Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-17
OMAHA HELPS THE STRICKEN
Rapidly Raising Fund to Re-Establish
Business in Herman.
PLENTIFUL SUPPLIES ALREADY RECEIVED
Farmers from the Surrounding COun-
try Bring in Loads of Food
Steps Taken to Open
the Stores.
PLENTIFUL SUPPLIES ALREADY RECEIVED

Secretary UT of the Omaha Commercial
club has just returned from Herman, the
cyclone wrecked town, where he on Thurs
day placed 81 900 with the local relief COM
mlttee for distribution among the needy.
The money is still coming in to the Com
mercal club relief fund very freely and
probably tonight another remittance will be
made.
THE desolatlcn at Herman" said Mr..
Utt, 'cannot be described in words The
business portion of the city simply doesnt
exist any more. The store buildings are not
only blown down, but are split up into
kindling wood A whole board can scarcely
be found. How those people are ever going
to start up In business again is pretty hard
to make out Herman was very prosper
GUS little town, with a rich country all
around it, and some of the merchants had
large stocks One man, a harness dealer,
had stock worth $4,000. Today he isn't
worth a cent. Practically nothing of the
goods in the stores has been saved. One i'm
plement house saved a few pieces Of machin-
cry, and there Is one grocery that came out
in good enough shape to open UP again.
Otherwise there is no business at all
zone of the most striking things about the
affair is the way in which the people of the
surrounding towns and the farmers in the
country near by are taking care of the peo-
Pile. The people OF Blair have simply gone
up in a body and are nursing and feeding
the unfortunates. They go back and forth
between Blair and Herman in box cars, to
Herman in the morning and back home late
at night And the farmers from round about
have iocked in by the dozen, bringing sup
plies of every kind. There is row of
wagons all around the town, driven in by
tha iohI Inp NAhp in,
will be no lack of supplies.
Ill-AdNised Contributions.
Some of the contributions. while made
in spirit of helpfulness and kindness, were
ill-advised. For instance a lot of hats and
shoes were sent in. but very few of them
could be used on account OF the great num-
beg of msfits For that reason money can
be used to better advantage than supplies
and can be made TO do more good than the
same amount invested in articles selected at
random, without any special knowledge of
the circumstances.
''Since the immediate need for food has
been relieved, it Is probable that a large part
of the money will be devoted to straighten-
ing out the business affairs OF the town and
getting some of the most needed business
houses re-established. This will be a hard
enough task, even with all the help that Is
given A few tents have been put up and
some business can be carried on in them for
a few days.
There has net been as much progress in
the work of clearing things up as those who
have not seen the place probably suppose
should have been made, The first day after
the storm the people all sat around doing
nothing and net knowing what they might
do. They were utterly dazed. Families sat
by the ruins OF their homes and simply
looked yacantly at them all the time II
was the suddenness of the catastrophe that
took their senses away. Had the storm
come an hour later It is certain thai the loss
Of life would have been enormoul as the