The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-09-05
DROUGHT AND FAMINE.
TOTAL FAILURE OF CROPS IN
THE SOUTaWES
Parts of Louisiana, Mississippi. Ar
kansas and Texas in Which No
Rain Has Fallen in Four Months
Famine Threatened - Live Stock
and Game Perishing.

Whether the big drought il the southwest,
extending over large parts Of the states OF
Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas,
is responsible for the hot wave which recently
swept over the country, as many believe, Will
have to be settled by the meteorologists.
There has been stored up i'll that region, COW
ering some 100000 square miles, or more than
twice the area of New York, heat enough to
make the whole country siZzle. For nearly
| four months no rain has fallen in Il large part
of this section. Not only are the crops ru-
| ined, but even the grass and trees have been
burned up, aud the country has been con-
verted into an immense furnace The Their
mometer, since the middle of July, has ranged
well over 100 degrees day after day.
The drought is likely to breed famine this
winter far worse than any Of the iamines in
the arid regions of Nebraska and Kansas or
| in far western Texas, and before the winter Is
over there is likely 10 be an appeal for assist
ance to the American people. Comparatively
little has been heard of the damage from the
drought and the prospective famine because
the country threatened has few newspapers, is
generally out of the line of travel and con-
tains population of small and generally poor
| farmers who do not often air their grievances.
1t includes portion of central Mississippi
and eastern Texas, but the drought is worst
in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana,
and the boundary line between these two
| states represents the maximum of drought
and promises the worst famine and suffering
this winter. Already meetings have been
held in Vernon, Monroe and other points in
Louisiana looking to an appeal to the country
! for aid. There is some suffering already, and
| it is calculated that one-sixth of the popula-
ton are already depending for food on the
assistance of their neighbors. 1t will not be
| until November or December that the full
force of the famine will make itself felt, and
then some relief will be necessary to help the
people through the winter.
From the Red TO the Arkansas and from
the Mississippi to the western boundaries of
Louisiana and Arkansas, an area of $4,000
square miles, with probably 100000 people,
there has been the longest and worst drought
ever known in this section and the most com
plete future of crops Along the Ouachita
and one or two other of the large streams
nearly half crop has been raised, enough
to carry the farmer through the winter, but
back of these streams in the hill country the
failure has been complete. For four months,
since April Is, there has been no rain. The
wells dried up, the springs became dry, the
smaller streams followed, and during the past
week the Darbonne, a nayigable waterway
upon which steamboats, run during ordinary
seasons, has become as dry as a bone. Water
has become an article of commerce throughout
all this region, retailing at from 25 to so cents
barrel and cents a bucket
The people of the droughty country are
mainly small but thrifty farmers, whose chief
money crop is cotton, but who have lately
been cultivating great deal of corn, oats,
sorghum and potatoes and some tobacco.
They have suffered for some years from the
low price of cotton and are therefore pecu-
MARTY i'll prepared for famine. They have
bought very little in the way of supplies of
I Late cd ,a1 Ill H., III
for their own support, depending mainly on
their corn, hogs and potatoes. How COM
plete the crop failure is can be judged from
the fact that in all north Louisiana there has
not been produced this year 100 gallons of
sorghum syrup or 1000 bushels of peas, the
chief provender of the cattle. In the hill
country the yield will average about one bale
of cotton to u acres, which will bring the
farmer 81 an acre. There is no potato crop
at all, for when the potatoes should have been
planted the ground was too dry. Tobacco is
a complete failure. Forage and hay crops
have been dried up and even the grass is dead,
so that there is no grazing. Finally, to cap
the climax, there will be no mast this year.
1t is the custom of the farmers to turn their
hogs loose in the forest during the fall and
let them feed upon acorns, but there will be
no acorns or nuts of any kind this year.
The drought has so affected the trees that
they are not fruihng. Without corn, peas,
potatoes or acorns the meat supply will of
necessity be very short this year. With all
these failures the farmers could have pulled
through if their corn crop had been success,
but it is the worst ever raised. There are
fields of 90 and 80 acres without a seed of
corn. The stalks are there, but stunted, and
they have failed to bear an ear of grain.
The hill farmer of Louisiana and Arkansas
| is O0or man He usnallv racaivns inst
enough from his cotton to clothe his family
and buy coffee, sugar and such things as he
capnot raise at home. His barn contains
just enough to tide him over from one crop
to another and a failure of both the cotton
and the food crops therefore leaves him un-
provided for. Just how he is going to fare it
is difficult to see. A great many will proba-
bly, emigrate TO Texas and other sections,
where they think they will do better, for there
is always a movement westward after a
drought; but there will be more people left at
home than there is food to provide them with
and they will have to depend OF outside as.
sistance. They have never before expert
enced such drought. There is tradition
that 80 years ago this section was visited by a
summer without rain, but the record shows
that it was not so bad as this year.
Most of the cattle have been saved by driY-
ing them to the 0uachita, Red and OF her
streams, where there is stil some water. but
there has been heavy mortality among the
hogs. The wild game, of which there was an
abundance throughout north Louisiana, has
been practically exterminated by the drought
Those who have been in the forests say that
hundreds Of dead rabbits and squirrels are to
be found there, having perished from thirst.
The farmers in West Carroll parish declare
that thousands Of squirrels and raccoons.
| 1r,va mt f tho foracfc hx,f tho loo Of f1od
and water, have descended on their farms aud
are devouring the young cotton bolls, some,
thing that has not been known in 40 years.
The fish are being exterminated too, In
those tnw streams where there is some water
the negroes have Fesorted to u trick of mud
dying" which enables them to catch the fish
with buckets, The police jury of Caddo,
parish, in order to save such fish as are still
living, have had to pass special ordinance
adding "muddying" TO the prohibitions of the
game law
A striking feature is that the famine has
made itself felt soon. This is the season of
the harvest, and the people are supposed to
have saved enough supplies to last them until
they could gather the crop, but thousands of
them are already in want.
The merchants aud storekeepers have shut
down in advance. They will themselves suf-
fer severely this year, and many will fail, as
they sold clothing and supplies to be paid for
out OF this years crops, and they will aot get
a cent. Few have sold or been willing to ad-
yanes anything since July, when it became
patent that the crop failure would be com
plete one. As a consequence, you can see
hundreds of barefooted, bareheaded farmers
on the streets Of Monroe, perhaps the largest
town in the drought district, owners of farms
of $50 and 400 acres, but unable to get enough
money from their crops to buy shoes or hats.
The Monroe Bulletin, published in the very
heart of this drought region, is giving some
account of the condition Of afiairs there and
every one who has been there says that il is
not exaggerated. II says
fWe travelled from Ruston to Farmervile
and from Farmerville to townsville. and the
sights we saw were enough to chill the blood;
fields of corn that will not make grain to
tho acre, fields Of cotton that will not make
pound. And every other crop has failed.
There ia no fruit, no vegetables, no potatoes,
no sorghum, no cane, no peas, no hay and no
mast in the woods. Everything green has
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