The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-08-02
FAMINE HORRORSM
LATVIA REVEALED
In PLEAS FOR FOOD
Resumption of Mail Serv-
ice.Brings Pitiful Let
tiers from Sufferers.

RIGA, ..u Postal service be-
tween Latvia and Soviet Russia has
improved greatly during the past
month and letters written in Siberia
have been delivered to the addresses
in Riga within two weeks Of their be-
ing mailed. The few letters. how
ever. which arrived in Riga all tell OF
the horrors of the famine, and the
writers. who are for the most part
let's and German BaIts who resided
in Latvia and who evacuated into
the interior of Russia during the
early days of the world war. all ask
that food packages be sent them
through the American Relief Admins
tration.
Commenting upon these letters. the
Rigasche Rundchau. the oldest Ger
man paper in the Baltic states. states
that these letters. coming as they do
from all portions of the former Rus
sian province. are the last piece Of
evidence needed to prove that the
famine has now engulfed practically
the whole of Russia. The paper pub
lished excerpts from the letters and
HN"N's pidt a. wen l<dtNla STATE
official received from his relatives In
Smara the following note.
Dp.s Pest u. BODIES
The misery here is terrible. espe-
cialiy among the peasants. In fits
Of desperation whole families devour
each other until only one or two are
left. Cannibalism. that is. the eating
Of corpses. is very ordinary occur
renee now. In the town people are
lying In the streets. half starved, half
dead. like lepers in the time of Christ
Those who have strength enough cry
for bread. But this appeal has the
same effect as the old cry of the
lepers, 'Unclean! Unclean. and the
dying are Stunned until they are
dead. and then in some instances It
is race between the packs of fam
ished dogs and the people as to who
will first tear away the flesh from
the bones"
Another letter received by a citi-
zen in Riga from relatives in the
Crimea "opens We are today writ
ing to you our last letter for today
We eat the last piece Of our little
daughter who died from typhus."
Direct from Famine Zones.
The contents of other letters
stagger the Imagination. but the
recipients believe every word foI
the letters come from lifelong
friends and from near relatives
The majority of the letters CONF
from portions of the Ukraine and
the erimea and the western por
ton of. Siberia. districts where nj
to the present time the America
Relief Administration have no
been able to perfect their 'organi
zatione owing to the lack sof Bol
shevik governmental control.
In these districts bands Of out
lawed peasants and other anti
Bolshevik groups have gone from
village to village and exterminated
the Communists. Proponents of
Soviet Russia who favor the rec-
ognition of the Bolshevik regImeI
before the entire country, collapsed
into a state of anarchy will bel
surprised to hear that Soviet news.I
papers themselves admit that the|
real authority OF the government
in many districts only extends
within an area OF tan versts on
each side OF the railroads. This
situation IL practically confined 10
non-famine areay and refugees
from the famine zones report that
the power Of the Bolsheviks has
Increased wherever foreign orpanisa-
tons are distributing aid
This, they claim. IL because Conn
munists working with the RELIEF or