Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-07-13
LUCDSTS In CHINA.
They Are Regarded as a Calamity
from Heaven.
Ihe S'p~'''z- Methods Adortrd Nv she
Ceieet's 4 or Externioat.ny the Pets
n Queer 'cupation Tor
Soldiers.

The great province IF Kiany-Soo,
China. is being devastated by locusts.
4 'nsul Jones at Chin-hiang sends the
crate department an account of the
curious efforts made by tie afflicted
sections to dispel the scourge, says a
Washington correspondent of the St.
louis Globe-Democrat. Some of the
methods resorted TO are as striking as
the suggestions offered TO the Kansas
people when they were Suffering from
= similar visitation some years ago.
When the locusts make their appear
once in one of these Chinese districts
there is CONSERVATION among the IN
fortunate peasantry. who assemble in
the fields with wild clamor and din of
Congs, armed with long bamboos with
streamers attached, and vainly en-
deavor to drive of the terrible in
vadsrs who are settling down in myr-
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.
A faint, sour smell, like that of fer
menting vegetable matter, is always
perceptihle in the neighborhood. 1t
comes, no doubt, from the droppings of
the insects.
There Is a curious and widespread
belief among the Chinese in the exist
ence Of liking" locust-'wang" he is
supernatural character, who hovers in
viaibly 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
liciy sacrificed and made offerings to
the king of the locusts in order that he
might be influenced to spare their To-
calities-
II 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
q faint, whirling noise, and settling on
the ground in thousands of couples
The ground is carpetGd thiclfly with
them: you cannot take step without
crunching heaps of them under your
feet, while thousands more start up In
rattcriag vollcys against your legs,
hands and face"
The eggs are deposited in holes
drilled by the female an inch or more
deep in the groand. The time required
for hatchiny depends entirely on the
temperature. In very hot weather the
new brood begins to make its appear
he I'd 81
stage they are very small, black. and
as active as 1cas, making e:ltraorc!i-
nary bounds by means Of their muscu-
lar hind legs. At little distance they
suggest the idea of swarm of black
ants seized with sudden insanity. In
shape they are exact copies of their
parents, save for the want of wings
they are greedy feeders and grow rap
idly. BY the eighth or ninth day
wings have budded and the color be-
gins to change, yellow spots appear
ing, and in about q month they are
full grown.
The destruction. by suitable meas-
rcs. of this forIni able pest, involving,
es it docs, tie prevention of famines,
fever epidem;cs and riots, is a matter
of grave public concern. One con-
stantly hears of mandarins losing
their buttons and being disSraced as
the penalty Of remissness or failure to
destroy the enemy.
Consul Jones says the Chinese con.
slider that the visitation of the locusts
is . calamity from Heaven. and that
there is no help for it." Chinese rec
ords chronicle many instances of the
appearance ard the calamities inflicted
by locuets in for~~r t'Tncs, but they
have no pecul.l-iy elective method,
Of destroyilg them. The government
usually Issues prociama;ious ordering
ont the soldiers and encouray ring the
farmers 10 destroy them. The lattos
are given a bounty for their destrue
ton.
The soldiers. with their officers a,
their head, are used against the 10
Gusts as against AN adverse army in
the feld. Instead of gun or lance
however. each soldier is armed with a
coarse hempen bag attached to BAN
heo pole, which, with wide-oper
mouth, is waved back and forth among
the swarras until filed. when they are
killed and the action renewed.