent vivid
account of a grasshopper visitation. He
said:
~ was employed on the railroad at
that time, and worked with a section
gang whose duty it was to keep the track
for a certain portion of the road in good
condition. Stories OF the near approach
of the grasshoppers and the destruction
being wrought by them were becoming
more frequent day by day, and we were
constantly on the lookout for them.
Finally, one bright August afternoon as
we were working in hut in a large
piece of woods we heard a roaring sound
in the trees coming nearer and nearer. l
took it to be heavy breeze. One of
the men who had lived there many
years, and who had often entertained me
with his recollections, looked up and ex-
claimed:
"'Here come the 'hoppers, curse
them and all my summers labor in my
garden will be thrown away
'1n moment grasshopper lit on the
ground beside me, and then another and
another, and in less than five minutes
the ground was covered with them, and
still they came, lighting on our faces,
on our hair, in our mouths, if we were
unwary enough to open them; on the
bushes, anywhere and everywhere. In
an hour it was almost impossible to see a
bit of ground, and the bushes
were so loaded that they were
bent to the ground The
road between the rails was one living,
jumping mass, and the rails were almost
out of sight, so deep were they getting.
Still they continued to come, and found
myself wondering if they would never
stop. 1t was almost impossible to work.
If you looked up suddenly and did not
shield your eyes in some manner, they
would come with such force, that strik-
ing you in the eye, they would almost
blind you. We could not step without
treading on them and crushing them, SO
thick were they. The place where we
were working was at the summit of
slight grade in the road. Up this grade
a passenger train soon came rushing
along. The grasshoppers did not all
succeed in getting off the rail and thous-
ands were crushed, greasing the track
and the wheels of the engine. Before
the train got half way up the grade it
began to slacken its speed, and then we
saw the driving wheels of the engine
slipping round and round but not taking
hold of the rail. Sand was thrown be-
meath the wheel but the effect was only
temporary, and the train came to a stop.
Brooms were fastened an the engine Just
in front of the wheels so that they
touched the rail, sweeping the insects
aside, and after much effort and a long
delay the train succeeded in starting
again and worked its way slowly along.
~ herever the pests had settled on
anything green they began at once to
eat, and such appetites as they possessed
They did not object to anything unless
it had sweet taste-that they would
not touch. The leaves began to disap-
pear from the trees and bushes as if by
magic. On our way home that evening
we had to pass a large cornfield, the
owner of which and his family had spent
their whole time that season in cult
vating Such a scene of destruction
had never dreamed of as was presented
to my astonished gaze. Where only
twelve hours before stood a forty acre
field of corn so tall and thick that mans
head could not be seen anywhere in it
and all just coming out in tas ell, nothing
remained but the bare stalks looking
like so many reeds. The owner and his
family stood looking at the ruin with
the tears streaming down their sun
burned checks, the very pictures of
despair.
Turning away we made our way
home with fear in our hearts for our
own gardens. | went around to the
back of the house to see what was left of
the neat beds that had been my pride :;
only that morning | had been Boosting to
my wife that we had the finest garden in
the village. Nothing remained but the
sweet potatoes and the inner red meat Of
the watermelons. The outside had been
entirely eaten away, leaving about two
wagon loads of the sweet red meat lying
in the sun; in ten days more they would
have been ready to pick. The cabbages
were all eaten clean from the stump; the
beets, carrots, beans and the rest were all
gnawed close to the ground. turned
away heart sick and sat down by the
front door. In front Of the house was a
high picket fence, and as the sun went
down noticed the grasshoppers gather.
ing on the fence like chickens going to
roost; before dark you could not see be-
tween the pickets. The fence looked
like Ole living mass of grasshoppers; the
side Of the house was also thickly COW
cred The rooms in the house were full
of them; they were heaped on the chairs,
the curtains, the table, the bed. They
leaped into the food being prepared for
our supper. 1t was impossible to
keep them out, as the weather
was very warm and the
doors and windows were all open. For
the next few days we could not place
dish of anything on the table without
having one or more tumble in it before
we could eat the contents. After going
to bed we could not move without dis
turbing them, and then they would
crawl over ones face, causing a very I'M
pleasant sensation. They would eat