Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-03-07
DIRE FAMINE
Description Of Suffering in the
Stricken District
RELIEF is BARELY ADEQUATE
Mothers Unable to Properly Nourish Their
Babes-Eo Fodder 10 Feed
Cattle,

A correspondent Of the London Mail,
writing from Pajala, Sweden, under
the date Of Feb. q, says:
have now reached a point forty-ave
miles within the arctic circle, and to
send this message necessitated a drive
Of forty miles to the nearest telephone
Office, from which it would be telephon-
cd to Haparanda.
/ crossed the arctic circle In a blind
ing snowstorm on the way from Mata-
rengi to Korpilombolo. During a sledge
tour Of the district | noted IN all sides
evidences Of a starving population.
Tie temperature was 9 degrees below
zero, which was considered a mild day
IN this locality.
The population consists of about 1000
persons scattered over a wide area.
Practically nine out Of every ten are in
want and are barely existing or the
starvation allowance of the relief sta
lions. The majority of the people have
not tasted meat since the autumn and
have had but little of the our skinned
milk which constitutes, with a hard
black Swedish barley meal bread. their
main s%ustenance. Many cattle have
had to be killed on account of the lack
of fodder. The relief food IA this dis
trict will give out shortly and II more
is not then forthcoming the people
must inevitably starye.
The local sheriff and the pastor told
me that they estimated it would re-
quire about E7 $3.50 to supply an aver
age family Of six with just sufficient
food to keep them alive until June,
which is the sowing time. During the
same period fodder for each COW would
cost 90 $40. Both the sheriff and pas
tor regard the immediate future with
the gravest apprehension. All relief
food has to be carried about seventy
miles after leaving the railway.
During my journey on Saturday /
saw some most depressing sights. In
many cases a family of eight are living
in a small Lut, such as would not be
used for sheltering cattle in England.
They have scarcely any furniture, and
their beds are but a heap of rags. De-
spite the terrible cold these poor people
are too Impoverished TO be able to af-
ford proper windows, and the chinks
between the logs are often very made
quately stuffed with nos and paper.
One may imagine the horrible condi-
ton of the single roomed dwellings.
In enc hut in Korpilombolo l saw two
teacups wound round with string.
The Were the only crockery in the
place. The huts are picturesque to
look at, but they hide a woeful amount
of restitution and hopeless misery.
In many cases babies are so enact
ated on account of their mothers being
too weak to afford them s~ustenance
that in all probability scores of them
viii die before the summer The near
est doctor 70 Korpilombolo lives at a
distance of ~forty-nine miles.
/ visited two villages ten miles apart
in the forest. In one hut | found sew
en- motherless children. Their father
walked to Gellivare, over 100 miles
away, to find work some months ago.
but has not returned. and in the mean
time the children have beer kept alive
by the aid of the n~eighbors as poor as
themselves. The little ones are In
charge of Anna. the eldest girl. who is
only thirteel, and the youngest is four.
The older children are stinting them
selves for the sake of the younger. The
same poverty prevails in all the huts
around.
In the other village / found a woman
melting snow for drinking water, of
which the supply is very short. The
bread had nearly given out, and the
villagers were overwhelmed with joy
when supplied with ONE more. sew
eral starving folk begged for food from
me at Korpilombolo. l gave them bread
and meat, and an old woman, nearly
blind and barely able to walk, wept
tears of joy when given meat, of which
she had not eaten since the summer
Another woman became almost hys-
terical with JOY when given preserved
meat and expressed her thanks in the
form of blessings in Finnish.