This is wliat a farm yard loolcs lilce after a tornado lias gene 

 tlirough. When this happened in Grundy county recently, 300 

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



men worlced in teams and are shown together on the Cherrie form 

 helping to remove some of the heavier debris. Seven forms in th* 

 county were leveled by the winds. 



Skft Timf Phnlot 



1300 HELP NEIGHBORS 

 IN TORNADO DISASTERS 



ITS 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 ripped across more than a score 

 of farms. Seven farms were leveled. 



Said one farmer looking over the 

 ruin: "It took Pa 4*) years to build. Tliis 

 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 tlity 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. 



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 



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 neighlxir task will be 

 to help the storm victims get their sprmg 

 crops planted. .Some lost their farm ma- 

 (.hincrv and will have to depend on their 

 neighbors entirely. 



Knowing Illinois farmers, thev (an be 

 sure their faith in their neighbors is 

 well founded. 



NEW ERP HEAD REMEMBERED 

 AS lAA CONVENTION SPEAKER 



FARM Bureau people who attended 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 annual meeting in 194-4 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 S6.098.000,000 pro- 

 gram of assistance to Europe, China. 

 Greece, and Turkey for a 12-month 

 period. Additional appropriations are 

 authorized through June 30. 1932 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, '^,820.000 

 metric tons of breadgrains, valued at 

 S336.000.000 (based on prices July 1, 

 1947) will he shipped abroad. Eligible 

 nations will receive 146.000 tons of fats 

 and oils, including butter, worth Sso.- 

 000.000; 23.000 tons of meat (mainly 

 horse meat) valued at S^.OOO.OdO; and 

 SI 60.000.000 worth of dam- products, 

 or 3'"^.000 tons. 



Ships carrying ERP commodities will 

 include in their holds 20'i.ooo tons of 

 tobacco — S2 1 0.000.000 worth - and 

 '^21.000 tons of cotton, set at S (38.000. - 

 0(H) in value. Officials ha\e schedulcci 

 exports of 40.000 tons of cgu's an.] 2(>.- 

 000 tons of rice. Other foods and feed- 

 stufTs expected to leave U. S. shore* 

 under ERP. include 1.1 2*^.000 tons oi 

 coarse grains: 198.000 tons of oil cake 

 and meal; 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 



