Word: drought
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...tons of soil billowing through the sky. Housewives in Des Moines could write their names in grime upon their table tops. Aviators had to climb 15,000 ft. to get above the pall. A dust storm 900 mi. wide, 1,500 mi. long swept out of the drought-stricken West. In dust-darkened Chicago excited Board of Trade brokers bid up wheat prices 5? in one day (the maximum), raised the price to 93? a bu.-up 17? in two weeks. That day 6,000 tons of finely divided wheat fields fell on Chicago's roofs and sidewalks...
...Harry L. Hopkins promised $450,000 cash to Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota. The Government also promised to buy a "substantial number" of cattle in drought areas, to ask railroads to reduce freight charges on cattle going out and feed coming into desolated states. Finally soft drizzles began throughout the Midwest, enough to lay the dust. But soaking rains were needed to save what was left of the crops and soaking rains had not yet come...
...last week the delegates of 21 nations at the World Wheat Conference in London had talked themselves dry. Most of them wanted arbitrarily to boost the export price of wheat 10%. Leaders of this faction were three great wheat-sellers: Canada, Australia and the U. S. Drought in those lands had reduced the wheat crop, already boosted the price. Last August's Conference had given them such adequate export quotas for the current year (Canada: 200,000,000 bu.; Australia: 105,000,000; the U. S.: 47,000,000) that they were willing to give up part of them...
...drought and fair weather had hopelessly split the delegates. And Britain's Sir Herbert Robson, head of the London Grain Exchange, split them further by growling: "I view with deep concern the increasing interference of governments with international trade. . . . The delegates are very charming diplomats, but very few of them know anything about wheat." Finally last week Argentina's Delegate Tomas A. Le Breton broke up the meeting by handing in Argentina's flat refusal to join in a minimum price agreement. That produced the climax all members had long been expecting. A subcommittee was named...
...stockmarket's sorry performance inflationists blamed dollar stabilization and brokers blamed the threat of regulation. But more disinterested observers laid it to the flattening curve on the business chart. Trade was still far above last year but the amazing Easter retail boom had tapered off. The drought-inspired rise in commodities was more than offset by fear of a staggering drop in farmers' incomes. Power production was well above the same week of 1933 but a 2% decrease from the previous week was more than seasonal. Automobile production was still setting "not since" records, but Detroit was thick...