The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-01-07
PETTY CHARITY
DOLE is MERE
DROP IN BUCKET
Farmers Near Starvation;
Red Cross Relief Held
Utterly Inadequate.
SCORES WITHOUT SHOES
Infants Fed Cornbread as
Milk Gives Out; Fear
Heavy Death Toll.
BY LUTHER SOUTHWORTH
Times Stan Corresnnndnnt

Times Stan Correspondent
ENGLAND, Ark, Jan. while
the dispute continues as to whether
this little farming town was the
scene Of a food riot last Saturday,
conditions steadily grow ripe for a
showdown which will settle the
question.
The nation has been led to believe
that the Red Cross is on the Job,
That relief has come, and that all is
serene. But what the hungry folk
around England want the nation to
know Is that the Red Cross dole
amounts to approximately a dollar
month for each person, or
roughly, l cent a meal for each
hungry mouth.
Some families almost have cleared
their cupboardS of the rations doled
out by local merchants Saturday
after group Of hungry men and
crying women threatened to loot the
stores unless the food promised
through the Red Cross was forth
coming.
Infants Eat COrnhread
In many cases the two 15-cent
cans of condensed milk included in
the rations we're consumed within
Two days and mothers are feeding
infants on cornbread.
What the leaders of this town of
$500 and the eleven surrounding
communities are wondering is what
VIII happen if nothing more sub
stantial in the way of aid is forth
coming when the present rations
are gone.
The Red Cross gave help to 3O5
more families Tuesday, bringing the
total aided since Nov. % to about
HOO. Eut the hungry people in
this vicinity total thousands.
Mayor Walter Williams points out
that it will take 5000 pairs of shoes
alone to keep the feet of the hun
cry people of the neighborhood off
the ground this winter.
Il don't know where the shoes
are coming from, either" he added. |
Even if the people get food until
March, they are likely to suffer for
want Of clothes"
Clothing is Lacking
Planters are authority for the
statement that there isn't a share
cropping family in Lonoke county,
the home of Senator Joe Robinson,
with a complete outfit of clothing
for all members. So,
Also lacking food and clothing,
there are many families without
roofs of their own. In some cases, |
four or five families are packed to-
gether IN cheap shacks. Five fam
lie. are living i'll a dilapidated
wooden school house in England.
The roof is half gone and there
are no window panes to keep out
the cold. Eighteen persons are oc-
cupying an abandoned house next |
door to the school.
Physicians throughout the county |
predict heavy death toll from
pellagra this spring because of star
Walton conditions, long enduring. !
They already have noted an increase |
In anemia, nervous disorders and in
festival troubles
Drought Ruins District
England is in the heart of what |
was a rich agricultural section I'M
Til the summers drought blighted |
garden, feed and cotton crops. The
low price received for what cot
ton survived the dry SPELL, insured
ruin of the district. There is no
industrial life. Highway conStruc-
ton and all forms of building have
stopped.
A bank failure completed the
desolate picture. The pittance
which cotton pickers earned at an
average rate of rs cents day. soon
was spent, leaving hundreds of
families without enough money to
move elsewhere.
Bryant Dodd, living eight miles
from England. called his case
typical.
Together with my wife and two
children l ended the season with
$40 debt" he said. Il sold my hogs
for Sl1 and my forty-six chickens
for Sl1 more, and that is all the
money We have had since last sum-
me;.n
For a month we have lived on
cornbread and milk We have spent !
less than SO for clothing in eight
cen months"
At the upper end of the scale is
William Morris, prominent plant |
er. His story follows:
II have 1000 acres, but they are |
heavily mortgaged, because of pre-
vious crop failures. have several /
pieces of unencumbered land but /
the banks won't lend a cent on it. |
have been feeding IT'S share
troopers on my place for several |
months.
Il lost my cash when the local 4
Citizens Bank and Trust Company 7
and the American Exchange Bank at I
Little Rock failed I have no
money to buy seed and other bankers
tell me they are not opening new /
accounts. I don't know what 1 am
going to do"