The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-09-03
FAMINE HITS
VOLcA BASIN;
PEOPLE FLEE
Smallest Acreage on Record
to be Cultivated Next Year,
Say Refugees = Soviet
Takes Surplus Grain.
BURN HOUSES, ESCAPE
tSv Associated Press,

BARANOWITCHI, Russia, Sept. q
Refugees passing through this city
from districts in northeastern Russia
declare that the entire lower Volga
basin. the region through which flows
the Don river and the districts along
the lower courses of the Dnieper and
Bug are stricken by the scourge of
famine.
In conversation with DR.. Roy Smith
head of the American Red Cross med
ical unit here, they tell of severe
drought, grain destroyed by the in
tense heat and Of hunger, starvation
and disease.
During the past two months DR..
Smith has been collecting reports
from refugees and they have agreed
that the acreage cultivated this year
would be smallest on record partly
owing to the lack of seed, horses, i'm
plements and workers and partly be-
cause the soviet government took the
surplus grain grown by every farmer
! cultivating more than five hectares of
| land.
Virtually the entire country between
! the 35th meridian of Longitude and
| the Ishim river, in Siberia, is suffer
| ing in some degree, the refugees de,
J clare.
Can't Leave Homes Behind.
The soviet government issued or
ders that any person having a house
! should not be allowed to go to Siberia
| from the famine district, and it is as
| serted that whole villages have been
| burned so that the owners of houses
! in them would have an excuse tc
leave
| AS a result entire villages are mi
| grating toward Siberia, or have start
ed toward Poland. The government
unable TO secure food for soldiers ir
the famine stricken district has beer
obliged to move its troops to more
/ favored localities.
/ Two intelligent men were sen
among the refugees lined up at fooC
kitchens here and were instructed II
ask every adult the name of the vii
lage whence he came and what thu
food prospects were when he left
More than 1900 of the refugees wer
thus interviewed, their answers agree
ing with the exception of minor de
J tails. With this information in hant
Dr. Smith was able to classify tn
different districts. the headings 70
the tabulations being very good,
good" fair" bad" and very bad
Many Sections Lack Food
When the work was finished it wa
found that the following district
we're listed under very bad" Astra
kan, Saratov, Simbirsk. Samara, Ka
zan, Ufa, the Don Cossack region, tn
: kubate Cossack region, Taurida
Kherzon, Ekaterinoslav, and parts O
, Voronezh, Tambov, Penza and Khan
kov. a~Is
In the next category of bad" wer
placed Orenberg, parts of Voronezt
: Tambov, Penza and Kharkov, and S
IBERIA as far east as the river Isbi:
, Under fair came Ryazon, Orel an
! Kursk Tudkestan and Siberia eas
: of the river Ishim were listed a
! good" while the Dnieper vale
. north of Ekaterinoslav and the go'
ernments of Vitebak, Smolensk, I've
, and Moscow were listed as ''ver
good
TaIIies with Government Report
This information corresponds close
/ | ly with the government rating give
out some weeks ago. In this repol
a bumper crop was represented b
| the figure 5. In it the Kiev regio
had a rating of 4, Moscow 31a and tn
Samara region l.
II In addition to the failure of crop
over all this vast region, the refugee
: say that horses and cattle are dyin
a and that there will be little plante
e during the coming autumn. This vii
e it is declared, result next year in
worse food shortage than that whic
:, prevails at the present time. TIL
n regions stricken by the famine al
e those which in normal years furnis
the most of Russia's food supply
n PARIS, Sept. part of the reserv
l. funds and supplies of the America
= Red Cross will be turned over to ii
Il American relief administration for i
p work in Russia, DR.. Albert Ross Hi
e Red Cross commissioner for Europ
r declared today. He said the organic
e ton would be large contributor
the task of feeding the starving Ru
v slams.
d At the same time the Red Cross wi
e continue its work among children
s. Albania, Austria, Belgium, Constan
e nople, Cze h o-Slovakia. Esthoni
il France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lith
y ania Poland, Rumania and jug