Page "Kirovohrad" Paragraph 17

Elizabethgrad was ravished by famine in 1901 which was made worse by poor government response.

The region itself is extremely fertile.

However, a drought in 1892 and poor farming methods which never allowed the soil to recover, prompted a large famine that plagued the region.

According to a 1901 NY Times article, the Ministry of the Interior denied that the persistence of famine in the region and blocked non-State charities from bringing aid to the area.

In the opinion of the NY Times author, " The existence of famine was inconvenient at a time when negotiations were pending for foreign loans.

" The Governor of the Kherson region, Prince Oblonsky, refused to acknowledge this famine.

Nevertheless, one non-resident and non-State worker was able to gain access to Elizabethgrad and could provide the NY Times with an eye-witness account