The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-01-28

ripe peaches and plums were left In
pitlful GrotesqueReSS banging on the
trees. In flower gardens the foliage
was often eaten and the bright flowers
left on the lcafless stalks.
Many people did not abandon their
gardens to the rivageS OF the enemy
until after heroic resistance had been
made. Paris green ana other poisons
were sprinkled over the gardens The
hoppers seemed to thrive on the diet
Whole families would go out and beat
the ground with tree branches, thus
driving the insects out of the yard, Ike
swarms OF becs,-but to see them re-
turn with reinfOrccmentS or added rcgi-
ments Kerosene oil was put into
SprnkltnE pots and scattered broadcast
over the millions, and then pieces of
burning paper, or pine were thrown
about. Long bitches, three feet deep
were dug and the 'hopers by means
OF broomS and branches of trees, were
urged TO hop into them. and then oil
and fire were put into the trenches.
To see the millions thus slaughtered
gave courage for the time TO keep on
waSins war, but results did not justify
the hops, for II certainly seemed as If Il
hundred came to attend the funeral Of
each slain comrade.
They attacked the grass, after gar
dens had been eaten bare, and for some
unknown reason they would leave large
spaces in some fields and lawns UNI
touched, While In adjoining parts every
space of green was devoured.
Some housewives had sad expert
ences, clothes drying on the line being
riddled with holes. One ludy'S purlor
was invaded and when she entered the
room she found the lower quarter Of
each of her lace curtains lying sepa-
rated from the rest on the floor: they
had been cheSed straight off, on a line
with the window sill. by the omniver-
GUS nests.
At Wight the grosshoppers went rcgu-
larry TO rooSt. They chose the western
sides Af fences, houses and barns, where
the sewing sun shown hottest and COW
cred eVN.ry inch OF space. so one could
not tell the color OF the paint under
meath.
Pepers IN the east told OF the stopping
of trains by grasshoppers. Friends
wrote to inquire, thinking the whole
thing must be n pure fabrication. or
course the trains We're not stopped by
mounds of insects piled up like snow
banks in front of the engine as some
seemed to think. But their quantity
was so great as to clog the engine
wheels and their crushed bodies made
the rails SO slippery that trains had TO
go very slowly, and sometimes had to
stop until the track ahead was cleaned
We hoped aginst hope day after day
and week after week that the insects
would take their flight Instead of this.
they settled down to preparations for
the next season by lndustriously laying
their eggs In countless millions. The
females made holes about an inch and
half deep In the ground. using the
strong hind legs and the body itself as
drills for the purpose.
III each hole thus made was deposit ed
tough. membranous sack nearly as
large as the abdomen of the insect. fill
ed with rows of little white eggs like
knr e ,n. lnl l., -
covered with earth. the insects using
their front feet almost like hands.
DESPAIR OF THE PEOPLE.
most to despair, which took possession
of the people cannot be described Some
were bitter and rallied against luck.
Some accepted the plague as fate I'm
sioical silence. But sense OF the ut
ter weakness of human power per
vaded the town and this filled the
churches as never before. Special
prayer meetings to petition divine help
were held, and there was little laugh
Ing at this even by the most skeptical.
We heard of farmers families in Kan
sas and Nebraska who We're starving
because everything green. including the
crops. had been destroyed. This meant
no food. no money, nothing for the com
Ing winter. Trains went through car
rying supplies sent from the East TO
free Of charge
At about this time the State Entomo-
logist of Missouri went to Warrens-
burg, the seat of the largest State Nor
NAL School, and held n consultation
with the faculty, some of whom were
enthusiastic scientists. as to his theory
that these locusts were the same as
those which John the Baptist ate with
wild honey in the wilderness.
The starving people, he said. would
find these locustS as nutritious food as
oysters If they only could be induced
to put aside prejudice and eat them. An
example must be set first by influential
persons. Entomologist Riley was not
the man to preach and fail to practice
He and a few friends and the whole
Normal School faculty. OF whom the
principal was the well-known educator
and author. James Johonnot. had "a
grasshopper dinner" as people called
/: In ridiculc. 1t was served at one OF
the hotels. as no housekceper could be
found who was ready to run the gaunt-
let of public criticism for superntend-
ing SO barbaTic feast. The heads.
outer wings and the hind legs were ia