STARVATION IN NEBRASKA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4341, 17 February 1875, Page 3

STARVATION IN NEBRASKA.

(From the New York Herald, December 8.) We have heard of the ravages of the grasshoppers in Nebraska as a remote matter of news, and considerable, fun has been made of that formidable insect, but few persons perhaps appreciate the immense suffering the people of that State have endured. General Brisbin’s visit to New York, under the authority of the relief societies and the Governor, will, however, make a deep impression upon the community, and the story of the want, starvation and wretchedness which he saw during’ a tour- of the desolated region, as related in an interview published in .the Herald to-day, must convince every thoughtful person of the importance of extending immediate relief. General Brisbin says the scenes he witnessed would take a, stout heart to hear. The crops were destroyed in a newly settled country, and all the farmers have suffered alike. They have not the ability to help each other, for all are equally destitute, and so an entire community at the beginning of winter is dependent upon outside help. Nebraska has done all that is possible, and for six weeks has fed these poor people at a cost of forty thousand dollars a month. But winter: has increased the suffering, and more food and clothing must be supplied. As all of the settlers are from other States, and many of them natives of New York, there are special reasons why the whole country should help them until new crops can be planted. General Brisbin’s eloquent appeal for help will be heeded by the philanthropy of this wealthy and generous city. Our starving and naked brethren plead with us, not as beggars, but as American citizens who have been ruined by a terrible calamity, and . that they ■ are so ■ far away but adds to the sadness and desperation of their state.