Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-03-08
NEW RUSSIAN CROPS
!. ARE FOREDOONED
TO FAILURE
With Famine Already in the
Land Appalling, Misery Is
Now Upon Peasants of the
Cars Domain.

ST. Petersburg, March s.--Deepenine
the present famine misery la south
east Russia comes the confirmation OF
the failure on three quarters OF the
tilied land Of the empire OF the winter
sowings The official report TO the
department OF the interior covering
the past half OF the Russian winter
q period ended January %, reports
that the snowfall came very late ana
that in most OF the classified areas
GIN the Baltic provinces, In the trans
Nolga, on the Steppes, on the Voiga.
Don and Cis-Causaslan territories) In
the Polish provinces. and IN all trans
Caucasia and Central Asia there has
not been enough snow TO overlap the
seed sufficiently for good crops In
Russia II Is a proverb that three good
harvests cannot follow In succession;
the calamity has now TO be faced OF
seeing one failure OF the food supply
OF over 20 millions Of the population,
followed BY q bad beginning for the
next season all over the county. pic
lures Of desolation are PAINTED by
doctors. clergymen. sChUOlmasters and
public spirited men Of conditions on
the further side OF the lower Volga, IN
.Orenburg, and In large areas OF near
siberia. Mostly the villages are In
mute despair.
A medical report TO the sarat0n-
zemstvo describes the doctors quar-
ters as besieged by hungry crowds.
An epidemic OF typhus and sourvy has
followed on people forcing themselves
TO swallow bread that Is filled out
with chopped straw and earth. Wo.
uen ana childrea are huddled To-
sethor Ia the churches for warmth.
The strongest are able only 10 wan
der In TIE snow with empty sacks
looking for scraps Of fuel There Is
no milk, as the cattle had to be sold
long ago or have since died In
village backyard where doctor
found e man dying from stomach pois.
oning by foul bread, starving horse
was lying not far from him licking
heiplessly the frozen ground
Pastor Herschelmann. leader OF a
large colony OF settlers IN Orenburg,
appeals 10 the German community In
ST Petersburg for further subscrip-
tions. lie writes;
The state OF want Is appalling. For
want Of fuel families are budding to-
gether IN one house, pulling down
their own for the means to keep warm.
In these novels children are living
sick from being fed on pisces OF
melon rind. Very old people sit dumb
over their bible. Horscs and cattle
have mostly been sold: those that
ere left have been taken out OF their
stalls. where they would freeze, to live
IN tho family The air OF these house
holds is pesiilent. The schools are
kept open. but the children can rarely
30 for want OF clothes. They change
about what they have, so that one day
one goes and another day another.
"Tho stricken villages Tie as far az
30 versta from one another and are
often nearly 200 vefsts from The near
est town. The only refugees left are
the old dugOut holes made by the
kirghises An old COssack who knew
the kirghiae tongue took a yillagefu
across the snow TO these holes. where
the cold was less bitter
Relief agents from the hunger
landa write that meal rs the most
urgent necessity a pood (ss podnds)
of wheat meal will last a peasant for
a month. IN kurnlmtsk a steam MIN
'fNtr' ~ ~ WIN tAMN AAAN NAANAhNNi vi
the peasants and horses were able 10
make the three days Journey and
bring back 400 pools OF meal. The
iamishcd people broke out in thanFs-
giving and count on holding out for
another month This ergosy cost
only $50 rubles, given by charitable
suhscriptlon
The sanctioned food RELIEF makes
u H.. 81
bureaucratic authorities fear the In.
dependent corporation at the charit-
able organizations The government
scheme OF having the starving poas.
ants earn their relief money on pub
lie works was foredoomed to failure.
Tho peasants were already too phys
ically weak for outdoor labor, aud
even had they been stronger the
frost made Il the worst season of tho
year to attempt road making.