The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-03
SNOW AND RAIN
ADD TO WOES OF
STARVING RUSS
Astrokhon NolU City
of Death; Was Com
T71erce Center.

Astrakhan, Russia, Oct. S.-By
the Associated Press. .l-Hopeless
groups of famine refugees crowd
the wharves OF AstTahhdn, which
in happier times was filed with
the tides of commerce flowing to
and from Russia and the trans-Car-
plan plains Bitter rains of au-
tumn are falling almost continuous
ly and the first snow of the Rus
sian winter has whitened the roofs
of the buildings of the city, but the
throngs of emigrants have no shel-
ter while they wait, perhaps vainly.
day and night for transportation to
the kuban and Don regions. where
they can obtain food, Astrakhan is
city of misery and suffering and
death.
Misery Everywhere.
The traveller who has seen Rus
sia and the Russians in times of
plenty may expect to meet with a
rosy, round-faced people when he
again enters the country. Disillu-
sionment is in store for him, how
ever, for everywhere he sees mis-
cry in faces, the skin of which is
seemingly stretched tight across
the cheek bones. He remembers
Astrakhan as city filed with in
dustries and commerce, but he
finds it but a shadow of it's former
self Its caviar and fishing INDUS
tries are estimated to have dwin-
died nearly 20 per cent. Where
once 1000 ships daily sailed up and
i
now barely 100 on that stream.
Death seems to dog the footsteps
of the refugees. They are fleeing
from starvation, but many hungry
children and adults die from the
first food they eat, the very bread
they have striven for proving fatal
to them in their weakened condi-
ton. Meat or bread costs 5000 ru-
bles, or about five cents a pound,
but there are few who have money
enough to pay this price day after
day.
Disease Kills Thousands.
Disease has played its part in the
ruin of Astrakhan. Black typhus
took a terrible toll during the win
ter of 1919-1920, not only in dis
tricts further north, but in this
city. Forty out of every hundred
physicians died during the awful
scourge. During the last summer
Asiatic cholera and malaria have
carried off thousands of victims.
When one asks the people the
cause of the present suffering con-
dition of affairs, the inevitable an
swer is:
There has been no rain"
The only ray in the gloom is the
fact that the potato crop was slight
II larger than usual. and for the
moment this crop is helping in the
solution of the dire problem OF
hunger.
Have No Medicines.
Medicines can not be found here.
In the entire province of Astra-
khan, which measures 10000 square
miles, there are only 500 grains OF
uuinine, it is declared. The CORE
spondent of the Associated Press
| has visited several homes where
malaria patients are lying. In each
he has found the mothers or wives
of sufferers sitting in blank de-
SPAR, saying:
I'VE have no quinine; we can do
nothing"
A floating hospital is maintained
at one point in the delta of the
Volga, where sick sailors are taken
from Caspian sea vessels, and 100
deaths from under-nourishment and
lack of medicines occurred there in
August DR.. Navanoff, in charge of
the hospital. wept for JOY when
given a supply of quinine and cas-
tor oil.
12 Lighthouse Keepers Starve.
Along the western coast Of the
Caspian stands the Island OF Shf-
loi where one of the grimmest trag-
edies Of the famine was recently
enacted. Mariners noticed the light
house on the island was darkened
and landed to investigate. They
found in the lighthouse the II
keepers all dead from starvation.
They had eaten their shoes and had
boiled fur skins to maintain life,
and one by one had succumbed, the
light going out when the last OF
the IL sank in death
ara m @N Au