The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-21
LOCUSTS IN CHINA.
They Are Regarded as a Calamity
from Heaven.
The Singular Methods Adopted by the
CeicstiaIs for DISCRIMINATING the Pests
A Queer Occupation for
Soldiers.

The great province OF hiSilS-SOc,
China. is being devastated b. locusts.
Consul Jones at Chin-kiang sends the
state department an account OF the
curious efforts made by the afflicted
sections 70 dispel the scourge, says
Washington correspondent OF the ST
Louis Globc-Deuocrat Some OF the
methods resorted to are as striking as
the suggestions offered 10 the Kansas
people when they were suffering from
similar visitation some years ago.
When the locustS make their appear
ance in one of these Chinese districts
there IS CONSERVATION among the I'M
fortunate pcaSantry, who assemble IN
the fields with wild cla-nor and din of
gongs. armed with long bamboos with
streamers attached, and vainly en-
deavor 70 drive of the terrible in
vaders who arc settling down in rnyr-
lads and devouring their crops before
their eyes. Every leaf and twig is
covered thick, giving the appearance
OF some hideous yellow fruit or plant.
4 faint. sour smell, like that of fer
menting vegetable matter, is always
perceptible in the neighborhood- 1t
comes. no doubt, from the droppings of
the insects.
There is curious and widespread
ence of a king" locust-'wang" he is
called-of colossal size and quasi
supernatural character, who hovers in
visibly in the upper regions of the air,
directing and controlling the migra-
tions of the different swarms. At some
places the leading officials have pub
hcly sacrificed and made offerings to
the king of the locusts in order that he
might be influenced to spare their To-
calitics.
Il know of few sights" writes the
consul, more extraordinary than a
swarm engaged in pairing. The air is
filed with clouds of locusts drifting,
circling, crossing and recrossing, with
FAINT, whirling noise. and settling on
the ground in thousands of couples.
The ground is carpeted thickly with
them: you cannot take step without
crunching heaps of them under your
feet, while thousands more start up in
pattering volleys against your legs,
hands and face"
The eggs are deposited in holes
drilled by the female an inch or more
deep in the ground. The time required
for Matching depends entirely Oh the
temperature. In very hot weather the
new brood begins to make it's appear
ance at the end of 4 week. At this
stage they are very small, black, and
as active as feas, making cxtraordi-
nary bounds by means of their Inuscu-
lar hind legs. At a little distance they
suggest the idea of n swarm of black
ants seized with sudden insanity. In
shape they are exact copies of their
parents, save for the want Of wings.
idly. BY the eighth or ninth day
wings have budded and the color be-
gins to change, yellow spots appear
ing. and in about a month they are |
full grown.
The destruction, by suitable meas
ures, of this formidable pest, involving, /
as it does. the prevention of famines, /
fever epideIhics and riots, is a matter /
of grave public concern. One con- /
SIdLIiN EtdIS Ol iIldiitldIlflS lftSlllR {
their buttons and being disgraced as /
the penalty of rcmissness or failure TO /
destroy the enemy
Consul Jones says the Chinese con-
slider that the visitation Of the Iocusts /
is a calamity from Heaven, and that /
there is no help for it." Chinese rec
ords chronicle many instances of the
and the calamities inflicted
by locusts in former times. but they
have no peculiarly effective methods
Of destroying them. The government
usually issues proclamations ordering
out the soldiers and encouraging the
farmers TO destroy them. The latter
are given d bounty for their destruc-
ton.
The soldiers, with their officers at
their head, are used against the 10
Gusts as against an adverse army in
the field. Instead Of gun or a lance,
however, each soldier is armed with
coarse hempen bag attached to bar-
boo pole, which, with wide-open
mouth, is waved back and forth among
he svar1ns until filed. when they are
killed and the action renewed