The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-07-02

lP az 6D SV1 U j
In Aid of tho
Suffering and Destitute Poor Of The South,
Will take place
In Washington, D. g., August l, '67.
NNlIE Ladies' Society in aid of the Suf-
Il fcrinG and Destitute Poor of the South"
would respectfully and earnestly call the
attention of the generous Northern public
to the great distress and fearful suffering
now prevailing in the Southern States.
Letters are daily received from the South,
from the Generals Commanding, Govern
ors, ministers and eminent citizens, fur
nishinS the most heart-rendinS details of
the actual want, famine and starvation in
their immediate neighborhood The fol-
lowing few extracts from the very many
letters received by the Secretary and Ma
nagcrs of the Society are respectfully re-
ferrcd to-:
H'DouARTERs, 4TH MILITARY Dist,
(MIssIssIpP1 AND ARKANsAs,)
VICKsDURG, Miss, May 13, 1867.
l am glad to see that the attention of the
gentle and humane ladies of the North is
being turned towards the sad and desolate
condition of this once happy land.
You, Madam, surrounded with the plenty
and comforts of wealthy city, can scarcely
appreciate tho fact that, in many parts of
failure in crops and the absence of money
or its equivalent, left III want of the neces-
saries of life; and that poor women, with
large families of helpless children, so ac-
customed to depend on the labor of others,
that now. with no husband, brother or
servant to alp, and no money, they do not
know what to do or where to go for food;
but are left in the solitudes of these South
crn forests, in rags and gaunt with hunger
subsisting on what the mother or larger
children can shoot or pick up in the woods,
or on what the few neighbors, nearly as
poor as they are, can bring them.
Officers of my acquaintance have met
with such mothers, long after dark, out in
the woods, with an old gun just fired, and
the coon or possum just killed; have gone
home with them and met the group of little
starvelings waiting patiently mothers re-
| turn with some of the only sort of food
| they had tasted for weeks; and women and
children have been found within sixty miles
of the capital of Southern State, during
! the past year, who had starved to death in
their lonesome cabins. These cases of
! great distress are rare iii Southern Cities
for there, even the most dclicately bred can
! generally find some work which they can
do to keep the wolf from the door; but the
farms or plantations in the South are pe-
culiarly secluded, with miles of forest or
swamp between thom, poor roads, and the
stock and animals nearly all taken by the
war, the famine, the floods, or the thieves,
who in such times infest IL country, and the
distressed families are often, by the time
necessity makes them want to leave, too
| sick to travel OH foot, and there is no other
way to go.
Your proposed entertainment, Madam,
should it produce only funds enough to re-
lieve small fraction of the destituton of
this country, will bo good beginning, and
may be followed in other cities North by
similar appeals to people who have happily
never felt the desolation and the horrors
which follow in tho tracks of great armies
of invasion. God speed your society in the
good work, is the wish of, Madam, yours
truly, L. 0. c. ORD,
Brevet Maj General.
HEADQUARTERS, FIRST MILITARY DIVISION,
RICHMOND, Va, May IL, 1867.
M's. Hdrto,re Mdtter-MY DEAR MADAM:
1 shall be too glad if anything can say
will aid the society in its noble work. 4
large proportion of the people of the South
have suffered and many are still suffering
almost to the limit of endurance from the
| devastation of war and subsequent failure
of crops. They are making every possible
exertion to revive their various branches
of industry and become self-supporting.
| The liberal assistance which the Northern
people are we'll able to give, will relieve
great amount of distress, and will no doubt
be sufficient to place the poor of the South
beyond further suffering for food. The
recent manifestations of an almost uniyer-
sal desire throughout the South for a really
fraternal reunion with the North, may well
serve to stimulate the generous sympathies
OF the Northern people, while nothing could
do more to foster and encourage the growth
OF healthy sentiment in the Soutb than
the generous aid which it is the mission of
your society to invoke. I sincerely hope
the noble efforts of the society NAV result
in the most abundant success. I am, dear
Madam, very respectfully, your obedient
servant, j. NJ. SCHOFIELD, Mai. Gen.
HEADQUARTERS, SECOND MILITARY DIVISION.
CHARLESTON, s. c., May 13, 1867.
The excellent purpose you have in view
cannot be too much commended. The lib
erality OF the Government of the United
States, and the munifcent contributions
already made for the relief of the wide
spread destitution in the States, leaves
great numbers unprovided with food and
clothing. And until an abundant harvest
enables the people here to do more for
themselves, l trust the ever generous and
prosperous committees of the North will
continue their noble gifts to this impovor-
ished and afflicted population. With my
best wishes for the success OF Your under
taking, remain, Madam, very respectful
ly, DANIEL t. SfCKLES,
Commanding Second Military District.
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