Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-08-19
FARMERS Loss
BY DROUGHT IS
IN THE MILLIONS
Local Showers Have Relieved Condi-
tons in Spots and Bottom Corn
is Considered Good.
BANKERS ARE OPTIMISTIC.
People Generally in Good Shape Fl
nancially and Serious Suf-
fering is Unlikely.

Kansas City, Mo-, Aug. 16.-Un-
less general rains fall soon over
Kansas and Missouri, farmers Will
lose enormously in their corn crop,
but any attempt to estimate the
damage is impossible. Despite the
fact that the drought is general,
there have been local showers which
have sustained the corn in spots.
Eastern Kansas and western Mis-
souri, are in much better shape than
eastern Missouri and central Kan
sas. In some counties, the only dam
age to corn is in spots in the up
land. In general, corn on bottom
land is in good shape, and there Is
nothing like a complete failure in
prospect.
Farmers by thousands are build
ing silos, above or underground and
where corn has little chance, they
are storing it for winter feed. Very
few of the farmers depend entirely
on one crop except in Kansas, where
wheat is almost universally soWn
or where kafir or broom corn only
is grown. In eastern Kansas and
Missouri the wheat crop has been
very good, so that there are very few
farmers who will not have enough to
carry them through the winter De-
spite the depression resulting from
lack Of general rains throughout the
two states, bankers in the town are
not generally alarmed. The general
report is that, while the aggregate
loss is enormous, the farmers are
generally in good shape to pull
through the winter. unless the win
ter is unusually severe.
A half inch of rain fell in Tope-
ka yesterday afternoon causing the
temperature to drop 90 degrees in
II minutes, but an hour later the
mercury had climbed up to the max
imum of the day. The shower was
confined to territory less than a
mile square. People shouted and
cheered as the drops began to fall,
and many of them deliberately stood
for few minutes in the downpour,
as it was the first rain there since
July 90.
Notwithstanding the warning OF
the Kansas state officials that the
farmers should not rush their cattle
to market, $4,000 cattle were
brought to the local market. This
was almost three times as
many as were brought in a week
ego yesterday. Stockmen on the
western range OF Kansas find it al
most impossible to obtain feed and
water for their stock and it is esti-
mated already they have sold one
third OF their cattle.
Near Oak Hill, Kan, two wheat
stacks were burned when the suns
rays DETECTED from piece Of glass
lying near them, started a fire. A
car of slack coal took fire from the
heat of the sun at Abilene and was
destroyed.
Long trains Of tank cars supply
several Oklahoma and western Kan
sas towns with all the water they
get. A train of 80 cars of water was
shipped from Pittsburg, Okla, early
yesterday to the mines OF coal COM
pany in the Pittsburg district. The
expense OF shipping water, however,
is SO great that all smaller mines
have shut down.
In a section Of Seward county.
Kansas, where no rain has fallen in
two months, the few wells that still
give water are surrounded by camp
ers, families that have closed their
houses and gone to tent near wat
er source.
From Alma, Kan. came a report
vOuched TOT by one OF the city fatn-
ers, that woman in moment Of
desperation, wishing to verify or kill
forever the old story Of frying an
egg in the sun, had prepared fresh
laid one nicely in a skillet with but
ter and fried 1t to T" on flag
stone before her door with only the
sun for heat.
Fire, which did nearly $1,000
damage in a home at Enterprise,
Kan, yesterday, was attributed to
the suns rays shining through a
lamp chimney in window on pa
pers on desk.
Before noon in most sections of