From The Quanah Tribune-Chief, May 7, 1937
* Web Master's Note : If you kids thought today's
"bottle bombs" were all the rage, you ain't seen nuthin' - just
imagine a pipe bomb the size of your leg, over ten feet long
! We presume the practice of having an organized "crow
blast" has
been discontinued, as the practice cannot be deemed humane by
today's standards. But it is a telling sign of the times which
pitted the struggling farmers of the area against the ravages
of Mother Nature in which the survivor gets the grain. When
taken in the context of drought and the Great Depression, it
is more easily understood. The story is reproduced here, in
its entirety, to help the reader gain a better understanding
of the unusual methods employed by the early settlers just to
feed their families and earn a meager income. With cotton and
wheat selling for mere pennies per bushel, one can imagine why
it was considered newsworthy at the time.
"A mot about two miles northeast of Hackberry was
the scene of a crow blast Thursday night under the direction
of Austin Aulds of the State Game Department.
Fifteen bombs, each carrying 14 pounds of machine
shop slugs and three sticks of dynamite, were touched
off at 10:10 P.M. The bombs were constructed by means of stove pipes
extending up into the trees, with the slugs and the dynamite
placed in the pipes. Each bomb was connected by wires
to one switch controlled by a tractor, making it possible for all to
be set off at the same time. Approximately one thousand
crows were exterminated. About one hundred spectators witnessed
the blasting of these crows.
During the past winter crow blasts ridded Wheeler
County of some 200,000 crows in their desperate effort
to rid that county of swarms of these pests. Three years
ago the crows began to drift into Wheeler County, where only a few of
the birds had been seen before. Farmers stood guard over their stack
lots and took shots at them with shotguns, but still the black clouds
swarmed over fields and feed stacks, destroying thousands of dollars
worth of crops.
The roosts of the crows are located during the day
while they are feasting on the fields and dynamite bombs are
placed in the trees around the roosting place. Then when the
birds have settled down for the night, the dynamite is discharged,
sending thousands of the pests to their doom."
