Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-04-10
C%RASSH0PPERS EVEN
ATE GARMENTS LEFT
BY F|ElD LAb0RERS
Just Ready to Go Into Field With Ma.
chine, Bought on Time. When
Pest Came and Ruined
All the Crops.

Pest Came and Ruined
All the Crops.
The year 1876 opened with fair pros
poets. All kinds OF crops indicated that
a bountiful harvest would be gathered
n plans We're laid for much improve
ment. Ed Hoffman purchased a new
Mccormick harvester at a cost OF $500
payable in annual installlments. giving
his notes. secured by chattel mortgage.
With this machine Mr.. Hoffman WAS
to do his own cutting. also for myself
n Alph Williams. .Alph and l were
to do the binding. Having only five
acres broken on the land l had pur-
chased from the railroad company, |
had planted this to spring wheat. The
yield was placed at 81 bushels per acre.
This five acres being ripper than the
other grain. was the first to be downed
by the new machine. The cutting was
done in the afternoon. 4Alph n L
tying it into bundles and dropping
them on the ground. After supper 1
gathered the bundles together and set
them into shocks by the light of the
to begin the cutting of Mr.. Hoffman's
wheat. The machine being new and
giving some bother, We did not ac-
complfsh very much. About 3
o'clock in the afternoon there seemed
to be a black cloud rising in the north
n We began to speculate on a bad
storm. These s~peculations were of
short duration. We now discovered
that the dark cloud was caused by
grasshoppers. They began falling
thick and fast. On the north of the
wheat field was Mr.. Hoffman's corn
neld: The corn soon became perfectly
black with hoppers and the corn tops
began to drop. The swarm of hoppers
pushed w the south as soon as the
corn was devoured. AT the sight of the
destruction Of his corn. Mr.. Hoffman
stopped his horses and began weeping
n lamenting his loss and wishing
that he had not bought the harvester.
He was sure that the harvester COM
pany would take everything hat he
had to pay for h machine. I now
began to urge on him the necessity Of
rushing the horses as fast as possible.
thinking that the grain, when put in
bundles, would be safe. To my sorrow,
1 later learned tina it took more than
straw to save the heads of wheat
On going for our coats that we mad left
Off In the morning we found them en-
tirely useless, The hoppers having eat
en- them so that they had more resem-
blance Of a sieve thar of cad made
clothing.
Upon arriving at home that evening
my wife met me at the shanty door with
tears running down her cheeks and in
formed me h a the garden was all
destroyed. Nothing but the stubs of
cabbage and beans could be found, and
ground. The only consolation to be
derived from the loss was in not hav-
ing to hoe the garden any more. for
not a vestige of grass or weeds could
De round. On examination of the wheat
also found. that the expense of
We had to give the hoppers credit. for
tney a cut the heads of wheat about
all off from the straw and left them on
the GROUND aroun the shocks. which
We're still standing.
Another incident in Mr.. Hofrman's
Well worth recording. A daughter was
born to Mr.. n Mrs. Hoffman on JULY
=, 1875: AS every one knows, this was
the Tooth anniversary of the indepen-
dence OF this grand old America. In
honor of this great event the daughter
was named Centennial. This baby
girl, long since grown to womanhood.
still survives and is a respected resi-
dent OF the west side of the county.
where you are sure of a warm welcome
and who would gladly tell you all that
she remembers of the grasshoppers in
1875; More OF the Hoffman family still
reside in the county. Mrs. Hoffman
lived to see only the beginning of bet
ter times. hen h surrendered all
earthly ties n passed to the Great
Beyond. Mr.. Hoffman lieved "a num-
Der of years after the loss OF his wife
n became possessed of considerable
OF this worlds goods before he was
called to his last reward.
Inc 1876 scourge Of the grasshop-
pers covered a large scope of country
and to many it seemed that starvation
was unavoidable. However, the kind
Providence willed otherwise and way
was provided so thai none. to my
knowledge persisted for the want Of
food. How the peonle in this part of
the county managed to live for the
next year must be told by ZACH indi-
vidual who passed through it. Debts
could not be paid. improvements were
again retarded. Some left the coun-
articles they could easily move, hav-
ing previously disposed of nearly
everything to pay their debts. The
price of and was very low and it was
hard. indeed, to find a buyer for any
thing. W. show the state of fairs mt
this time. | will relate a proposition
made me the following winter.
On a visit to one of the %neighbors. 1
found him worrying owe mis- debts. On
trying to cher him. HI made me a
proposition to take all of his property,
leaving him only the family clothing
and bedding. His holdings consisted
OF 200 acres of land. all farm machin-
cry. probably 80 head of cattle and six
or eight head of horses and colts and
some hogs. On asking him the amount
Of his Indebtedness he informed me
hat it was about $4,000. am sorry to
state that the proposition was not ac-
cepted by myself or n other person.
Not finding a taker for his proposition.