Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-25
BY The Assosiofed Press

line Assoc9ufed PfesS
The unrelenting sun is burning
the brand of drought deeper into
the United States.
There is drought Of some kind,
mild to terrible, from the Georgia
coast to the Wyoming mountains
and from Canada to Mexico.
In some States, where last
spring there was hope of a fruit
fun summer, farmers now say It
will be the worst year since the
mid-1930s.
Texas, New Mexico and Colo
RADIO, States which received
Federal disaster relief last sum-
mer. have been declared In line
for 1t again. Wyoming Is q new
member Of this unhappy COM
pany. Oklahoma, q charter mem
Der Of the 1853 drought disaster
club, Ia seeking reinstatement.
Missouri and Georgia have APP
piled for admission. Kansas Is
on the ragged edge Of disaster.
Grain and Tobacco Suffer.
And long days of dry heat have
burned into the grain fields Of
the Dakotas. the farms Of In
diana and Iowa. the tobacco
| plantations Of the Carolinas.
Only six weeks ago there was
talk that the drought might be
on the way out. Heavy spring
rains raised good strands Of grass
and crops In West Texas areas
that had been dry four years. In
Oklahoma and Missouri. experts
declared the drought broken.
There were cheerful reports from
Nebraska and Kansas.
But hardly any rain has fallen
since then, and most of 1t has
been In the wrong places.
President Eisenhower has
ordered an emergency feed, pro-
gram much like the one that was
set up last Summer 30 that
ranchers could buy ard-to-get
livestock feed at cut-rate prices.
So far, IS counties. % In Texas,
% in Colorado. "a in New Mexico
and eight in Wyoming, have
been listed for this Federal dis
aster help.
Big Disaster Area In Texas.
This Summers Texas disaster
area up to now is concentrated
in the South Central part>of the
State. It's much smaller than
last Summer, when it took in
more than 100 counties and
roughly the Western half of
Texas. But it may be enlarged
Gov. Allan Shivers has advised
all dry parts of East Texas, a
section that came through last
Summer in pretty good shape,
to apply for needed help.
State Agriculture Commits
sioner John White said West
Texas. which was helped most by
the spring rains. is slipping back
fast. He said some parts Of West
Texas are better on than a year
ago only because anything is
better than zero.
Ironically, up to % inches of
rain soaked Southwest Texas the
last week end in June. But 1t
surged away in flash floods down
dry washes and sent the Rio
Grande on It's worst rampage in
history. international Falcon
Dam stopped the flood below
Laredo. trapping more than 2
million acre feet of water for.
an area that didn't really need
!. it now, the Lofer Rio Grande
Valley. which has had enough
irrigation water since the first
spring rains filled the Falcon
Reservoir.
Slow, Soaking Rain Needed
Pounding rains like those
usually aren't much help. any,
way. New Mexico got some,
with the usual flash foods, to-
ward the end of last week.
Experts agreed the spotted
cloudbursts had little effect on
the drought. What is needed is
slow, soaking. general rain.
Livestock men in New Mexico
said the situation is more criti-
cal than ever before, with 300,-
900 acres of range blowing or
about to blow in the eastern
part Of the State.
David Rice. executive secretary
Of the Colorado Cattlemen's As
ISOLATION, called it the worst
drought since the '30s." Farm
officials said crops haven't been
so withered since 1884. Laurence
Phelps of the Colorado Agri-
culture Department estimated
the drought had cost farmers
and ranchers 5000 million.
About 80 per cent Of wyom-
ing's stock watering holes are
dry. Grass is satisfactory only
in the extreme west. tits so dry
even sagebrush isn't growing"
a United States Agriculture De-
partment spokesman said.
Oklahoma Asks Disaster Aid.
It's much the same in Okla
homa. Pastures are as bare as
in the dead of winter" a county
agent said. A warning from
Oklahoma State and Federal
farm officials that it will be the
worst year since 1896 prompted
Gov. Johnston Murray to appeal
last week for another summers
disaster relief from the Federal
Government.
Gov. Phil Donnelly, acting on
his own, declared Missouri q
drought disaster area and SEN
ator Hennings, Democrat. of
Missouri, appealed for Federal
help. Since then, President
Eisenhower has directed Civil
Defense Administrator Val
Peterson to study whether Mis-