Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-04-24
Women. children and invalids have

Women, children and invalids have
suffered most Few of them succeed
ed in escaping with comfortable cloth
ing or bedding, and many of them
have nothing more .-an improvised
tents. These give little shelter from
the chilling night breezes off the
ocean, and the death list will undoubt-
eddy be increased as the result of
this exposure.
Scarcity of Water Menaces.
Another alarming feature of the sit
uation is the lack of water. The mains
were nearly all destroyed by the
shock and the supply in many OF the
wells has mysteriously disappeared.
Receptacles for carrying water are
scarce, and it may yet be found neces-
sary for many to leave the camps
and seek places of refuge further to
the south, where springs abound.
The refugees know not which way
to turn. Their only hope is that when
the panic subsidies enough will leave
the city for other places of safety
through the state so that the authori-
ties and relief organizations will be
able to care for the needy. Many OF
them are unable to leave, >inasmuch
as they have no funds to support
themselves once they get beyond the
control of the relief committee, and
therefore they must stay and take
| tueir chances Of starvation before the
1slluation adjusts itself.
Across the bay at Oakland condi-
| lions are also serious. The city is
! thronged with refugees and it's limited
supplies are almost exhausted. 1t has
always depended upon San Francisco
as distributing point, and now that
distribution Is impossible it must look
elsewhere. The authorities, however,
are doing their best, and while many
may go hungry there it is not likely
that any will &c of starvation.
In Berkeley, where 5000 persons
are sheltered on the campus of the
university of California conditions
are little better. The limited sup
plies of the little place are about ex-
hausted, as are those of the surround
ing farms and villages. Appeals have
been sent out through. the state, and
word has been received that provi-
sions are on the way.
Suffering Wipes Out Caste.
The common restitution and suffer
ing have wiped out all social, financial
! and racial distinctions. The man who
| last Tuesday was a prosperous mer.
chant is occupying, with his family, a
little plot Of ground that adjoins the
open air home of laborer. The white
man of California has forgotten his
antipathy to the Asiatic race, and is
maintaining friendly relations with his
new Chinese and Japanese neighbors
I The society he1le who Tuesday night
was butterfly of fashion at the grand
opera performance was assisting some
factory girls in the preparation OF
humble daily meals. Money now has
little value. The family who had had
foresight to lay in the largest stock OF
foodstuffs on the first day Of disaster
dis rated highest in the scale of wealth
! Cooking Utensils Scarce.
!. A few Of the families who could Sc
cure willing expressmen are possess
ors Of cooking stoves, but over ninety
five per cent of the refugees are doing
their cooking on little camp fires
Kitchen utensils that last week would
have been regarded with contempt are
today articles of high value.
4 Many Of the homeless people are in
possession of comfortable clothing and
bed covering, but the great bulk Of
them are in need The grass is theil
bed and their daily clothing their only
4 protection against the penetrating FOG
of the ocean or the chilling dew of the
!, morning. Fresh meat disappeared
1 CASTORIA Felntanis and Children.