HUNGRY RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1921, Page 5

HUNGRY RUSSIA.

GRAVITY OF THE PERIL. MILLIONS IN DESPAIR. THE REPORTS CONFIRMED. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received August 17, 9.10 p.m. London, August 16. Replying to questions in the House of Commons, Sir Cecil Harms worth (Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs) said the British official agent in Moscow had just reported confirming the extent of the gravity of the Russian famine. Thirty-five million people are affected, and the number is constantly increasing. Large masses are trekking to Poland, Turkestan and Siberia in an attempt to escape from starvation. Poland could not accept the refugees, and those going in other directions faced the difficulty of crossing the foodless, shelterless Steppes. Nearly one-third of the trekkers consisted of foodless children in a most pitiable condition. PLIGHT OF THE CHILDREN. AN APPALLING MORTALITY. Received August 17, 9.10 p.m. Berlin, August 16. Parents in Samara, on the Volga, 650 miles eastward of Moscow, are leaving their children on the doorsteps of Soviet officials and institutions. A children’s colony has been established, to which waifs and strays are sent, but the mortality therein is appalling. It amounts to this: They are gathered up from the streets in order that they will not die before people’s eyes. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. DR. NANSEN HEADS RELIEF COMMITTEE. London, August 16. A telegram from Reval states that Dr. Nansen has been appointed head of the American Relief Committee in Russia.