Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1894-10-26
LOCUSTS IN CHINA.
They Are Regarded SO @ Calamity
from Heaven.
The Sin gular Methods Adopted by the
Ceiessia,s for ExterIn' ma ..ny the Pests
"A Queer Or-upat.on Tor
Soldiers.

Soldiers.
Tho great province of KianT-Soo,
China. is being devastated BY locu5ts.
Con u Jones at Chin-hiang sends the
state department an account OF the
curious efforts made by the afflicted
sections to dispel the scourre. says a
Washington correspondent of the st.
Louis Globe-DemOcrat. Some OF the
methods rcsorted to are as striking as
the suggestions offered to the Kansas
people when they were suffering from
a 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 reasantry, who assemble in
the Gells with wild clamOr and din of
gcngs. armed with long bamboos with
streamers attached. and vainly en-
deavor to drive OF the terrible in
vaIers who are settling down in nyr-
lads and devouring their crops before
their eyes. Every leaf and twig is
covered thick. giving the appearance
of sol2e Lilcous yellow fruit or plant.
u
menting vegetable matter, is always
perceptible 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
cree of 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 nigra-
tons of the different swarms. At some
places the leading officials have pub
licly sacrificed and made offerings to
the king of the locusts in order that he
might be influenced to spare their To-
calities.
Il know of few sights" writes the
consul. ''more extraordinary than
swarm engaged in pairing. The air is
filled with clouds of locusts drifting,
circling, crossing and recrossing. with
a faint, whirling noise, and settling on
the ground in thousands of couples.
The ground is carpeted thici1ly with
them; you cannot take step without
crunchinT 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 on the
temperature. In very hot weather the
new brood berins to make its appear
ance at the end of week. At this
stage they are very small, black, and
as active as fc2s, making cxtraordi-
nary bounds by means of their muscu-
lar hind legs. At little distance they
suggest tie lea Of n swarm OF black
ants seized with sudden insanity. In
shape they are exact copies of their
parents. save for tAe want of wings.
They are greedy feeders and grow rap
idly. BY the ci~hth or ninth day
wings have bulded and the color be-
gins TO change. yellow spots appear
ing. and in about a month they are
full grown.
The dc-truction. by suitable meas
urcs, Of this formidable pes. involving,
a it does. the prevention of fanircs,
fever cpidcmics and riots, is matter
of crave public concern. One con-
sta-tly hears of rlandarils losing
their buttons and being disgraced 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 TO help for it." Chinese rec
oris chronicle many instances of the
appearance 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 a bounty for their destruc-
ton.
The soldiers, with their officers at
their head. are used against the To-
Gusts as against an adverse army in
the field Instead OF a gun or lance,
however. each soldier is armed with
coarse hcmpen bag attached to ham
boo pole, which. with wide-open
mouth. is waved back and forth among
the swarms until filed. when they are
killed and the action renewed.