Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 February 1877 — A Grasshopper Story. [ARTICLE]

A Grasshopper Story.

Two hen were traveling in Kansaslast summer, and, when, about fifteen miles from Lindsey, on the Solomon River, the grasshoppers appeared over them in such swarms as to make it as dark as twilight. Suddenly they began settling down ill swarms right where the two men were riding along on horseback. Ike jerky birds came down by oountless millions, and all traces of vegetation disappeared as if by magic. They covered the ground - several inches deep, and suddenly seemed; determined to settle *n the men and horaee. One of them, a man named Dan Kav&n&gh, was thrown to the ground by the frantic plunging of his horse, aad the grasshoppers, apparently attracted by a green calico shirt which he wore, swarmed upon him, and, in less time than it takes to tell it, had eaten every shred of clothing from him, and, horrible to relate, began devouring him His companion, a yonng German named Fred Keiser, had a black snake-whip, with which he managed to flght them off, and tried to save poor Dan. The horse reared, fell and rolled over with him, bnt he managed to regain his seat, and it wan not until' Kavanagh had been skinned alive, and all the muscles and flesh eaten from bis breast and ribs, that Keiser gave up and galloped away. About seven miles from the scene he found a ranch, and was cared for. He was so bitten that his hands, arms and head swelled to twice their natural size, and he lay In the greatest agony and delirium for a week. When he recovered, his horse was dead, and the ranchmen went with him to the scene of the disaster. They found nothing but the skeleton of his companion, the bones picked clean and almost bailed in the mass of grasshoppers, which still covered the ground to the depth of a foot. His horse’s skeleton lay near him, the voracious insects having eaten flesh, hide and hair. As the ranchmen own nearly a whole township in that vicinity, which they are about to sell to an English colony, they swore Keiser to secrecy in regard to the affair, gave him a kune and entire new outfit, and let him g* on his way rejoicing.— Cheyenne ( Wyo.) Leader. “ That which thou hast to do, do St with all thy might,” said a man to Ms son, one morning. “So I did,” said Bill, with an enthusiastic gleam in his eye. “Ah! what was it, darUng?” and the father’s fingers ran fflroughhis offering’s curls. “ Why, I wollopSl Jadt Edwards till he yelled. You should just have heard him holler.” The father looked unhappy, while be explained to him that, the precept did not apply to an act liks, that. i . *i*"W 1 11 viXwjj —The swell of the period has a new collar. It ia like that worn by quratee and English hostlers—straight MI around and not broken in front. In eyent of any one wearing this collar and falling, decapitation must surety ensue. • ‘ The Grand Orient pf Fxstra reports 401 lodges in its jurisdiction, the total number of Free Masons in the caU*fcy » set at 500,000.