Evening star., 1936-08-30
RAINS IN DRY AREA
CUT RELIEF Job
NEEDS 5DPER CENT
Hopkins Reports Daily De.
mand for Work SIashed
in Half.
DROUGHT STILL GRIPS 81.
SOUTHWESTERN STATES
Further Spending Indicated, De.
spite Better Outlook, to Give
Work During Winter.
BY the associated Press,

BY the associated Press.
A SO per cent drop in the new de-
mand for w. P. A. drought relief Jobs
was reported yesterday as a result Of
rains which the Weather Bureau said
made "big dent" in the dry area.
From his inspection tour with Presi-
dent Roosevelt, Harry L. Hopkins
notified his headquarters here that
the daily increase in w. P. A. jobs for
drought-stricken farmers had dropped
from 5000 10 days ago to $500.
With rainfall above normal in the
Eastern Ohio and Upper Mississippi
Valleys and some adjacent areas, j. B.
Kincer, crop meterologist, said this
had greatly improved the outlook of
late crops and put the soil in better
condition for blowing and for seeding
Winter grains"
Southwest Still Dry.
Both Federal agencies, however, re-
ported that some sections still were
without relief. Supplementing the
Weather Bureau report that high
temperatures and lack of rainfall con-
tinued in Texas. Arkansas, Tennessee.
and much of Louisiana and Mississippi,
Hopkins sent word that the Dakotas.
Kansas and Nebraska we're no better
of than month ago."
A further increase in W. P. A.
drought expenditures despite the rains
was indicated by Hopkins, who said
most of those now employed by w.
P. A. will have to be taken care of
over the Winter"
Total w. p. A. employment in the
Great Plains States was placed at
118.172.
If favorable weather conditions
continue" Hopkins added, "it is high
ly probable that not more than IS 900
to $4,000 additional farmers will need
aid. This would mean a substantial
reduction from original estimates
made when drought destitution was
mounting at such a dizzy pace"
Costing $4,000, 200 a Month.
With w. p. A. already spending
more than $5.0o0,000 a month on
drought Jobs, ofiicials here said the
increase mentioned would boost the
cost up to January l. above the $780,.
900 900 recently estimated by Hopkins.
Jesse w. Tapp. chairman Of the
Agriculture Department Drought
Committee. said the rains would be
particularly beneficial in the dairy
regions Of Wisconsin, Minnesota and
the northern portions of Iowa and nli-
nois, where deficient pasturage has
forced farmers to feed large portion
Of their Winter roughage supply"
Tapp said the rains probably came
too late to plant forage crops in the
"northernmost portions of the Great
Plains area" He said aridity in
Southern areas was "intensifying the
problem of Winter feed and forage
supplies"
Several expansions Of territory In
which emergency freight rates have
been established as an aid to drought
areas were announced by Tapp's COM
mittee.
Rains Cheer Farmers.
He said the railroad concessions
would facilitate the movement of
live stock and feed from more distant
points than would otherwise be
possible"
Hopkins, travelling with President
Roosevelt on his tour of the drought
States, said Minnesota farmers told
him the rains there were worth a
nickel a drop"
He listed present w. P. A. employ.
ment by States as follows: Colorado,
2,436; Iowa. 3.251; Kansas, 5,135;
Kentucky, 8,424; Minnesota, 3,700;
Missouri. 13,500; Nebraska, 7,241:
North Dakota. 32,39o; South Dakota,
27,s14; Montana, $500; wyoming.
1903: Wisconsin. 1878; Illinois, 700.
Total, 118,172.