The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-19


ma these locusts as nutritious food as
oysters II they could only be induced to
put aside prejudice and eat them. An
example must be set first by influen-
ial persons. EntomoIogist Riley was rot
the man to preach and fail to practice.
He and few friends and the whole nor
NAL school faculty of whom the prin-
opal was the well known educator and
autnor. James Johonnot had "a grass
hopper dinner as people called it in ridi-
Guile. 1t was served at one of the hotels.
as no houSekeeper could be found who
was ready TO run the gauntlet of public
crltlclsm for superintending so barbaric
feast. The heads, outer wings and the
hlnd legs We're taken off from the in
ssects and then they were served in var
ious ways; soup was made which was
declared to be as good as any beef
soup; some thought the fritters were still
better. and others preferred the locusts
Ia John the Baptist style i. e., with
honey, except that the locrsts We're
Drowned crisp like coffee kernels before
being served.
The newspapers east as well as west
dressed up the facts here given in all
most unrecognizably exaggerated form
A famous weekly paper had a picture
and article on its front page. But it is
not known that any starving Kansas or
Nebraska family or any family any
by the would-be benefactor Entomolo-
gist Riley.
PRAYERS FOR HELP.
The excitement and fun caused bv this
episode soon passed by and the weight
OF the plague settled down more heavily
than ever. The pastors of the different
churches IN Warrensburg met together
Tor prayer and conference and the ont
come was the appointment of day Of
fastlng and prayer to petition Almighty
God to remove from our midst the de-
KIaStatlng plague. The notice was pub
lished like a, Thanksgiving day procIa-
70 for
mercy of course. The governor of the
state gave his written sanction and this
was printed with the notice. Other towns
besides WaTensburg appointed a SINH
lar day. For the most part it was re-
celVed by the public with reVerential SER
lousness. Some of the daily papers of
st. Louis and Kansas City. however.
waXed merry over the modern miracle
seekers" On the day appointed, all
places of business were closed after
3 o'clock in the morning, and services
We're held all day long in the three larg-
est churches which were fllled to over
flowing.
Men and women who had never prayed
in public before poured out unconscious
~ eloquent petitions for divine mercy.
The essentials of true prayer are some
times given in four words whose initials
spell acts, Elaboration, confession
thanksgiving and supplication. These
conditions were fully realized on that day.
Ihe people pleaded with tears to be
shown their sins for which this punish
ment was sent that they might put
them away. The sense of the nearness
OF God, and of utter dependence upon
HIS mercy was enough to impress even
a child with the most reverential SOL
emnity. The times of penitence and ap-
peal to God for help of the children Of
Israel have always been much more
vivid to me because of the experience Of
that day When the churches were
closed at sunset, a sense of peace and
resignation. If not of hope, filled all
hearts. The next day, there was family
worship in homes long Indifferent to any
Christian service except formal church
attendance. There We're gatherings of
neighbors in the afternoon in one an
others homes for united prayer
And the hordes of insects-what Of
them in the meanwhile? They continued
steadily on their devastating way And
the next morning after the day of pray
err, the d1Sheartentng word went round
that more swarms of them were to be
seen in the sky; they had not begun to
Hght yet, but probably they would by
afternoon or evening. They were more
and more plainly to be seen, seeming to
fly lower all the time.
THE DEPARTURE OF THE LOCUsTs
But the direful looking clouds did not
descend. They swept on over the town;
more clouds passed over. Then the truth
was seen. The grasShOppers were leay-
ing! Soon they were rising everywhere
IN great swarms and joining the clouds
evening of the next day there was
scarcely grasshopper left.
The joy OF the people and the impress
siveness of the next Sundays services
cannot be described. 1t can only be i'm
agtned or remembered with a thrill of
emotion. In some towns the church bells
were rung and bonfires made for a gem
eral jubilee.
The papers which had made fun of the
day of prayer for the most part pre-
served decent silence. Some said sim
ply that it was remarkable Co:rcf-
dence. Some said it was the regular time
for the fight of the insects anyway,
Others stood their ground ind said
Just wait till next spring when the mil
lions of eggs hatch out and then see
how much good the day of PRAYER dfdI''
Next spring the Grasshopper eggs did
hatch and prospects looked dark: faith
met a hard trial. The ground seemed
filled with the egg sacks. Various Plans
were proposed by scientists for destrov-
ing Them but the past experience with
the nine-lived parents of The empryo
pests had been so disheartenira that
there seemed TO be little cause for hope
that the combat with che SH..nnI genera
ton even before they had become full
hedged hoppers would be encourage
Wen do remember L pan OF earth
that had been placed behind me stove
TO warm ready to le '.Sed for tomato
plants and its appearance in she morning
1t seemed transformed into a mass OF
ridiculous, pale green, slim-bodied, long
leBS6u, little insects. Inc heat had
Matched them out in the night 1t was
surprising how such large insects as
they appeared even when just Matched.
could come from such tiny eggs Watch
ing them, while bursting the oEg skin
as chickens would do. showed us how
tightly legs and wings and mead were
packed together, and how they I'M
folded like a telescope or fan when freed
from the pressure of the egg skin Well,
the millions of eggs Matched and the
grasshoppers began to grow and -four
ish. as the wicked always do, like a
veritable forest of green bay trees
The papers said, 1--WE told you so last
summer. when with childish belief in
so-called faith, you had a day of prayer .
But before vegetation was far enough
advanced for more than slight damage
to be done, the grasshoppers began to
die. Entomologist Riley told US the whole
Destiferous race would soon be exter-
minated root and branch, for a para
site had attacked them from which they
could not escape. So it proved and fields
which had been the most dangerously
threatened, yielded most abundant har-
vests because of the fertilization from
dead grasshoppers.
If you are anxious to find the most
reliable blood purifier, read in Ayers
Almanac the testimonials of those who
have been cured of such terrible dis