The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania · Page 21

A XT m ZZZl ' 17. 1935 FARMERS FEAR I JUDGMENT DAY IN DUST STORM Punishment for Their Sins, Sisters Tell Writer in Blizzard Belt Want Ad Headquarters, Court 4900 TOE riTTSBUBGH PRESS Other Prrss Departments, Court 7300 TWENTY-ONE DESERTING COUNTRY Pioneers See 30 Years Work Destroyed by Gathering Silt of A. United Press staff correspondent is touring the worst afflicted areas of the dust storm country to get an iyc-u;tness account of the "dust blizzards" 'uch are turning portions of-Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado. Texas and Xew Mexico into desert. His third dispatch follows. Pastoral Scene as Texas Reaps the Whirlwind of Dust and Destruction ASSESSOR BILLS HIT IN COUNCIL By FRANK McNAUGHTON SPRINGFIELD, Col., April 17 Some people in the dust country be lieve God is punishing them for their sins. I heard that belief uttered by a shoeless woman whose crumbling rock home was so filled with dust that she used a shovel to "bail out" the dirt. I came here through a "dust blizzard" by automobile from Boise City, Okla., with Cecil Lewis, a mail carrier. Trains couldn't get through, so Lewis had to bring the mail in his car. While he kept his attention on the road I boxed the mail. Masked Against Dust Both of us wore respiration masks to make breathing easier. But the fine sand permeates everything. It fills your hair and eyes and mouth with grit and makes your lungs feel as though they had been sandpapered inside. Near Campo, Col, we pulled up to a battered tin mailbox on a leaning hedge post. Through the dust we could see the farmhouse, built of rock that was crumbling away at the corners. Suddenly an apparition leaped through a paneless window and came running toward the car. It was a woman of indeterminate age. She was shoeless and stockingless. I could see the dust spurt between her toes as she paddled through a shallow drift. Her hair streamed in the dust. She wanted news of the outside world. She and her sister had been marooned for days. While she talked to us her sister casually tossed a shovelful of dirt out of the window. Both appeared to be ill and were desperately discouraged. The government killed 11 -their cattle last summer and . the wind had blown away all of their wheat, which they had planted , themselves. . Divine runishment' "This is a sinful country or God would never have punished us this way," the elder sister said. "We'd leave If we could. It's a judgment." Of Baca County's 3.000 acres. 97 per cent is devoid of plant life, Kenneth Welch, Relief Administrator, told me. A plan is afoot to move the population westward into the mountain regions. Half of the 10.000 people in the county are on relief. Many are ill with dust induced bronchitis, sinus infection or lung maladies. This county was settled 30 years ago by emigrants from Kansas and Missouri. They built up its productivity until in 1931 the county harvested 7,000,000 bushels of wheat. Baca County once produced 12 per cent of the nation's broom com supply. This year it can produce nothing. Muddy Rain Brings Hope in Far West By The United Press KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 17 A dust storm which drifted into the spring wheat country of the Dakotas and Nebraska was turned back today by brisk northerly winds. Thick dust still was whirling up from the western half of the central nlains region. Scattered showers cleared the air over Bismarck. N. D., where ne leading edge of the dust blanket appeared late yesterday afternoon. Light rain also was reported from Valentine. Neb., and several South Tlnknra, DOintS. There also were light sprinkles in Western Kansas and in the OKia homa and Texas Panhandles where the dust had closed down in a blinding mass. The precipitation came ' down in the form of mud, but failed to alleviate the dust condition. "'" sass. Sgx y2r- "s'V: Official Says City Would Lose Big Sums If Acts Are Passed . . . , THE GREAT emperor penguin through the House "would abolish ,s to a height ot mre than fout tne city Assessors jjeparwnent ana eet ancl weighs as much as a 10-turn all business over to a board iv.ar.niH hm - City Council voted yesterday to ask the Legislature to delay for 10 days the passage of two bills, one in the Senate and the other in the House, both aimed to "rip" the Department of City Assessors out of office. Chief Assessor Percy R. Williams appeared before Council and declared that If these bills . were passed, the city stood a chance of losing $1,300,000 annually, the Board of Education $700,000, and taxes now collected from railways properties valued at $70,000,000. The two bills the Coyne Bill, which has passed the Senate, and the Weiss Bui, which has gone appointed by the County Commis sioners, Mr. Williams said. Doubts Savings to City He added that the annual cost of the entire Department of City. Assessors is now $100,000, and while the bills professed to save the city that amount, incidental expenses might entail expenses of two or three times that amount. He declared that under the Weiss Bill publication of assessment lists would be required, amounting to "no less than $250,000 or $300,000 a year." and that the bills "might seriously affect the city's bonding power." Legal Opinion Sought Williams said that "in the judg ment of certain legal authorities, the city can tax $70,000,000 of rail road property, which the county can't tax- - Council instructed the Law De partment to bring in a report on whether, if the pending acts become law, the city would lose the $2,000,- 000 total revenue from this property A MUSEUM of public health is to be opened in Paris. Yfy TO COAST "' SEE 6 RAND CANYON from the Air DOUGLAS LUXURY PLANES Union Trait Building Telephone, GB. 2400 (Night, HO. 4200) Come and Get These Great Bargains in As death-dealing dust storms again scourg the West, Margaret Bourke-White's camera shows you better than words the desperate plight of thousands of farmers. Ruined by two consecutive crop Photo by Mrrret Bourk White; Copyrirht, 1935, for Th Pittburh Pres. failures, this Texan had no money to repair his farm before the new plague came on. He is shown forcing open the door of one of bis outbuildings, sealed fast by the drifting silt. Sure, It's Bad, But Pioneers Are Used to Bad Things, Natives Declare Two patriotic Texans winged their way out of the dust -smothered West yesterday only to be grounded by Pittsburgh snow. Held over momentarily on their way from Amarillo to Washington where they hope to press petition for the Conchos Dam project, Wilbur C. Hawk, newspaper publisher, and Tom W. Cotten, real estate and oil man, relaxed in their shirtsleeves in a hotel room and bombastically pointed out that it takes more than a heap of dirt to make the Texas Panhandle call quits. Although the plains are swept by black tornados of dust; although the cattle bellow dirt from encrusted nostrils; although the in habitants wear masks to keep from suffocating under the terrific embrace of mother earth; Texas is a pioneer country and Texans are men in the aboriginal sense of the word. "Why, hell," said Mr. Hawk, lifting his great spread of shoulders, "we have our cyclones and tornados and all that stuff. "This is just one of those things." Then they began to explain. Certainly the dust storms are bad. They're every bit as bad as you read about. "Sure, they're worse," said Mr. Hawk. "Why one storm covered four states. It just got dark as pitch. The whole thing's a drouth. "Why, if we got rain from now on we'd just get 25 per cent of our wheat crop. There'll be a food shortage all over the West. "The storms started in a small way last year. Then we had no snow this winter only a flurry. We always have a good deal of rain in March and April but almost none this year. "But," said Mr. Cotten. "Nobody's leavin' that country. There aint a soul leavin'. We're stayin too. Some of these farmers have just been livin off the Government. The Government bought their bad cattle and killed 'em. They've been getting hog money and wheat money." "The Panhandle's all right," said Mr. Cotten. "They've got at least 800,000,000 barrels of oil under there still as a reservoir. They're wasting more gas in the Panhandle now than is being used in the U. S. A. "Why would a man run away from the biggest gosh darn oil field? That country's all right." At present they are going to stick their state s finger in the work re lief plum pie and try to pull out $10,000,000 for the dam which is to be built in New Mexico at the Texas border on the Canadian River. Knoxville Prowler Flees When Mrs. Stella Sullivan heard a noise at the door to the cellar of j her home, 416 Moore Ave., Knox ville, early today she called out and a man wearing a dark overcoat and a derby hat fled. South Side po lice could find no trace of him. !alL, La yrr tin ft : - , '"" rin Films to Be Shown The Cathedral Chapel, of which Rev. P. A. Atkinson is chaplain will sponsor a picture, "The Voice of Ireland," at the Davis Theater next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Scenes in Dublin during the Easter week uprising of 1916 will be featured in commemoration of the nineteenth anniversary of Ire land's battle for independence. ill - , ' , - j A Rossocratic Sinkabinet This beautiful 42-inch sink, right or left drain board, corrmlete with Rossocratic Sinkabinet, two faucets and wall trap. 26-50 ROSS PLUMBING SUPPLIES 22t Blvd. of Allies t$22 Frankstown Avsaas 4U Msrchant St, Ambridg WKmn Yma Think f Hmmbittg Think of Rsm aBeS 10-Pce. Bedroom Consisting of Bed, Dresser, Chest, Vanity, Bench, Chair, Spring, Mattress, Bed Lamp and Bridge Lamp! Bargains in Used Furniture you will never again be able to equal. But you must come quickly, as most items are one only and are rapidly being sold. These cannot be replaced at the extremely low prices they are offered. CASH or CREDIT! RUGS $2.00 Hearth Rugs! 98c $12.50 Room Size Rugs ...$6.45 $17.50 9x12 Velvet Rugs.. $9.75 $24.50 9x12 Axminster Rg $11.75 $32.50 9x12 Axminster Tom W. Cotten (left) and Wilbur C. Hawk, of Amarillo, Tex., went to Washington to tell Harry Hopkins, Federal Relief Administrator, about the dust storms, but over Pittsburgh they ran into snow and were grounded. At middle, a dust "drift" near Dumas, Tex.; below, a dust storm at Amarillo. Advertisement' Skin-Itch Torture Ends; Millions Praise Zemo Zemo quickly relieves the torture of Itching Rashes and Ringworm soothes the irritation of Eczema, Pimples and similar skin troubles. For 25 years Zemo has been used and praised by millions -as a clean, safe, dependable remedy for family use to relieve skin irritations. A trial will convince you of its great merit. Insist on genuine Zemo; it's worth the price because you get relief. Approved by Good Housekeeping Bureau, No. 4874. 35c. 60c, $1. All druggists. 9-Pce. Living Room $ 4f Consisting of 3-Piece Suite, Bridge Lamp, Table Lamp, End Table, Occasional Table and two Book Ends. Rags $16.75 STOVES $29.50 Gas Range $14.65 $39.75 Gas Range $19.75 $65.00 Combination Range $32.00 .,JfV ;;V; V -514.95 J $23.50 Circulating Heater $11.95 $39.75 Circulating Heater $18.95 Radios, Lamps. Kitchen Furniture ODDS and ENDS Midget Sets $8.45 Cabinet Sets $12.50 Cabinet Sets... ....$16.50 Cabinet Sets .$22,75 $17.50 5-Pc. Breakfast Set $8.95 $22.00 5-Pc. Breakfast Set $10,9 8 $24.75 5-Pc. Breakfast Set $12.00 $29.75 5-Pc. Breakfast Set $ 1 4.95 $24.50 Kitchen Cabinet... $12.9 5 $29.75 KitchenCabinet... $16.7 5 $39.75 Kitchen Cabinet... $19,75 $ 4.50 Walnut Metal Bed.. $1,98 $ 8.75 Walnut Metal Bed.. $4.75 $12.50 Walnut Metal Bed.. $5.95 $19.75 Walnut Dresser. . . .$8.95 $ 1.75 Smokers 69c $ 9.75 Mirrors $3.98 $19.75 Lounge Chair $7.85 LAMPS $2.50 Bridge Lamps 98c $4.00 Bridge Lamps $1.65 Used FurnSture Exchange Small Deferred Payment Charre 2 HURT IN CRASH Mother, Child in Hospital; Woman Driver Held After Accident Mrs. Robert Miller, 35, of Brack-enridge, and her 3 -year-old daugh ter, Margaret, were in a hospital at Tarentum today suffering from se vere cuts on the head and face after an auto collision at Job's Hole Bridge, near here. Mrs. Ruth Stewart of Altoona, Pa., driver of the other machine, was unhurt. She was detained by police. Neither Mrs. Miller's husband, driver of the Miller auto, nor Stewart, a passenger in his wife's machine, was hurt. TWa? GXD0 OGWGQ OQQOOQuOO . k. , k "ic yc . yt v w IW I w I i 7 i v f n s. i "x. m u t i i r r Jisim 3D0J dS CZfi ft) (Cl m H" t - -t"? " XrZ7 i t- i ' i X Ic-" - 'i r - i ON SALE AT OS SALE AT ALL STATE STORES Code Number 309 Fifth Price $1,2S