59 



hours. When the train had proceeded a few miles, and when it was on a short grade, it 

 was brought to a standstill by an army of small, gray caterpillars, greasing the track 

 and driving-wheels to such an extent as to almost entirely suspend friction between 

 the rails and the driving-wheels. In some places they were half an inch thick, and 

 the army stretched out 11 miles. 



The night previous, as the time-keeper, who had about 20 miles to cover, was work- 

 in;^ homeward on his jigger, or railroad velocipede, he encountered the advance 

 guard, and for half a mile pushed his machine along the rail by hand.'" 



Section men undertook to sweep them oif with alder bushes, but the slight touch of 

 the twigs would crush them and lubricate the rails, and the mass formed like dough 

 upou the driving-wheels. 



The train in going down passed through these and others, but the big collection 

 came during the forenoon and while the knees were being loaded. Of course, sand 

 was used, but it did not avail much, and Superintendent Van Zile was wired, and he 

 ordered out another locomotive from Sebois. 



On her arrival there began a series of charges at that grade, which now had been 

 liberally sprinkled with sand, but the animal life was so thick that various attempts 

 were unsuccessful, and it was not until late at night and the sun had gone down that 

 the creeping things desisted in their march. 



With these there had come clouds of mosquitoes, and they very materially aided 

 the other insects by pitching most vigorously into the men, seemingly drawing 

 blood from all nationalities alike, and the sight of a sweating, swearing railroad 

 laborer, frantically brandishing alder boughs over his head with one hand, while 

 with the other he scraped caterpillars, was laughable in the extreme. 



The matter has at once engaged the attention of Superintendent Van Zile, who is 

 trying to find out from the encyclopedia how long the nuirch of these Maine hosts 

 continues, and it is quite likely that the road alongside this section will be ditched 

 and flooded with running water. Nothing like it was ever known hereabouts be- 

 fore, but then sunlight was never before let into the wilds of Maine as the Cana- 

 dian road has let it in, and there may be unknown difficulties to come consequent 

 upon it. 



LOCUSTS IN ALGERIA. 



The Frencli Government has lately been seriously occupied with the 

 question of Locust ravages in Algeria, while the Algerians have been 

 doing the best they know how to defend themselves against the plague. 

 That they are yet unfamiliar with some of our American methods is 

 shown by the following abstract of a communication from Constantine, 

 Algeria, dated June 14, to the Paris Petit Journal of Jane 19. 



The Algerians levied a tax of 4,000,000 francs to carry on the war 

 against these Locusts, but unfortunately this subsidy was only avail- 

 able at the time when the Locusts, having passed their last stage of de- 

 velopment, die after laying their eggs and stocking the country for an- 

 other year. 



The Algerians had offered pay for the collecting of Locust eggs. The 

 price given was small (75 centimes per decaliter), but the 14,000,000 de- 

 caliters which were collected and destroyed were but a fraction of what 

 remained. 



The hatching of the remaining eggs, being retarded by violent rains, 

 did not take jjlace before the end of April last. As soon as the first 

 hatching occurred vigorous measures of defense were taken by beating 

 the ground with branches of trees in leaf. 



