The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-13
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cp.ssucppeRs IN KANSAS.

naring to move the tracks further BACK
f-o1m the encroa chin" river, said an Old
kansan recently. The heat was IN
tense. no rain having fallen IN several
-eeeks, and the parched and baked
earth reflected the rays of the burning
sun until the air seemed to come from
IN oven. About o'clock IN the after
noon while we were working IN halt
hearted listless way. about ready 10
drop from the enervating erect OF the
heat, we suddenly heard rustllnG
among the brances OF the trees on the
bluff near AS.
THANK God cried one Of the men,
dronninp his shovel, there comes
breeze al last
1--WE all stra ightened up to catch the
first faint brea tn of the welcome stir OF
the superheated atmos phere, and lifted
our hats to let it play upon our throo-
bling temples All at once the foreman
cried out in a tone of CONSERVATION:
'Hoppers by - The long threat
ened visitation of grasshoppers had
come sure enough. and what we had
fancied to be the gentle rustling of the
Ionpe.i-for breeze was the sound of the
onward rush of the countless multitude
Of grasshoppers through the foliage OF
the forest near by. First one settled
on the ground at our feet, then another
and another, and in an incredibly short
time the ground was swarming with
and literally bslried from sight by the
ever-increasing army. Talk about a
blizzard! have never seen blizzard
in Kansas that obliterated everything
as quickly as that Srasshopper blizzard
did. They swarmed all over us-ln our
faces. down our necks, and we had to
keep our months closed to keep them
from getting down our Threats We
could not step without crushing a mass
Of them under our feet To me, who
had never seen them before, the sight
was appalling Still they continued to
come. the air being daiflened by the
oncoming hosts. And as soon as they
touched the ground they went to eat
ing.
What appetites those varmints hadi
Soon the weeds, and grass, and leaves
on the trees and bushes began TO disap-
pear as if BY magic. Almost everything
was To their taste unless it was sweet
They would not touch sorghum OF
sweet potatoes or anything like that.
Pretty soon passenger train came
tearing along a down grade some dis
lance below, but near us the grade be-
gan a sharp ascent aud as the train
drew near the driving wheels of the
engine flew around at a treme ndous
rate and the train slaclaened its speed,
while the engineer fran ticaily sanded
the rails trying to make them hold.
But it was of no Use. The grasshoppers
covered the rails so densely that myri-
ads of them had been crushed under tho
wheels greasing them SO thoroughly
that the train was stalled The train
hands got couple of brooms, and
shortening the handles, fastened one
on each SIDE of the pilot of the engine
% that they Just swept the rails The
mass of crushed hoppe RS was cleansed
from the driving wheels, the rails were
we'll sanded, and after several efforts
the train at last started, the brooms
sweeping the insects from the rails bo-
fore it. | had often been told of the
hoppers stopping trains but had never
believed it until | saw it with my own
eyes.
When reached home that night my
pretty garden presented sad sight to
nv sorrowful gaze. The vegeta bles had
nearly all disappeared A few cabbage
stumps were sticking out of the ground
in ruined loneliness The sweet pota-
toss were the only thing remaining I'M
harmed, while my melons what a
wreck they were! The rinds and outer
shells of white had all been eaten away,
leaving the juicy, red meat lying upon
the ground untouched. As gazed into
the fearful eyes Of my wife | was
too full for utterance Adjoining was
n large flfty-scre cornfed. There
were about dozen rows of sorghum
corn along one end, and they
had not been molested. All that re-
manned of the rest were the bare. hard
stalks. Everything else was eaten off
clean. The grasshoppers were in the
house, in the victuals on the table-iR
everything AS the sun sank in the
west we went out N the yard to see If
there was anything left, but all we
could see was the countless myriads OF
hoppers They were in the air as thick
rs snowfakes in driving storm, the
ground was piled with them, in some
places over a foot deep. Around my lot
was a high picket fence. This pre-
scented the appearance of a solid wall
of grasshoppers five or six inches thick.
al the spaces between the pickets be-
ing completely filed up The sides of
the house and roof were buried under
.he clinging mass The next morning
when lighted the fire, which ! had
prepared the night before. / heard
lively scrambling in the stove, and lift
ing the lid found II check full uf grass
hoppers, who were trying to escape
from their fiery Imprisonment
AT the close of the second dav the
eountry presented the appearance Of
desert Nearly everything green had
disappeared from the face OF the earth.
The grass and weeds and growing crops
had been eaten close to the ground.
and the trees and bushes were stripped
nt their foliage. Such Z scene of desola-
ZION hope never to see again Having
completely DESTROYED everything. the
grasshoppsrs passed on to lay in waste
other portions of the country. The loss
70 the farmers was complete and much
suffering ensued that tall and winter.
but the next season the crops were
hounteous and plenty and contentmen;
reigned once more N. !. Tribune
\ recent Traveller in Malta saws that
The people have peculiarly ap, and
ready wit. Tie tells of an English
nfficer who. failing 10 make poor Nal
tese understand an order delivered in
.he language of Cnckaigue. called the
poor man a fool" Understanding this