Thl( ii what a farm yard looks like after a tornado hat gone 

 through. When this happened In Gnindy county recently, 300 

 farmers pitched in to help their neighbors clean up. tight: the 



men worked In teams and are shown together on the Cherrie fornt 

 helping to remove some of the heavier debr i s. Seven farms bi the 

 county were leveled by the winds. 



Smn-Timts Pbotc* 



1300 HELP NEIGHBORS 

 IN TORNADO DISASTERS 



IT'S AN old story but it's always touch- 

 ing the way farmers turn out to help 

 neighbors battered by misfortune, be 

 it sickness, flood or tornado. 



Big city dwellers who don't know their 

 next door neighbors read with wonder 

 and admiration the other day of the army 

 of 300 Grundy county farmers who 

 turned out to help their neighbors after 

 a tornado swept through an area 1100 

 feet wide and seven miles long. 



The howling wind twisted, smashed 

 and destroyed practically everything in its 

 path as it rip|>ed across more than a score 

 of farms. Seven farms were leveled. 



Said one farmer looking over the 

 ruin: "It took Pa 45 years to build. This 

 happened in one minute." 



When Farm Adviser M. E. Tascher 

 appealed for help he expected about 50 

 farmers to show up on April 10. At 9 

 a.m. the roads near the elevator were 

 packed with cars and trucks. There were 

 at least 300. And they came not only 

 from Grundy county but also from neigh- 

 boring Will and Livingston counties. 



There was plenty to do at. home, there 

 always is in April, but the men worked 

 through Saturday and Sunday cleaning 

 up. Some were ready Monday to finish 

 the job. When a Chicago newspaper re- 

 porter asked a couple of farmers why 

 they came to help. They looked sur- 

 prised. "These folks are our neighbors," 

 they answered a little puzzled that any- 

 one should ask such a question. 



tornado ripped across the county April 

 7. Five farms were badly damaged. 



The "good neighbor" job was under 

 the direction of Earl Bantz and J. Walk- 

 er Robbins of the Farm Bureau office. 

 The good neighbors turned out with 



saws, shovels, and trucks to move debris, 

 fix fences, and patch buildings. 



Robbins reported that the response was 

 "wonderful." The women were there 

 too, he said, and brought more food than 

 the men could eat. 



The next good neighbor task will be 

 to help the storm victims get their spring 

 crops planted. Some lost their farm ma- 

 chinery and will have to depend on their 

 neighbors entirely. 



Knowing Illinois farmers, they can be 

 sure their faith in their neighbors is 

 well founded. 



NEW ERP HEAD REMEMBERED 

 AS lAA CONVENTION SPEAKER 





ABOUT 1,000 farmers turned out in 

 Champaign county at a call from 

 their Farm Bureau to help farmers clean 

 up in the Flatville-Gifford area after a 



I ARM Bureau people who attended 

 ' the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 annual meeting in 1944 may re- 

 member Paul Hoffman, president of 

 the Studebaker Corporation, recently ap- 

 pointed director of the European Recov- 

 ery Program. 



At that time Hoffman was chairman of 

 the Committee for Economic Develop- 

 ment. He made a spirited address on 

 the committee's plans for a high level of 

 industrial production in the post-war 

 period. 



ERP provides a $6,098,000,000 pro- 

 gram of assistance to Europe, China, 

 Greece, and Turkey for a 12-month 

 period. Additional appropriations are 

 authorized through June 30, 1952 sub- 

 ject to annual congressional review. 



Here, minus certain recent revisions, is 

 the program which Department of Agri- 

 culture officials submitted to the State 

 Department: 



In the first crop year of ERP, 5,820,000 

 metric tons of breadgrains, valued at 

 $536,000,000 (based on prices July 1, 

 1947) will be shipped abroad. Eligible 

 nations will receive 146,000 tons of fats 

 and oils, including butter, worth $80,- 

 000,000; 23,000 tons of meat (mainly 

 horse meat) valued at $6,000,000; and 

 $160,000,000 worth of dairy products, 

 or 375,000 tons. 



Ships carrying ERP commodities will 

 include in their holds 205,000 tons of 

 tobacco — $210,000,000 worth — and 

 521,000 tons of cotton, set at $438,000,- 

 000 in value. Officials have scheduled 

 exports of 40,000 tons of eggs and 26,- 

 000 tons of rice. Other foods and feed- 

 stuffs expected to leave U. S. shores 

 under ERP, include 1,125,000 tons of 

 coarse grains; 198,000 tons of oil cake 

 and me3; 138,000 tons of sugar; 121,000 

 tons of dried fruit; and 482,000 tons of 

 peas and beans and fresh fruits. 



MAY. 1948 



21 



