Evening star., 1934-05-28
DAKOTA FARMERS
PLIGHT IS CRITICAL
More Than so, 1000 Families
on Relief RoIIs-F. {. R. A.
Also Feeds Stock.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special DlSpatcn 10 Inc star.
KANSAS CITY, Mo, May %
CNANAD.-From the baked plains
of North Dakota, where the chug of
tractors has died along with four sue
cessive crops, comes tale of that
sections plight and the faith OF its
farmer folk
Miss Pearl Salsberry. director of
field work for the Federal Emergency
Relief Administration in that State,
and a field representative, Col. Paul
S. Bliss, told of the disturbing situa-
ton in their State, as it also exists
in much of Nebraska and South Da-
kota, because of lack of rainfall
North Dakota being an agricul-
tural State almost entirely, has no
city with population over 10000"
Miss Salsberry said
so the F. E. r. A. and the A. A. A.
are fighting side by side to relieve
the stricken there There are more
than $4,000 families on the relief
rolls. No rain, terrific WmdStormS
and grasshoppers for the last two
yearS-thats the distressing picture.
Also Feeding Cattle.
Not only are we feeding that many
families, but we also are feeding the
cattle belonging to those owners. That
runs into huge sums. There are SO
counties in the State. In some of
those counties the relief funds eX-
pended for cattle amount to $4,000
a month, and from $4,000 to $4,000
for the human needs. Those are
staggering figures, but it is a stag
gering situation. The F. E. r. A.
did something about it, and is aid
ing in keeping up the morale of
people who are actually bewildered
by the transition from a few years
ago"
For the past four years successive
droughts have afflicted North Dakota.
A scattered rainfall would bring
surge of sprouts through the rich top
soil, and then a blasting wind would
take them and the topSoil away in
gusts
The length of relief rolls has grown
by leaps and bounds.
The North Dakota men are unused
to relief They appear shamefaced
and confused, Miss Salsberry finds.
They scan the heavens and keep say
ing over and over, If We get rain by
the 1st, it won't be too late to put
in a corn crop.
Many people still believe a good
man can get job if he is sincere"
Miss SalSberry said This isn't true.
1t lust isn't possible. Many too be-
lieve that relief makes for permanent
dependence on the part of the
stricken. AS evidence of that fallacy,
we have long lists of people ready to
go to work as soon as a new project
is under way. Our immediate task is
to keep them interested and help
them forget their enforced unemploy-
ment
Need of Occupation Cited.
"An unusual case happened the
other day. A German-Russian
farmer stricken by the drought, came
in and complained that he wasn't get
ting enough aid.
I'VE found that by proper pairing in
his own household he was getting
enough aid. but wasn't getting any,
thing to occupy his time and mind
His fields we're torn by the wind and
his we'll was on the verge of drying
I'D. There was a solution, however.
unique one. too. We discovered, quite
accidentally. that the man was inter-
ested in psychology. We obtained
texts on psychology and we haven't
heard whimper out of him since"
One of the texts given the idle
farmer was The Psychology Of I'm
employment" Miss Salsberry recalled.
A vivid picture of the desolate scene
may be gained in a 200mlle trip be-
tween Crosby and Rolla, parallel to
the Canadian border.
The drainage bitches alOngide the
road are filled with topsoil deposited
by the Windstorms. The barbed WIRE
fences are not to be seen: instead,
there is a row OF earthen mounds.
This condition is caused by the
Russian thistle. a huge weed resem-
bling the tumbleWeed save for the
fact that it is about 3 feet in radius,
much thicker and has sharp splnes
Rolling across the bleak prairies, it
strikes the barbed wire fence. Then
the windstorms deposit thick layer
of soil over it, until the fence is COM
pletely hidden.
Roads Full of ThistleS.
I'he thistle is porn IN drought Like
the graSshopper, it thrives on dry sea-
sons. At dusk it is an eerle .'icture
to see the shadowy forms of the giant
thistles rolling on the horizon where
baked plain meets the sky. RoadWays
are thick with them.
The grasshopper has descended on
North Dakota with a vengeance the
last two years. The parasite to which
the grasshopper is susceptible dies in
dry spells hence the millions of the
pests that cloud the fields and skies.
The Norwegian JorgenSons, the Ice
1andic ThorstenSonS and the Russian
German BleichS, who have lived on
the plain eXpanSes since pioneer days,
are hardy lot. The gifts they re-
celve through the F. E. r. A. and the
A. A. A are duly paid for. They work
on road gangs, paint civic properties
and work in the few municipal parks
Al home, their fields are plowed by
winds instead of their own imple-
ments and their wells are drying up.
Despite all the despair farmer Suf-
fers through seeing his lands scared
four straight years, he is keeping a
stiff upper lip.
(Copyright. 1924. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. IncD