Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-08-01
LOCUSTS IN INDIA.
A Graphic Description of a Battle
 with the Pests.
The Natives Turn Out with Cannon and Firearms But Are Unable to Stem
 the Terrible Tide of Ad- vancing Insects.

see by the foreign telegrams that north Africa is threatened by swarm of locusts, which reminds me, says an India correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, that saw devastating attacks of those terrible insects in southern and northern India. The first was in the Tinnevally district, Madras presidency, in the great famine year. was finishing my "big break fast" when the tehsildar came to my tent and said: "We are going to be again troubled" "What with?'' ''Lo- custs." had heard of their visits and pulled long face. The famine was practically over. The crops were just beginning to show their greenery, and everything was propitious. The gov ernment was merely carrying the natives over till such time as the grain ripened and harvest commenced. fol- lowed the tehsildar to the door of my tent and saw huge black cloud in the east.
 It came nearer and nearer, and soon the sky grew darkened, the sun was completely obscured and a whirr and click like many millions of sewing ma chimes were in the air. The noise was terrific. Suddenly that great black animated cloud settled on patch about a mile distant and gave us breathing time against their assault. The tehsildar hurried back to the village. My serv- ants stripped the huge tents of their verandas and placed the awning care | fully over young row of green peas. Vegetables were similarly covered. In the village all was turmoil. The women were wailing and the men and boys rushing aimlessly about with tom toms, guns and other noise-producing instruments. The tehsildar had given orders to charge full of gunpowder an | ancient fieldpiece, a relic of the days of Dutch supremacy. The fiat stone roofs were covered with men carrying arms and whistles and the great parapets of the huge temple were alive with human beings.
 On came the locusts. The guns parked, the cannon thundered, the whistles blew, the tom-tom clashed, women screamed and men shouted, dogs snarled, but it was of no avail. The in sects settled down on the fields adjoin- ing the village, and on the trees, and in a few hours the place was clean of veg citation. I never saw such destruction, so complete, so absolute, so thorough. Thousands of the pests were slain, but the click of their jaws ceased not, and when every blade was devoured, on they swept. The next time made the acquaintance of the hungry locust was in Agra. was staying with gentle man well known throughout the north west, whose house n the Jumna roao is much admired for the beauty of the gardens. In it there are magnificent tamarind trees. noble avenue of null berry trees, mango, and other lovely trees belonging to India.
 The locusts attacked the place about ten a. m., and after they had satisfied themselves you would have imagined that a great fort had opened fire on the devoted place. Enormous branches hat been broken down by the winged pests and in several instances only the parent stem of the trees was standing. An out house, which was covered with { gorgeous creeper, was literally crushed in on account of the numbers that set tied thereon. Agra was bare. Not ; garden was left, not blade of grass and the expenditure of gunpowder wa fearful. The locusts are said to b. edible, but never yet found 8 persol who had initiated John the Baptist.