Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-26
BUGS THAT STOP TRAINS.
Some Instances Where Swarms Of Insects
Have Impeded Railway Traffic.

Some Instances Where Swarms of Insects
Have Impeded Railway Tranic
TN THE CURRENT NUMBER OF INSECT
Il Life" published by the Department Of
Agricul .ure, are found some interesting notes
on the stopping Of railway trains by swarms Of
insects. Quotation is made from q dispatch
printed in TIE STAR last May from Charlotte,
N. c., which stated that the rails on the Caro-
lima Central were covered so deep with cater
pillars that trains could not be run. For three
successive days traffic was greatly INSTRUCTED,
the driving wheels Of the locomotives slipping
around as though the rails had been thor
oughly oiled. The engineers, the telegram
declared, were obliged to exhaust the contents
of their sand boxes before they could get scr oss
the strip Of swamp from which the caterpillars
seemed to come; rails and cross ties were sal
to be hidden from sight, and the ground and
swamps on each side Of the track were covered
with millions of crushed worms. an unendura-
BILE stencil arising from the mass.
Suspecting this story to be an invention, or
at all events gross exaggeration, one of the
assistants attached to the bureau Of entomology,
Mr.. Cordley, was sent to make an investiga-
ton. The locality where the ca terpillars were
most abundant was the big Swamp" about
eight miles east Of Lumberton. and the facts as
stated in the newspaper were found to be true.
1t was discovered that the insect concerned was
the tent caterpillar" of the forest, and the
woods for many miles around were denuded OF
their leaves. Mr.. Cordley ascertained that the
| extraordinary abundance of the worms was
probably due to the digging of a canal The
country to the east of Lumberton is low and
| swampy, and in the past much of it has been
overfiowed for longer or shorter period dur
ing the winter and spring. During the sum-
mer OF last year, however, a canal was dredged
| through the swamp, in consequence Of which
was much lower than usual Improved condi.
tons due to this drainage encouraged the null
DUPLICATION of the species, and hence the swarms
of caterpillars which blocked the railway.
From Mankato, Mimi, q similar occurrence
was recently reported. Caterpillars swarrned
upon the railway tracks In such enormous num-
bers that the engineers emptied their sand
boxes in vain, and one freight train took an
| hour and ten minutes to go two miles. Almost
| any insect when abnormally abundant, says
| Insect Life" will prevent railway car wheels
| from going around, and accounts Of train stop
| ping are frequent The insects most often in
yolved are the army worm, the cotton worm,
the tent caterpillar Of the forest and various
| migratory locusts.
In one case reported from Brighton Corners,
near Syracuse, N. y, Q freight train was ap-
proaching deep. dark cut, over which an
electric light was placed, when the engineer
noticed dark moving mass extending for sixty
feet along the track. With some hesitation he
drove his train into the mass which thereupon
emitted loud cracking noises, like toy torpe-
does. The wheels began TO slip and the train
was finally brought TO . standstill Investigar
ton showed that the mass was composed Of
swarms OF huge water beetles.