Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-05-13
When the 'Hoppers Came to Kansas
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ton which was quickly followed as
soon as the material arrived, and the
man who came with this consign-
ment of material, greatly aston1shed
at the use to which it was put, said,
"Well. WE'LL and what do you cafi
that strange 'contraption?' - Some
one remarked it had not yet been
named, ''Then,' said the gentleman,
''we'n call it 'hopperdozier, for as
soon as a hopper gets in he goes to
sleep" Henceforth that was the on
ly name we-had for them and as for
material for making, also for filling,
we never lacked, and, too, they were
given freely to all who called for
them, also thrust upon those who did
not, for it came to that stage that
every able bodied man and boy who
did not drag a ''hopperdozier'' got no
supplies from the committee.
SO passed the spring of 1875. Ev-
cry able bodied man and boy divided
his time dragging a ''hopperdozier"
and helping put in new crop. and
too, many women and girls were seen
1t would be impossible to tell any
where near the number of these pans
that were used in the neighborhood
in which 1 resided, nor the number
of barrels of kerosene used that
spring, but, as soon as a pan would
get full of choppers 1T was taken
and emptied in great piles some of
them as high as and feet, and, as
they would not burn, it was too
much work to dig holes to bury them,
for several years thousands of these
little hillocks dotted the highways,
the meadows and the byways, mute
witnesses to the relentless war waged
against the worst calamity in the his
tory of this section of the country.
Another notable fact, where these
oil soaked insects were dumped, !"
not blade of vegetation would grow
for years afterward. If a man was
determined to exterminate this hor-
rible pest, the pest on his part was
just as determined to live, for as fast
as the crops we planted began to
grow, they were instantly "nipped"
by the young hopper"
Three times l helped plant a GER
tain eighty acres with corn, twice it
was taken by. the .'hoppers,' until
the blessed Goth day of June arrived.
This was a day of general rejoicing,
for the remaining grasshoppers sud
denly took a notion that they had
tarried too long, so early in the
morning took wings and were gone
to be seen no more.
The first daypf July saw about all
of the corn in that vicinity planted,
it being too late in the season to sow
small grain, and while the corn did
not fully mature, it reached the
stage where it was good feed for the
new stock we got that-fall.
We also planted vegetables that
were of quick growth, and as nature
kindly furnished the needed rains,
and tempered the summer heat,
enough was raised to supply our de-
mands, until another full crop could
be planted, grown and harvested,
with the exception of flour, meal,
etc, but as business had now resumed
labor was in demand, everybody went
" WI Will d Will. iO more dlu was
accepted from our friends in the
East. Then, too, the following win
ter of 1875 and was an unusually
mild one, very little snow fell, and
the lowest thermometer record was
on the 18th of December. when u
degrees above zero was recorded
Theories galore have been advanced
regarding the visit of the grasshop-
pers TO this region, from whence
came they2 We know they came
from the west. somewhere; whittier
did they gos and various other ques-
tions asked, yet still the mystery re-
mains unanswered. Then, too, the
mystery of them appearing at exact
~ noon of August 26th, and suddenly
without any warning, seemed to be
of one mind, disappearing on the