The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-04-07
A Picture of tile Russian Famine.

Il
Nicholas Shiahkoff ofthe Relief Commit
tee of the Red Cross.
Between October 7th and 25th, says
the writer, travelling in an open cart
drawn by couple of half-starved po-
nies, I made journey of over 400 Eng
lish miles, and visited twenty large vii
lagos in the district of Nikolaievsk. ]
spoke with several hundreds of the peas.
ants, and most of the local, county and
village authorities, clergymen, doctors
and resident proprietors of the district,
taking notes as I went, and doing my
best to keep my nerves steady and my
feelings under command.
never saw a battlefield. Friends of
mine, that have, tell me that no words,
no descriptions, can give an adequate
idea of the sickening horror of such a
scene. I have wondered lately whether
it could really be as bad as the sight of
thousands of men, women and children
slowly perishing to death from hunger
and cold. I have seen men in their
prime with drawn, stony faces and hol-
low eyes; miserable women clothed in
rags (baviDg sold their best dresses and
children shivering in the keen October
winds as they stood silently around me
while some old mau was telling me the
same weary, wretched tale. "We have
sold our last horses, cows aud sheep; we
we pawned our winter clothing; We have
seen no bread for fortnight. There is
nothing left to sell. We eat once day,
stewed cabbages, stewed pumpkins
many have not even that. Some of US
still have little bread made of chaf,
pounded grass seeds, and little barley
-four this bread looks like cinder, has a
bitter taste and causes violent headache
and nausea from the poisonous seed }
Many of us have not tasted food for three
days. Have mercy on lis, We are dying"
And while he speaks in a low, quiet
voice, see the tears yelling from the
eyes of stalwart men, and falling one by
one on the rough boards or the frozen
ground. No complaints, no cries, dead
silence, broken only by the sobs Of some
wornout mother. I did my best to COM
fort them, promised them speedy relief,
assured them that all was being done
to succor them but readers, often and
often I could scarcely say the words
had small sum of money with me, but
1 brought nearly all of it back again. 1t
seemed Knockers to offer penny where
hundreds of pounds were needed; l had
not even that penny for every one.
One morning, about half 30 hour be-
fore sunrise, was taking a cup Of tea be-
fore starting from one of these famine.
stricken. villages, when I happened to
look out upon the frozen street. Under
my window I saw two children about six
years years old begging. A raging wind
was scourging them with sleet and snow,
and their wretched little shoulders show
ed through the rents in their rags. open
ed the sash and gave them bread. Five
minutes had not passed before another
couple of children we're shivering before
me. / gave them bit of money. In
ten minutes time crowd of about thirty
women and children had gathered in
front of the house end as I drove away
in the groy dawn of au icy October day,
my heavy wraps hardly sufficibg to
shield me from the piercing gale, I saw
the station master expostulating with q
crowd of nearly seventy poor wretchea
begging to b. admitted to the gentleman
who gives" Most CT The men were in
their summer coats, and many women
had babies in their arms. When I next
visited the village, FIVE days later, bring.
ing aid, in corn and money, from the
Red Cross society of Samara, 1 heard
from the mayor of the town that only q
few hours before my arrival the local
doctor had rescued boy of seventeen,
aud his sister girl of ten, from death.
They had been out begging Ia third OF
the entire population of this settlement,
say 1900 souls, live on the charity OF
their hardly less miserable neighbors)
and for the last FIVE days have not re.
ceived penny or single slice of bread
Their strength had failed, and when
some of the neighbors, alarmed at the
silence of their hut, entered the room
they found tbs. girl huddled up under a
heap of rags in tho corner, and her broth.
er, unable to speak, stretched on the
planks. When the doctor arrived the
lads jaws wero so firmly locked that a
knife was used to force them open. Hot
tea and brandy, then small bits of sugar
were given to him, but it was fully an
hour before he could eat. The girl was
less exhausted, probably because her
brother had giv~u her ell the best bits Of
food. rhe doctor told me of numerous
cases where whole families have been
rescued by him under similar circum.
stances. He named many that bave
been living for weeks exclusively on
watermelon rinds stewed to greenish
jelly; scarcely more nourishing than
cork.shavings would be-. As far as know
there are thousands of families in the
district of Nikolaievsk alone, who are,
or soon will be, in the same terrible con
dition; speedy relief must be obtained,
and sufficient to meet the demand.
In round numbers there are $500, 600
men, women and children in the province
of Samara. At least one. half of them
will have to be supported by government
and private aid. The approximate mum.
ber of people who will have to rely ex-
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