Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-22
WOE IN NEW JERSEY
kslst nj Issqultoa d APPALLING
nuntldH On he Farms.
SPECIAL PRlIERs 10 BIZ OFFERED.


deal OF woodland IN tho neighborhood,
almost every farm having from ten TO
hundred acres OF trees. And IN every
clump OF trees and In every forest the
locusts swarm "thick as drifting autumn
leaves in vailambrosa." As one wanders
along the country roads, from each DIT OF
woodland comes a monotonous. murmur-
ing sound that at a little distance Is mol
unlike the roar one hears when an ocean
shell Is put close to the ear. IL Is
sound reminiscent OF the curling de-
structive pillows OF troubled sea, but
those who are familiar with the country
know that IL u not "reminiscences OF
destruction, but n threatening forewarn-
ing OF destruction to come.
As one gets nearer the sound grows
clearer. but not louder. 1t then re-
semblcs the mournful murmur OF huge
frog-pond in full chorus. When one gets
into the woods II seems like the roar OF
a distant express-train. 1t is an elusive
sound. that is apparently now far and
now near. AS one listens long one can
distinguish q multitude OF individuai
sounds joining to make the continuous
murmur. At first the cause Is not SEEN
Then on the low branches OF many trees
one can make out what seem to be tins
b,eached moulds OF huge bees, thickly
dating leaves and boughs. and branches
and trunks. These are the cast-on sheiis
OF the l7-year locusts. When one mas
once made out single husk, so per
fectly outlining the escaped insect one
begins 10 see them everywhere in COUNT
less multitudes
NOTHING ELsE-JUsT LOCCSTs.
Then one begins to see the locusts them
selves. at first not distinguishsDle Pc
cause they are colored so nearly hke 'he
bark OF the trees After one has begun
20 make them out IT is impossible to see
awning else, just as the hidden race
found in a puzzle picture becomes the
whole picture after IL is seen. These 10
Gusts are so numerous that their number
and their incessant motions fill one WIN
a sort Of fear. They suggest the over
whelming the plague. II Is the sensation
Pharaoh had when he looked abroad ana
saw his fair dominions quivering with the
countless wings Of the army OF locusts.
The whole forest Is alive with them,
and all other forms Of life, even the
beautiful leaves Of the great trees. seem
outnumbered and put into insignihcance'
on one small branch thirty were crawl
ing languIdly about On almost every
leaf there is a locust. They cling along
all the twigs and boughs. and they crawl
In lines up and down the trunks or the
trees. The bushes are covered with them,
and in the tangle of the underbrush their
forms are seen struggling feebly. with
nutter of the transparent glossy wings
now and then. Even far out from the
woods into the meadows they are craving
about In armies
AND SUCH BIG LOCCSTS!
But these locusts that are within easy
reach OF the hand arc not making the
monotonous faint, yet formidable. muir
mur. They are just out OF the GROUND:
Their bodies are but two inches long. ana
II YOU pick one up and cast IT into the all
II futters uncertainty back to the earth.
HIGH I'D in the trees the full-grown To-
Gusts are singing and toiling, eating and
laying their eggs. that will presently drop
into the ground for seventeen years oil
incubation. These tree-top. singing de-
stroyers are four and five, and even SIN,
inches long. Their wings have spread
like the wings OF bat, and aS they beat
the leaves and twigs with these shining
wings the low plant of incessant toll,
por.entous OF destruction. goes forth.
This is just the beginning OF the locust
season. For a month yet the ground
the underground. the saplings. and the
lower parts OF the trees VIII be tnrohBed
" TN Young locusts. Then they will dis
appear. going higher TO Join their elders
rnd swell the armies that are now surg
lnC into a number as countless as the
grains of the strand. Even now at night,
in any part of Railway. the murmur OF
these gathering hosts may be heard
ftn ntsfa OF ali
this reg on. over in Monmouth county
the plague is far worse, and from Long
Island aud Staten Island. and over the
eastern part Of Jersey come the same
reports that mighty host Is gathering
haunting the helpless farmers with their
incessant wailing.
FARMERS LOSING SLEEP.
The farmers are listening and are losing
sleep They know well that II the locusts
leave the trees they will descend upon the
fields. and II they descend upon the neids
not a blade of grass VIII be left standing.
Already here and there farm has been
attacked. Out at Edgars. mile east OF
Railway, they have entered one held ID
comparatively small numbers and nave
laid low large patches OF grain. cutting
1t as clearly as ever scythe cut inc
farmers do not know what to do about
Ill. All SORTS VI tAPcito He'S pNN@
ing communications to the country press,
urging action along various lines. but
not a single proposal has even saving
grain of common sense. The farmers go
out TO their woods with an idea OF oe-
stroying all the locusts on their own
places, but their hearts fan as they &c!
within hearing of that awful sound, ana
when they get within sight they reel
that any. attempt at destruction. now
ever wholesale, would be as iutiie as
sweeping back the rising ocean tide Win
a broom. The locusts have the farmers
completely encompassed, and from the
tree-tops these gathering hosts are saz-
ing with satisfaction at the smiling. ripeh>
ing fields to be destroyed
GOOD FOR THE BIRDS.
The birds are doing heroic work Of de-
Rruction. II you look up into the Jer.
sew air over any part of the infested
district you will see birds hurrying TO
and fro. And In the bill of each there
will be q locust. neatly caught with It's
vinss pinned to its ribbed sides. The
birds must be eating them by the MIL
lion. All the fowls on every farm leave
the roosts early and advance. with necks
outstretched and feet tumbling each over
the other In eagerness, towards the edge
OF the woods. There they stay all day,
stuffing themselves with the locusts not
vet developed. At evenfail these fowls
waddle home lazily with crops distended,
but the very ground upon which they
have been pasturing is as crowded with
crawling locusts at night as IT was IN
the morning. One hour OF warm sun
shine brings out more locusts than all
the hens devour In week.
In some parts OF Union and Monmouth
counties the locusts are so thick about
the bases Of the trees that the boys get
out with buckets and sweep them up and
take them home to put them into the
fire. One boy got two bushels OF locusts
under single tree. and he said he could
have got two bushels more II he had
swept at all cleanly.
SPECIAL SERVICES OF PRAYER.
There seems to be nothing to do but
wait and pray. In many Of the churches
they are arranging for special services
Of prayer that Heaven will not make a
years toll Of farmers go for naught but
food 10 keep alive the accused locus,s
and enable them to lay up another plague
for seventeen years hence.
The locusts are making the usual pic
ntc excursions OF the Sunday schools and
Bands OF Hone and Kings Sons and
Daughters impossible. Several attempted
pic-nics have been broken up. the girls
fleeing home. and the boys not far be-
hind them. No sooner have the boys and
eiris sat down IN the delightful shades