The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-12-31

DEsvER, Col, Dec. SO.-Ihe ROCKY
Maintain News has received several
,nocial dispatches from western Ne
h,,,ka, telling Of the destitution aud
dI.,re.. prevailing among the inhabi-
,,n. Of the drouth-stricken districts.
A dispatch from Hastings says: Ter
ribe destitution exists in Perkins.
Chase, Dunby. Lincoln, Hays, Hitch
cock and frontier counties, and the
vo,st feature is the psople in several
localities are afflicted with scurvy Tor
want Of wholesome food.
The state relief committee find them
.alve, unable to relieve all people in
distress, so great are the demands for
aid The railroad men report that
.inrs the cold snap, no less than a
dozen people have periShed in the
above counties in the past two days for
want Of food and fuel.
Hundreds of families are without coal
and in the border counties, where no
trees or brush exists, the poor people
had hard time to keep from freezing
,odeath. In Perkins county destitution
i complete. Over 600 families are ap-
pesliug for help.
Near Lisbon, the wife and two chill.
dren OF Settler Burns suffer for want OF
proper uourishment and clothing 10
cover them.
In Hitchcock county, the wife OF one
Of the settlers gave birth to twins dur
ipc the storm and before the neighbors
could reach the home, the poor woman
expired for want Of sufficient food and
attention. The twins are still living
and in charge OF charitable neighbors.
Coal is most needed in the drouth
district, and Mr. Ludden, OF the state
relief committee, and General Manager
Holdredge, of the Burlington q Mis-
souri, River road, are doing everything
in their power to forward supplies to
the more destitute localities. Very few
Of the farmers in the border counties
have any stock left, having let their
cattle and horses roam at large. Stock
il being driven out OF the state to pre-.
vent starvation.
Corn planted in eight or ten of the
western counties never reached a
height Of over six inches, and contains
no more nourishment than sage brush.
People are living in covered wagons by
the hundreds, rather than face starva.
ton and freeze TO death.
One Of the first acts OF the legislature
which convenes next Thursday will be
to pass suitable appropriation for the
relief OF the sufferers. More or less
des,itution exists in every county from
the Colorado line east to Hall and
Adams counties. and the various relief
committees are overwhelmed with ap.
peas for aid.
North Platte reports: 1t is fact that
there have been many cases OF suffering
aud hunger amoug the drouth suterera
in Lincoln and Logan counties. Many
families have only potatoes and milk to
live on now. with 10 hay or grain for
their stock through the rest OF the win
ter. The county in a short time will be
unable 10 supply the increasing demand
Tor the necessities OF life. The over
seers soithe poor state that there are more
calls already than the county can sup
ply, and unless aid comes from the out
side there will DO many deaths from
hunger and want Of clothing this winter.
A dispatch from Curtis says: Great
distress prevails throughout this and
surrounding counties owing to crop
failures the past two seasons. Relief
committees have been organized in al
most every precinct and solicitors sent
east for aid, several carloads of which
have been received. This, with what
aid the county has been able 10 give,
has alone prevented suffering among
the people and stock. The outlook is
extremely dark owing to the scarcity OF
food and seed grain, the two articles
most needed.
THE state relief commission has fifty
families on its list as worthy and neod'
ing assistance. and the most distressing
reports come in from all over the west
ern part Of the state relating to tho woe
inI lack Of food and clothing" says q
Lincoln dispatch. "No deaths certain.
y attributable to starvation have yet
been reported, although it is claimed
that woman and two children found
dead in a cabin near Niobrara tho morn
iinE before Christmas died from lack oil
food and care.
There are thousands who could moi
Withstand the rigors Of n cold spell
without aid, which is being sent out in
generous supply by the relief commits
,lol wherever it is known TO be eneeded
Relief supplies arc being received from
a.! over the country and shipped d.
fecsly 10 the needy in car lots"