The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1875-01-14
STARVING KANSAS.
The Fact. Stated By Tru.,wor,b, VIII,

|. Tie following letter is from perfectly rcli
able source, and speaks for itself:
t MONTICELLO, I1ATT Co, ILL.,, DEC. 25 1874.
DR.. II. c. Crane, Chicago, H.:
DEAR SIR: l wss delegated as you ar, ,yv,ro
ny the people Oi this County, who filled fnur car,
with provisions for the Kansas sufferers IN ,c
company the same to Smith Center Smith c,rr,
W Man., seventy miles south of Hastings Neb
L promised to do so, making observations and rn
porting to see if the suffering aud desiitution nj
the grasShopper regions we're us great rs thei,
representation by the press.
think can give disintcrcsted renort. as
nave no interest Ia tile country further than the
relief of the destitute Ny observations were
made IN Smith County, in which spent tr,v.I
ing from place to place, the greater part of n
week and points Islid not get to visit I hoard
from through the proper committees or commits
slohers: III Is, III my Judgment, impossible to
| Overestimatc the aestitution of the neopIe A
great many instances are absolutely heart-sicL
| enlng. canvass just completed finds in the
country one bushel and one gill of wheat TO tLc
| individual, and this must feed man and bcast
In other words, there is not food cuousb in S,,i,L
.Sonnf!, unless 1t is sent to them, to feed tie
people two weeks grOm this ri ting Every Com
| missioner and every committeeman with whom,
l conversed and who gave me the -results of ,c
tual canvass, reports only one man in ten with
Gno"@h orehd anu meat to last until Spring.
But as nine ont of ten have only enourh for fCr
days or weeks, and the tenth man necess,r;Iv
divides with hungry neighbours the result Won
can guess.
The four cars Of provisions sent from Pintt
County are the first provisions reachinr tbcm
Ii what the Central Committee at IonsI,
sent the people was all they obtained. they
wonld starvc. The State pri.le utterance of the
Governor, "that "kansas could take care of their
own poor, Is the utterance of one who did NOT
Know the real condition uf his own people II
the State can do it, there il one thing certain
It is not doing it. Abundant provision. If at
lopeka, Is not reaching the people, and what
does reach them comes so tardiy and in such
UNITED quantities as scarce TO be of any benefit
visited many cases of destitution and heard
from others did not have the heart to witness
IN lawneo Township there are numbers of fami-
Hes where parents keep up fires of nights TO keen
their children from freezing. visited a family
with a sick mother, aud her children crvinTr hv
her bed for shoes; and another where the chill
dren slept on hay and ate their last noutbfuI Of
food for breakfast VI
Two families had lived on wheat bran far |
three weeks, and number of families ON moth |
,ns out pread anu wheat coffee for months and |
living that way. yet. | am almost temnteJ 10 |
say that II things continue as they are. tb,t ha
lore spring there will not be 4 dozen men in tLe |
Comfy but will need assistance The condition
oil the people is fearful to contemplate. but men
~ aLlu Women are iaclng it with the courage of
those who face DEATH Vi
Inc greatest struggle for those har,l am, hon
est toiers Tor homes is to hear their children cr,
l"r iood ana clothing. Strong men told me they
could stand everything else but this. Children
Dareiooted, and even naked, can be seen in creat
numDers. Ambitious yonng men and women
Nonid grasp an opportunity to work for What
'ney eat. one-thrd of the people have left
ne Others VIII stay or die in the attenpt I All, |
'ised s"me TO leave. They responded that tbe
inhibition OF their lives had been TO get Lomas
Which they were not able to purchase in a.
more Eastern States. The Government ots,.red
hem homesteads, and they accepted them as tbe
my hope, and now they ask, "ShaII we give nm
nc lasi hope we have !" Admiring their conr-
&c ana perseverance, We couId but answer no
, ne saddest calamity now is the death of horses
Ell on wheat they do not thrive. and aImos. |
very third man is losing his team. They are
Iea'ly concerned for seed for Spring planting.
tc II Is premature. The present eopcern !
louid be to Keep from starving These peopIe !
en-, 10 the West poor, and limited in wordrobe
ld bedding. Their supply was exhausted. and
ley We're counting on this years prospeet of
sro 70 70 snpply the need, but the promising crops
T,I ;,e 10 TWO hours time completely DESTROYED.
ar9I nundresis now bordering on starvation the
g.. iact stares them in the face that the
n =. uas not yet begun. Winter has Just set in e.
me- S as mneh as 1t seems like want now. vet the OF
Ona greater scarcity is yet to cone el
4 . - mistake Is made by those eanyassing for
WINS eonhne their labors too much 70 the
nm ,'d neice get greater proportion of cofhng hi
mat which the people peed ihe an