The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1917-10-11
MANY AUSTRlANS
DYING OF HUNGER
Medical Records Show That
Deaths Are Caused by Fam.
inc Conditions.
FISH SUPPLY IS SHORT
seafarins Males Are Called to FIGHT
ard i,eemPetents Fill Boats
Speeches in Parliament Re.
veal Appalling Conditions.

Speeches in Parliament Re.
veal Appalling Conditions.
Ro-ae,-The-a is now no furthe,
doubt about Ihe desperate economic
CONDITIONS in Austria. where people are
actually dying Of hunger. Deaths
from starvation are medically attested.
and the certificates of the district med.
ical officers cannn, be kept secret. as
they t:auSt fe produced by the relatives
of the deceased person to the local
authorities in order 70 have the body
buried without an inquest and post
moriem examination. The Arbeiter
Zeitung recently published facsimile
of the certificate Of death Of laborer
named E. Hauptig. native of Reichen.
berg in Bohemia. whose body was
found in field.
The district medical officer Of KRAFT
Eau attested that the man had died
Of hunger. Similar certificates have
from time to time been published in
provincial papers. but as a rule the
great majority remain unknown. More
over doctors often use the expression
nervous exhaustion" to explain
deaths from hunger and thus to q GER
tain extent appearances are saved. The
fact remains. however. that people are
starving to death in Austria, and evi.
dence Of the appalling economic con-
ditions is afforded by two speeches de-
livered in parliament by Deputy Bian.
chini Of Dalmatia and the German So
cialist Renner Of Vienna.
Dalmatians Aroused.
Deputy Bianchini. who despite his
italian name is Croatian and noted
for his loyalty to Austrian rule. openly
accused the military authorities Of de-
spelling the Dalmatians Of everything
and condemning them to starvation.
"All our fishermen have been called to
the colors." he said. land If some of
then were sent home and provided
with boats. ropes and nets they would
provide enough fish for the popula.
ton. 1t is useless to send Hungarian
fishermen who know the sea by hear.
say and cannot fish. The military au.
thorities have even reQuisitioned salt
from Dalmatia. with the result that
even when fish is plentiful it cannot
be salted and kept for the winter. An.
other mistake committed by the au.
thorities has been the wholesale requi.
sitioning Of oil. Oil is indispensable
az an article Of food to Dalmatians. as
il replaces every kind Of fat. Besides,
like salt oil is needed to preserve fish
and vegetables. The people are suffer.
ing fortunes from lack Of oil. Denu.
triton has reduced them to skeletons,
and now in many districts Of the prov.
ince a terrible unknown epidemic is
raging. which the doctors attribute to
lack OF oil and fat. This epidemic Is
most violent. Its main symptom Is q
sudden swelling Of the feet. which in
most cases is followed by death within
twenty-four hours.
Live stock has been requisidoned
without any system in Dalmatia
Horses. mules and oxen have been sent
to Serbia. Montenegro and Albania for
military transport and men over fifty
years old and boys Of twelve and four.
teen were sent as drivers. and few Of
them ever returned. The Austrian
army has been fed with beef from Dial.
malta to such an extent that the
10000 head Of oxen existing before
the war have now fallen to less than
10000.
Bread and Meat Scarce,
"Eread is even more scarce than
meat in Dalmatia. The wheat grown
in the province is hardly sufficient tc
feed the population for two months IL
normal times. yet all the wheat has
been requisittoned and paid for so low
that the farmers lost money besides
being starved. The bread now sup.
piled is ct such ar inferior quality that
1t cannot be eaten even by starving
people.
"As food is scarce and dear It Is
no exaggeration to say that before
long regular famine with all its ter.
rible consequences will inevitably fol.
low in Dalmatia."
Deputy Renner denounced the hope.
less economic conditions in Austria. Il
do not appeal tc the crown, to the gov.
eminent and to parliament as national
institutions. but speak as man to men
and appeal to your intelligence and to
your hearth" he said. "whife Ne are
taking here people outside are DYING
OF hunger: We deplore that some prov
inces are worse of than others and
debate as to whether the middle
classes are suffering more than the
lower ones. and yet all the people are
desnoeafo Tho hsoaa .oAio. l.