Evening journal., 1888-06-26

4-AA4NAns
green and soft. It gains strength mighty
fast though, and it is really interesting to
witch the little gossaner wings expand and
vibrate in the breeze TN the little thing Gets
able 10 work them, As soon as able they
mount TO tie limb Of young tree and 90 to
cutting hole, either 20 suck out the juice Or
70 lay eggs IN, or perhaps both. And this is
the only way they % any damage-and not
very much at that-as they never bother
fruit or grain or grass The real seventeen
Sear locusts came ia 1851, 1868 and 1855.
Ia the first and last named years was IA
western Indiana, and in 1858 was out on tha
Union Pacific grade in Wyoming and Utah,
and no one there noticed tho locusts, us they
are liable 70 have such things any year ont
there. When they first came on tho Nor.
mons dn 1850 and 80 the latter called them
criclets, and they eorresponded exactly "a
tho description Of those ciickets which ere
such curse ia Algier and other sections OF
Africa. They eto ono crop clean to the
ground Then the MoFmons offered public
prayers and planted again The criclsets
came again and began on tho second crop
Ihon the Mormons prayed louder than ever
and enormous hocks Of gals came from the
lake and ate up THE cricketsi So the cron
was saved, and the Mormon historian piously
adds that "thcre were 10 gulls ID the coun.
try before the Latter Day Saints came ]
am glad to add that even among the Nor.
mons there arc not as many "gullsn as there
wefo thirty odd years ago And this re
minds me Of Apostle Orson Hyds's petition
with which he closed his public prayers in
tho years when "locustsH threatened Il ran
about thus:
And finally, Lord, save Us from all Tniras.
crsckets, se.penr', apostntts ond grasshep
pers, and from al those carnigorors animals
that so whe-o-ert, sae-e.c-fs tWhistlingl id
the night time.n
The cause of thezo destructive visitations.
whether Of loersts, criekuts 1r Erasshoppars.
seems everywhere tho same. Nherevcr thcrs
IS fertile, cultivated valley with a gret
stretch of dry and desert country west III III.
theg may bo cEfected ana 50 We sos in tbs
liiaouri region that as tho llae Of cultiva-
tioa goes tmthei wrs ward. the liability as
creases Since wes.ern Knnsashns been SER
tied thc eastern section is free of tho posts.
All this, however, has little to 10 with this
years locEs.a, which ara comparatively harm.
less though the iowa reopio 90 mt set feel
easy on that rolnt. Tho s.ghts and sounds ot
lssJ IN Indiana wnre anong the most re-
nlar,snble over witnessed There was con.
tinued monotonous roar, or rather rattle,
like many tlrc hing machines 10 9 distance.
and this coutingad over month. Il was
not specially unpleasant ami did not inter,
fere with conversation or business. Suddenly
one Friday evening ioslackened: during Sat
Crday It rose and fell at intervals, and Sun
day brought quiet 50 profound that it was
almost painful. The locusts had "got IN
their work, and were everywhere falling
dead from tho trees. Not another s'yeepH
was heard from them; hut soon efter the
regular August katydid began his fiddling,
and tho weather wise said: ''Cnly six weeks
till FROST SO far as could luaf-n not a par.
t!cle0f damage was done. not oven a bush
killed
In ISL the locusss were equally numerous
and noisy Scientific nen then ridiculed the
''seyenteen-year7 idea, and said it was merely
phase Of that curious popular notion that
things IN nature run by savens or seven.
teens" but rs often, happens. it turned ont
that the observation Of common people was
wiser than tho wislom Of tie learned. as Tie
creatures have since filed their term twice.
Unqucstionahly there are loeusts with other
teruls-sono of three years, some Of seven.
and probably saine of fourteen; but mons
compare in numbers with the sevcntoen-yoar
fellows, and those, OF course. make their de-
but Indifferent years in different parts of tie
t1e country as % tire coumoa locust. which
does 40 haru and IS scen more or less every
ye1r, it isa little Shorter and thicker than
these periodical locusts, and lays is e.r.gs in
un gruunl. Tie encyclopedia calls it "a
ealtat0ey crtheptnrous insect Of the family
locuslidp, and Clio genus acridium. locusta,
coloptenus and otaersn So We need not WON
der that it scares folks when it comes in mum.
h9gs. A. r. II