, 1880-07-23
pTHE FAMINE IN KANSAS.

A Picture OF DistreHa Which Approaches
tho Very Woes of Ire1nnd-Twenty
Thousand People In Actual Need OF
Food-soniethtng for Humanity to
Consider,
st. .1ossph tSio.) Gazette, Jaip n.
Yesterday afternoons rellef-meeting at the
Board Of Trade was called to order ut &
o'clock by President of tho board Samuel I.
Smith. In n few words 1Ir. Smith stated
that the object Of tho meeting WIS doubtless
known to those present, and that rs tho Rev,
Mr.. Weller, OF Kansas, the accredited agent
Of tho Stato Aid Society, was present ho
would call upon him for n narration of the
condition of tho section from which ho hnd
come, ind statement OF exactly what ho
designed to ask Of st. Joseph.
Thus called upon, Afr. Weller roso md pro-
ceedcd to plainly lay tho matter before his
auditors Using nothing whatever Of the nd
ventitious aids affected by the orator, seek
ing In no way, apparently, to rouse tho SYM
pathies Of his hearers by Ills manner, the
story told by Mr., Waller was yet SO unox-
pected, so compassion exciting, and so al
most lmprobn bic, as existing In the United
Suites, tint the feelings Of fthose who listened
"it is painful to me-" said Mr., Weller, "to
come before You IN the capacity Of one ask.
ing aims. Il we did not hrmly believe that
our own State WINS unnblu to alleviate the
al,d Inc greater amount: which will presently
exist In the counties forming our Western
ticrs, l would not have come hero at
ALL. Mr. Weller then went On to say that
Gonld) WHO hnd given d noble contribution
to relieve tho desutution Of the unfortunate
settlers. tho suffering would llave beon much
greater tha 7 was IN many to%n9ps;. p;c. As
Just to whose door the fault Of this state OF
things should be lnid. There were doubtless
many MlsrGpresentations made by Interested
were SO gloWlngly wordcd that tic Intending
settler was half led to think The la,ld il. real.
ity was Canaan, md that tho sun md stars
OF heaven were almost at hls sorvtee. Th1
might be fertile, It needed cultivation;
l,e who would reap from tho prairie must
lnbor. 4 principal reason Of the want Of
@ '0hsd so%e ii % TOO late. " The IS soil lad not
received the needful preparation, and oven
had thoro boen rain thoro you'd have becn q
small crop, lie llyed at buffalo Station, on
Ills county 5000 now, settlers had come from
| almost every State. n the U,slon, within q
year past; Many Of them weru 10 poor that
sy s sSa 1Sf %snn nyd ydss f1s sne ca nsevoG3 sy 3 af
nothing upon which to i've. Tlloy had
stakel their oil upon their latest venture,
and lts failure had left them stranded. From
's ds9 9x sS :, 49, sSv9ne nss oa ss asop et & @ s
hal fallen III TINT whole section, Wallace,
;Trego' Goyc, md othor equities. lii which he
lived. Tha land was parchGd.
wilch had measured = fali Of ssyoll-elshths
Of nh Inch had come; OF, the 10th Of june
sTe sTe baa baa Sssn bsn enST Ssy ns @ rn III f %sss
ono would suffice nothing. The corn and
baEcd soil wsre dead; The Vial principle
There was 0nothef enemy which had fallen
upon tile fields Of the UNFORTUNATE settlers.
II these sections which la4 been Iess severe.
sprlnglng up, to greet tho harvester. thoso
llAd appsared sco!.rge Iii the shape Of q
Aoyonring worm. IN three hours its rNyages
sSvo L a ba as { bses I'D s nsSst
piorced the soll To meet tho light
TkroueA sn entry bclt to OF sounht,es extend
amount raised during the season. III Wal
lace and Grove Counties not enough had
beon produced to feed ten families.
Thsir wholly worldly possesslona. wcre con-
tired around tho l.ungor.ll!led, cabins which
they calIod their own, and to leayo theul they
sS Sa 9St ICY eS ays sua sy whst xst
x few wseks ago ss hal rspoftoi ths con-
sltHon OF aifa!!s e Gov. st. John. The lattor
and returning 10 Topeka had represented
that 2a,000 people, were III immediate
bsen recoive,l With something OF u
tnuch Of incredullty. Thsll the State Aid
Society had sent IL, agent to Investigate. lie
llal made similar report, ai4 still uMsatls-
the tleM. Her report had shuwn . greatel
degr0e Of dcstltutaon than that Of any 0l
her predecessors. lie had hiulsolf accom-
; iirinIy believed there wefu oO,OtO people In
I Ills section who were utmost without llere5
, sary foo.t, and who had ITO clothing excepting
! u few rags. lie haa met ono. man upon III
: flour sacks which had contained the tloul
! cent out by the Relief Committee last fall
+ After visiting the h04so and icav!ux bis c6nl