New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-15
IN FAMINE LAND.
PICTURES OF DISTRESS AMONG THE RUS
SIAN PEASANTRY
st. Petersburg, October 80.

Despite all the efforts of the Government, with
che coming on of winter the distress increases in
the famine stricken provinces According TO the
NovOsti" newspaper, there are still at least
20,000,000 people destitute. These occupy
thirteen provinces, with an area of 100000 square
miles-more than ten times the size OF New-iork
State. And this is the most fertile part of the
Empire, the so-called granary of Europe Inc
death-rate has reached startling figures, the mortal
ity being caused partly by actual starvation and
partly by the epidemic diseases that invariably
dog the footsteps Of famine And in addition 10
these present ills the weather is so unfavorapie
that all hopes Of harvest next year a@ rapioiS
vanishing. The weather has been fair anu urS'
and the fall of snow very slight iala ii"s'S
are now coming on and the grain that mas oee"
planted has no protection against them lnere-
fore it will be destroyed, and next year VIII see
only a continuation of the famine.
An omnous feature of the situation Is the de-
moralization of the people. Famine has written
'fend upon thousands of faces. AT INST 'hey
take to begging. When that fails, they become
thieves. When thieving is resisted, they DO not
hesitate at murder and arson. Tens of thousands
of peasants are now roaming about the country,
all through Southeastern Russia, as lawess as
the wolves of the forests. In Orenburg they have
not hesitated to stop and wreck railroad trains
to secure the supplies with which the cars were
loaded They also storm the churches, TO seize
the gold and silver ornaments of the altar. They
have the fearless fury of starving beasts, feeling
that il is at least as we'll to die fighting for food
as to die of hunger without a struggle. Horrible
tales too come to hand Of cannibalistic practices.
These desperate outlaws said to have eaten
the bodies of their fellowma1, whom they have
killed in their struggle for food.
Certainly the authenticated scenes of distress
AL. la fpl ranf
belief in anything that may be told. At Ratcbi9o,
in Orenburg, a widow, having nothing ~ give
her three children, went to beg at the next vii
lage, where they gave her some bread and cab
bage Hurrying back, she found her little ones
all dead post-mortem examination showed
that their stomachs contained nothing but rags
and earth: At Ekaterinburg a woman confessed
to her priest that she wished to kill her four
children to save them from such a lingering death.
The priest went with her, taking some bread, but
it was too late The children devoured the food,
but all died shortly afterward. In Perm most
of the villages are deserted, but in few houses
the inhabitants still finger. why are you tarry-
ing here when all your neighbors have gone p a
correspondent asked. We are waiting for our
children to die. II will be soon Then we, too,
will co." was the reply. In Riazan nearly half
the people have died. and the rest are hurrying
away Inc government gives lnein lItt uohS-
portation on the railroads, packing them into
cattle-cars as closely as they can stand.
graphic picture of distress is given in the
letter Of a steward of an estate in Tan Ion TO his
employer: "Of the 40 roubles you sent me,
he says, Il have already distributed more than
30 rOubles to the most necessitous and starving.
On receipt of the money, started for the village
Of NJ TO visit two families who had already
been more than a week without bread, and i
convinced myself personally Of this by searching
their houses. l found nothing hut a small piece
of bread made of millet bran. | should not have
recognized il as bread had not been told so. In
the first house were two sick persons. who dld
not rise on nv entering On my asking from what
they were suffering. the father answered: They
are dying from hunger / bought him one pood
thirty pounds Of wheaton flour, at | ronDlc %
kop. the poOd. / verified the condition OF an
other family. Here were two persons suffering
from constant vomiting: in q cask found lit
tie -four and in trough some millet bran, WIN
which they were preparing some 'str-abont,' as
they call tia kind of paste prepared with hot
water. These people | gave one pood twenty
pounds of -four. Both families cried very much,
saving they must die of hunger but | tried TO
calm them saying this could not be, that the
Zemstvo will soon help them, and that also there
will be forthcoming good people who VIII help
them. / then returned 10 the farm
The next day, when they knew that had
given bread 10 the two families, there gathered
round my house a great crowd of people, VINO
earnestly implored me 10 help them, so that was
again forced 10 go 10 visit them in order TO con
vince myself Of their need. | again met cases
of sickness from starvation, and picked out the
poorest with the advice of outsiders, and dis
tributed one pood twenty pounds of -four | en-
wsIo;.o that III otfar il
Petersburg. At this all began TO pray and cry, 50
that | myself iuvOluntarily burst into tears.
There then appeared also several orphans, old
women and people without kith or kin They
fell on their knees and begged me not 10 abanJon
them. All these beggars were from the village
Of -, and some were Migrants, but what cOud
l do? / took vet another one pood twenty-five
pounds OF wheat -four, which distributed among
them by troughfuls, there were so many OF them
| was advised not to give m0ney-it is all collected
in taxes. So ended my days work. l returned
home. In the evening late of that day there
came Constantine s., from the village of -
lie fell at my feet, wept and cried, so that every
one in nv house burst into tears / asked him
what il was: he could not answer Only after
some minutes he began to tell me his need and
hunger. That he, with his wife and six
children, We're several days without bread they
fed on grass and any rubbish they could swallow.
but they are already without any strength, and
must soon die of starvation. lie begged me 10
give him piece of bread at once or he would
faint. On inquiry from people who knew him
we learned that he was absolutely poor, and that
he was without bread for several days No one
gives aims. because all are in sore need. gave
him a pood OF -four, and he fastened back TO
feed his children, as be said
1T is almost impossible 10 remain in the Steppe
Every day YOU are besieged by crowds of wretches
10 whom it is impossible Lot TO give, so that /
have given much of my own. When have spent
all YOU sent / will send an account witnessed by
the Volost The Zemstvo gave these unfOrunates