The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-05-03
CE7ERPILLARS DRIVE PEOPLE FROM HOMES.
Antioch Church Rendered Unfit tor USE Train was
Stopped by Multitude of Creeping Insects otench
Unbearabe No Remedy Found tor Plague
From the savannah Press.

The uneasiness for the past three
weeks in the neighborhood OF PooIer'
caused by caterpillars, was investl-
gated by representative of The FresS
Yesterday, and on all sides was found
good cause for the complaint winch
was made by both farmers and TO-
rists.
Hearing that the plague, as 1t has
been termed. was most serious on the
the Pine Barren road, near the Anti
och church. a house to house investl-
cation was made At the Antioch
church the ground was literally cover
ed with the pests; they were so thick
that it looked as though the ground
was moving. Crushing and MASKING
them under foot she party approached
the church near enough to get good
look at them. The entire building was
covered from gable to gable at least
two to three inches thick, and the sides
were the same. BY brushing the door
sill entrance was had to the church,
and the interior presented horrible
sight. The caterpillars had taken
possession of the benches, and were
so thick that walking without MASKING
them was out of the question.
49, Captured Graveyard.
In the grave yard adjoining the
church every bush that two weeks ago
was in new dress of green leaves
had been stripped, and resembled
switches. Two large hickory-nut
trees on the roadside of the church
have been cleaned of every vestige of
life.
At the Pine Barren road bridge,
Just west of the Antioch church, Rev.
Griffin held baptism services last Sun
day, and the water was so covered
with caterpillars that it was necessary
to take brush brOOms to sweep them
away to allow the service to be held.
At the conclusion Of the baptism it
was found that the PASTORS back was
thickly covered with coating of the
caterpillars.
The farm of Mr.. George Oliver has
been ruined. There is not a tree,
fruit or otherwise, on his place that
has any sign of life. Three weeks ago
Mr.. Oliver had great prospects OF a
good pear crop, and now his trees are
but bare limbs All of the plum trees
are ruined.
At the home of Jennie Drayton, near
the Antioch church, il was learned that
last week the family were driven out
of the house by the caterpillars. She
stated to the Press representative yes
terday that the insects came from the
swamp in such numbers that they
could not be swept away from the
house. During one night they had |
crawled into the house and covered |
the beds. cooking utensils, clothes |
hanging on the walls, and, in fact,
were so thick that the occupants ran
screaming from the house when they i!
awoke in the morning and saw the |
condition of things. That day help |
was secured, the house was cleaned |
and a deep, narrow ditch dug around |
the house. The family moved back !
the next day. In answer to a question
as to why the ditch was dug the party
was led over and told to look for
themselves. At the bottom of the
ditch was a sickening mass of cater
pillars at least one to three inches
thick, all struggling to get on top.
Between the house and swamp the
ground was covered thick with cater