The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-08-23
VOLGA VALLEY OF DEATH
KILL FOOD HOARDERS
TWELVE MILLION Pc OPLE
ACTUALLY STARVING IN
FAMINE AREA OF RUSSIA.
THOUSANDS SUBSIST ON GRASS
Pitiful Stories of Suffering Heard on
All Sides by American Relief OFF,
Gals. Parents Abandon Children to
State Conditions Growing Worse.

CIdlS. EdlCllS ADdlQOAi Ntl10ACll u
State. Conditions Growing Worse.
American relief workers. who have
begun the work of organizing food dis
tribution in the famme-stricken nation
of the Slavs, have merely scratched
the surface so far, but their reports
show that starvation stories from the
land of the bolshevists have not been
Ioverdrawn. Preliminary reports tend
to show that there are 100000 per-
sons An the Volga river basin actually
starving to death, while two-thirds OF
the entire population Of Russia are on
hunger rations.
Where Gaunt Hunger Rules.
The famine area begins between
Nizhni-Novgorod and Kazan on the
north and extends southwark in a
broad belt to Tsaritsin, on both sides
|of the Volga, embracing the Tartar
republic provinces of Simbirsk, Sama-
ra, Saratov Penza and Tambov; the
Tcherkask republic, parts of Riazon
and lula, and large part OF the prov
ince of Ufa to the foothills of the Ural
mountains.
Famine conditions have been made
worse by poor transportation and in
efficiency of local distribution organi-
cations, which have been vigorously
attacked by the newspapers during the
past few weeks. For instance, IS per
cent of the milk spoiled in the province
|of Moscow was due to the defective
organization of the receiving stations.
Pitiful tories of Suffering.
Pitiful stories of suffering are told
on all sides The peasants of Tambov
ARE reported to be eating bread made
Iof straw, potato parings and weeds.
In the Novenski prison, where several
Americans we're detained, the bread
was adulterated with a -four which ap
peared to have been made from COW
peas. Kasha the staple cereal OF the
peasants, has been replaced by fageo-
let beans, which are imported.
Famine conditions are particularly
severe among children, 100000 of
whom in the Volga district are report
led to have been abandoned by their
parents to the care of the state.
The beginning of the food tax col
lection by the soviet authorities was
marked by the execution of group OF
rich peasants in the Mariopol district.
These peasants had concealed their
/ grain and were trying to dodge their
tax. An example was made OF these
peasants to prevent the practice OF
! boarding. Heavy rains spoiled much
of the hay crop. The government is
making an effort to save the live stock
by concentrating herds on the natural
Ipasturage slopes of the Ural noun
tains. The peasants, however, are OPP
posing this plan, fearing they will new
er get back their cattle.
Health Situation Bad.
The cholera death wave is sweeping
five new Russian districts, taking a
heavy toll Of lives. The epidemic has
invaded Podolia, Volga, Kieff, Tver
and Smolensk, making "a provinces
in all now affected. One hundred fifty
thousand victims were reported to
have died in two towns in two months
Fifty-two thousand were children.
4 description of the terror following
the death wave was contained in dis
patches received in London. Gangs Of
looters followed the trail of burning
homes, which were fred by occupants
when they deserted them. Armed
bands entered the homes of those who
might be suspected of having food and
stole anything they could find.
A band of fugitives approached
Moscow and was refused entrance. One
report stated cordons of troops with
poison gas surrounded them and drove
them back