Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-03-14

from the pecans and 'chansed M"
even Spanish bayonets- They came in
clouds that obscured the light OF the
sun and chased the chickens to roos,.
They destroyed great fields OF grain.
entered dwellings and ate mp every
thing within reach in pantry and cellar.
Zone time" said the Judge, when
they appeared near my place. deter
mined to save my garden truck, 1! pos
sible. got out all the bed-quilts and
blankets. spread them over the vegeta-
bles, ana fastened down the corners
and edges with heavy stones This was
early in the morning. When ! came
back in the afternoon III be DANCED II
there was any thing but the stones left
The grasshoppers had not oaly eaten
up every green thing in the garden but
had devoured the blankets and quilts
also. Two days afterward they ate up
q niger near MT place. lie had gone
10 sleep under live oak. A grasshop-
per army came along. II ate up bis
straw hat, ate up all his clothes, ate the
wool from his head. his eyebrows and
eye-lashes. and got away with his toe
nails. II cleaned him up entirely. The
niger died afterwards. whether of
fright or of the ravages of the insects
the coroner's jury could not determine"
The Judge described how the grass
hopper cnerated its species. IL finds
bed of muck. sits down in it like dog
on his launches, plants its fore feet on
the mud and deposits its eggs When
the egg is Matched. the insects appear
in swarms. feed upon every thing
around them, and. as soon as their
wings are strong enough to fly, rise in
the air and are borne away by the
wind.
Moore said that the Comanches es-
teemed the grasshopper as a rare del
icacy. A shout of Joy went up from
these Indians whenever a cloud Of the
insects settled upon the prairie. In
trice great ring of fire was set around
them. The flames drove them 10 q
common center. There they were
piled upon each other like a pyramid
and persisted in the heat The fire
baked them and the savagcs sat around
the heap and ate them very much a.
,gourmands eat prawns In fact .
baked grasshopper somewhat resembles
prawn.
For over an hour did these distin-
g,lished yet natural naturalists natural
" entertain visitors TO the cloak room
The visitors sat with open mouths
eagerly drinking in the information.
There was occasionally an incredulous
smile and an expression of astonish-
ment All. however. rcvolted when the
Texan began to tell snake stories He
asserted that there are In Texas what
are known as glass snakes They are
found on the bottom lands and look like
.jointed beads of glass When struck
with whip the joints fall apart As
soon as the assailant disappears, how
and falls into line. making connections
with snap. The snake Is then again
IN trim and ready for business.
This remarkable snake story was
supplemented by one still more remark
able. Tho Judge asserted that while
he was out on a prairie one day he
saw snake fifteen feet long chasing its
tail around in circle. in much the
same manner a dog plays with its mar
rativc. Finally the snake caught the
end of Its tail and began TO swallow IT,
1t continued the operation until it swal-
lowed itself out of sight
Here news was received that the
great political screw-worm known as
the force bill had been plugged with
the silver bill in the Senate. and the
party adjourned. highly edited and
greatly refreshed.
Aans J. CUMxISeA