The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-28


Cross stopped at Request of the
General Who VIII Now DO His Own
Relief Work.
6Exc1usive Service The Survey Press
Bureau.)
After conducting relief work for
several months in Mexico, in re-
Spouse to an appeal from the people of
that country, the American Red Cross
has recently withdrawn at the re-
quest of General Carranza- This re-
quest came just at a time when in
creased relief funds were available
from the American public, Including
q special appropriation from the
< Rockefeller Foundation
This request came with assurance
from the Mexican government that
adequate plans for the relief OF suffer
ing~were being carried out and that
the Red Gross Fas noz1onger needed
In the middle of October when the
Red Cross agent Charles 3. O'COnnor,
left Mexico City. however, he felt that
the situation was serious. He had
found that the official record of bur-
falls in. one cemetery in the early part
OF August fave starvation as the cause
OF eight per cent of the deaths.
How the Death Rate Jumped.
How the lack OF food-with the help
OF typhus=has sweIled the death-rate
may be gathered from the deaths in
the federal district. In early Octo-
Der the daily number of deaths was
about 500 in a population of about
100000. The normal number used
to be 81. or a death rate of about 40.
The death-rate in early October was
thus in the neig hbofhood of $50 to
S 100. or ten times that of New York
city.
Conservative estimates place the
some form as at least 100000 and
probably as high as zoo, 600. Money
Of the constftutfonaIist government
was worth onfy a small part OF its face
value, SIS, 900 being equal to about
81 100 OF United States curr Arrcy. A
er loaf for 50 and a cake of soap for
81. Yet wages were paid on substan-
tally the old valuesEa la.borerx re-
cefving about 81 a. day. Industry was
para1yzed and even where jobs could
be had it was not surprising that men
refused TO work at such wage.
The foresight of Americans and 9TH
Ser foreigners had led them to buy
large supplies OF corn and beans last
January. These they used for their
families and employees, selling small
Quantities to the latter at a low price.
But for this forehanded action. many
office clerks, store statesmen and fac
tory operatives WOl1lQ nave starved
Some employers kept their employees
on their payroTls at much sacrifice.
The Red Cross Soup Lines.
When the RED Cross agent went
from Vera Cruz to Mexico City it was
some weeks before supplies could be
brought in because of the fighting
lines around the city For the early
Red Cross relief, $4,000 was avail
able. with a, large part Of this money
d supply Of chick pea was purchas-
ed This vegetable Is not eaten very
much in Mexico, but is exported to
Spain where it is known as garbanza-
With this supply, which the owner
had not beeh able to export, and with
some meat and vegetables, q soup was
prepared for distribution through
eight stations in various parts OF the
city and four In the SUBURBS About
10000 Hbers of soup were distributed
daily to 600 families.
From ali groups in the community
stl1e Red Cross received spIendid CO.
operation AS many as 1000 volun-
teer investigators from clubs, churches
and the foreign colonies and various
sorts of organizations rendered efh2
Client service The applications of
about 81, 900 families were approved
and about $4,000 applications were
pending. 1t is estimated that proba-
bly,. 150, 600 people needed relief. Such
a number could have been kept alive
for from $40, 900 to $4,000 a month
Cordial relations were early estab-
lished with the international Charity
COMMITTEES. organized by foreign resi-
dents representing 1T nationalties.
The method Of this committee was to
sell food at low cost. but it had diff
Guilty in securing supplies Tt was
asked by the constftutionalist govern
ment to discontinue it's work about
the time the request was made to the
Red Cross
The Government Stations
The relief work of the Mexican gov
eminent was wen planned, but it was
not adequately supported 1t provid-
ed, among other things, for the sale of
food at low prices from government
stores For lack of supplies these
sometimes closed, however, within a
few days after they opened or had for
sale only part of the articles adver-
tised. Moreover, the poor often did
not have the money to buy even at the
low price
At the time of the request to with
of uncertainty ais to whether funds
would be supplied sby the American
people, was planning a renewal of its
work On a. large scale. The with
Arawal necessitated the abandonment
OF the soup stations except IN a few
cases where neighborhood committees
took them over.
The poor crops of this year point
70 even greater distress and starvation
in the months ahead and the normal
planting was not done owing to the
fear of farmers that the soldiers
would take everything they could, and
that there would be difficulty in selling
produce. The outlook appears to be.
extremely grave