﻿66 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT 



pie, and meetings were held in the different townships of the county 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the extent of the damage done, and to 

 devise measures of relief from the scarcity of food for man and beast,, 

 and from the want of seed for a new planting, A county convention 

 was held at Harrisonville, May 18, 1875, to receive reports from the va- 

 rious townships in regard to the destruction of crops by the insects. A 

 large number of the citizens of the county were present. Col. H. M^ 

 Bledsoe was called to the chair and J. F. Potts was appointed secre- 

 tary. A call of the townships disclosed the fact that a large number 

 of persons were destitute, and that immediate action must be taken 

 to escape actual starvation. It was found that the county court was 

 powerless to extend aid on account of the express limitation of the 

 statute. A resolution was passed requesting the Governor to call a 

 special session of the Legislature to take into consideration the state 

 of things and administer relief. 



It was also resolved to hold township meetings on the 22d of May^ 

 and another county convention in Harrisonville on the 2-l:th of ihe 

 same month. This subsequent convention was held, reports received 

 from the townships, and the county court requested to appoint a com- 

 mittee of four to proceed to St. Louis and solicit aid. 



I twice visited this county and was kindly received by Dr. T» 

 Beattie, Judge H. Glenn, W. H. Barrett, Dr. Abraham, G. M. Houston, 

 Wm. H. Allen, and the Editor of the Courier, Visiting the adjacent 

 woods and fields I found that the accounts of the destruction had not 

 been overstated. Being called upon to address the citizeps at the 

 court house at Harrisonville, I set forth the history, origin and habits- 

 of this locust, stating when the insects would leave, the direction they 

 would most likely take, and endeavored to encourage the people by 

 the assurance that the distress then afflicting them was but temporary 

 and would be followed by abundance.* 



As part of the history of the locust troubles in Cass county, and 

 in illustration of the change that three months wrought, I take the 

 liberty of reproducing the following from a report made by the Kansas 

 City Times of an address I was called upon to deliver in the same 

 hall, the latter part of September, and in which I endeavored to bring 

 together the dear bought lessons of the year: 



Gentlemen — Farmers of Cass County : I left you, hardly more than three months 

 since, with long faces, discourao'ed, forlorn. You were in despair and almost heart- 

 broken over the gloomy prospects. Desolation and distress surrounded you on every 



*With what result, the following extract from a letter from Mr. Geo. ]M. Houston of that place, 

 will indicate : "Your talk here to our I'armcrs and citizens has had an excellent effect. Every persou 

 appears to be in a more hopeful mood. Farmers are talking about following out your advice in phiut- 

 ng corn, etc., immediately." 



