American National Red Cross; Red Cross and Red Crescent
There is a very small population of whites living on the Sea Islands,
and of them the greater number are storekeepers, supplying the negroes
and taking mortgages on their growing crops, principally the cotton. As
nearly all of the crops, including the cotton, which was nearly ready
for picking, were ruined, these storekeepers, in addition to great
direct loss by the flood, which swept away their storehouses, have lost
largely by unrecoverable debts, thus they are not able to do much toward
the relief of the sufferers. * * * Among the sufferers there are a few
white families, generally descendants of the old-time planters, who,
having recovered by purchase small portions of their family property,
have made their living by hard work as farmers and truck growers. They
are, in some cases, reduced to abject poverty.
The merchants of the city of Beaufort lost heavily. Most of the
principal stores were on Bay street, their storehouses stretching out on
the wharf. All of these with the back buildings on them were swept away,
and the merchants are not in position to give much help. Nearly all of
the old Southern families were impoverished by the war and can do
little, and that little is to a great extent very naturally bestowed
upon the negroes and their descendants, who were at one time their
slaves.
WHAT IS NEEDED.
The State of South Carolina is poor, one of its greatest sources of
revenue, the phosphate business, which paid in royalties nearly $600 per
day into its treasury, and expended thousands of dollars weekly, in
payment of labor, was badly crippled and temporarily, at least, ruined.
All of the dredges, lighters and most of the tugs and many of the
"mines," the great establishments where the phosphate rock is dried,
crushed and prepared for export, were destroyed. * * * *
While anything or everything eatable, wearable or usable in any shape
will do good, I would suggest as most valuable, money with which to buy
lumber and hardware to rebuild houses, and food, hard bread, hominy,
pork and cheap groceries, warm cast-off clothing, thick underclothing,
cooking utensils, such as frying pans, tea kettles, pots, pans, etc.,
second hand as good as any, and children's clothing, of which but a
limited supply has been received.
There will be no necessity to mend up clothing, the sewing societies
will do that and prepare for use bedticking, homespun and cloth of all
kinds.
RELIEF WORK SOUTH OF BROAD RIVER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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