The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-29
PORTO RICO'S DISTRESS.
orr. DAYS CABLEs FOR THOUSAND
TONs or room A WEEK.

al IN. Hungry Are Fed-FullJ e1,0oo,OO0
Woytb of Food VIII lie Necessary
Farther Reports of the Great Disaster.
w,su,xeroN, Aug 2S.-The War Depart.
u.nt received late on Saturday nieht another
o,bIs despatch from Gen. Davis at San Juan.
porto Rico renewing his request for 1000
~. n, food weekly until further notice. He
~. I, will take ono and a half million dollars
-orth o, food to relieve the suffering. He
~.tes IL apparent that he does not consider
hat tn. American people fully realize the
.,ormity OF tho distress. meeting OF the
Porto Rican Central Relief Committee. Of
vhicb Cornelius n. Bliss Is chairman. has been
called for Wednesday. II will be hold in the
National Bank OF North America In New York.
and another call for aid will probably be is
sued. Gen. Davts's despatch Is:
'.sAN JUAN DE PoRro Rico Auo. 20.
"xd,utdrt General Washington:
IT hone the relief supplies will be con
h,ed to the foods. medicines and clothing
heretofore specified. The most pressing
pesd Is for food and tho aggregate cost OF all
that will be required to bridge over the period
until new supply OF fruits and vegetables are
grown will be an enormous sum. perhaps
reaching one and a half million dollars. While
thousands OF families we're left HON eless their
houses we're generally made Of poles and
thntobsd, The places where the destruction
w.s greatest are far in tho interior. reached
only By pack mules. 1t will be next to i'm
possible to ira nsport lumber to those regions
Such lutn Der as has been shipped will have to
be used near the seacoast and the people
whose houses were blown away must replace
them with the same material as that destroyed.
which they are doing and will do IL the hungry
are fed II the charitable people Of the United
States relieve the hunger OF all who would
I'LL ho- hAA
plished and all that think We should be ex-
pscted to attain.
II repeat former request for 1000 tons OF
food weekly until further notice. While l do
not want to discourage efforts to restore
dwellings, think 1t should not be attempted
until It Is sure that starvation will be pre-
vented Would like to have estimate from
Central Relief Committee Of resources at dis
posal or In sight. DAVIS"
The climate and crop bulletin by the Porto
Rico section OF tho Weather Bureau for the
week ending Aug. IL. Just issued lin Washing
ton is devoted prinoip ally to detailed account
OF tho damage wrought By the hurricane in
various provinces OF the island Under the
heading General Conditions" the bulletin
says:
AS the details OF tho hurricane Of Aug. 8 are
received. the more apparent becomes the ap-
side reports are brought in Of lives lost houses
destroyed, people injured. and in addition to
this the utter destruction OF the those fruits
and vegeta bios which form the staple food OF
teeming population. Reports are as yet but
neagre. all telegraph wires being down. al d
the roads impossible. The chapter OF horrors
is yet far from complete. The storm centre
apparently passed directly over the southern
part OF tho island and in these districts the
damage was correspondingly severe
'Thoextreme tort heastern part su ffered less.
but the destruction south OF Fajardo was i'm
mense. There is no doubt that the loss OF life
will reach into the thousands and the value OF
the property destroyed many millions. In
Ponce. in addition to tho destruction wrought
by the wind. was added that produced by
floods. The rains were torrential in their
character and the water in the streets was
many feet deep. many unfortunates losing
their lives from drowning. The observer OF
this service at Julna Diaz reports a rainfall OF
1l.20 inches between 8 A. NJ. of the Sth and q
A. NJ. u the 9th. His lowest barometer was
2S.ll At Guavama the lowest barometer OBJ
served was PITS"
From FaJardo this report is sent
The coffee and fruit crops as we'll as the
small crops are entirely lost Oranges. BAN
anas and alligator pears we're all thrown down
fear that q great sea rcity OF food will prevail
throughout the island AM ask that you inform
the Government OF the Importance OF dis
tributnz vegetable seeds OF such kind as would
DO easily and quickly raised. to prevent to a
certain extent the effects OF the storm About
eanc can say that it looks very III ise ra be but
most OF 1t being stiIl small at this period OF the
year. it is TO be hoped that it will i'm prove il the
weather is favorable"
From Juana Diaz. District OF Ponce. comes
the following:
Tho destruction to crops, trees and houses
cannot be described. In this city alone. with no
reports from the country districts. there are no
less than POO families without shelter The
nuts OF the poor people were all destroyed.
Inc other houses are rare which did not sus-
tain damage All telegraph lines are down and
the mails interrupted. We are almost cut of
from the outside. Tho river Jaeaguas. as also
did tho river Canas. made great RISE
completely destroying the bridge and various
other small bridges, 1t is not possi BILE to cal
eulate the losses. since no reports have been
received from the country, but Judging by
what was seen here. the ruin has been COM
plsto. The plantations OF minor fruits have
been torn up. as also much coffee and almost
oil the cane. The plantation esta blishments
are useless. Personal injuries according to
reports. are one dead in the city and eight liz
che Barrio Callabo, The quantity Of rainfall
from 9 A. NJ. OF the 9Th to A. NJ OF the 9th was
IL 20 inches"
Bayamon reports:
Total rainfall for the week 1892 inches.
Tho storm OF the 9th has caused the ruin o,
the planters. Many fruit trees were torn up
the roots and others destroyed. Plantaine have
disappeared. Coffee plantations are DESTROYED
and generally there remains no useful planta-
ton"
From Corozal:
The terrible hurricane OF the 9th has put an
end to all works. Cane total loss: coffee tho
same: plantains the same: rico. one-fifth has
been saved corn. one-half Of what has been
gathered has been saved 1.-The rest is lost. Itlis
calculated that the losses In this district will
be $500 600"
CHURCHES TO AID PORTO RICO