STATE OF CHINA

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1973, 8 January 1907, Page 3

STATE OF CHINA

i covering an area of 40,000 squa miles, supporting a population of : millions. None of tlio crops, it a pears, had been gathered, and all tl necessities ol lito had doubled in pric thousands of houses were dostroyoi and thousands ol pcoplo wore livin on one meal a day, and often tha meal was composed only of gruel an sweet potato leaves. The farmer wore selling thoir working animals t buy food, and had no wheat to plan lor next year’s crops. Yesterday’, advices state that, unless relief Ik given from eight to ton millions ol those people will soon bo face to face with famine, and great numbers ol them must polish. Tho missionaries iiavo appealed to the sympathy of all Christians and philanthropic people '“ feeding the unfortunato sufleieis Tlie matter has been taken Cliinn U T, l by iH'r- 1 “ Cal branell of tlie China Inland Mission, and any donations forwarded to them will be transmitted to the central body.

is ration or the savord. w„„ p npofrd from Tainkningpu t. u 9 anal > the Haichou si.l, V ™ + a I j as I l,uco| iie a hotbed ofdis • content and that tho people then it no on tlio point of rebellion. Tin ;s disaffected people are sufferers iron a 1 eeqnt Hoods there. They fine ,\ *^i‘ SS | IStal ‘ CC i sont by tll ° nuthoritiei 11 olly J na ‘?°fl llato to roliovo theii i. ''l;-’ , Furthermore, when, finding r s.?ffe« r n fcJl ° unfortunate f C inal , attempted to cross the Grand ' .q'm* 1 . aud emigrate southwards to the 1 tlic mtl" K 'c ,< ' tter ‘ pi ' ovl<led districts, . vtl rli f opposed tho movement tt ymljoats a „,j troops, who forced ' i n nnrV'f " e .f. ~a ° rels > numbering some , 10,000 families, to return to their flood-devastated sub-profecture, with sooM°r iS f t i! at s ‘?fficient .food would food 1? iortbeommg. The promised lood, however, never came, and tho inL> el ?, rS le , refo r° for «ied themselves mto aimed bands and began raiding tlio towns and hamlets in tlieir neighborhood. At the beginning they wire numerically weak, but wore speedily tunu°-md >y des fferadoes froin Sliansnr)ot; m l A , ll - hlwi > .members of secret a read v’ W,l ° s f tho discontent 4 leady means for forwarding; their I own aims to start a big rebellion hi dk°afff 0l V lt i ry ' 13 re P orted that tho disaffected peasants, who were at first merely what is called ‘ Forao-in<>- for the necessaries of life,’ had by this cided n to CCrofc l io, | l t 0 their numbers dccitled to rebel in earnest, as it is th, at aTO ,U | oltll ,°r case—starvation, or at, ~? According to the inform'iViiml lecolved , ,J y, tho authorities in (the headquarters of the I Gommancler-in-Chief lviangpoli), there are at least IS,OOO of the’‘Great fronf T al ‘ i Sk °io S,vord ’ societies, ii om Isaochou, Shantung, and the An-lmei cities on the Kiangpeh borders, respectively, in tho ranks of the nanmd e Chu ‘t ?S ° le f ler is a man . at HaiSu.” fol ' mer ia,mCr ° f .

THE FAMINE. The Rev. S. C. Patterson, writing fiom the Southern Presbyterian iMis10th “says 1 *— lell) lUlder dato October “There is only one item—AVant! Ifc IS 011 u ? witb its savage lta anaenna, its sickening langour and its levers. Perhaps there are ten million souls in the area fitt Cted ’ Whon tlle "heat was lost ieais were expressed over and over again tffl-we grew callous,and thought that it was probably not so bad after ad, as farmers complain after every en, r w St ‘ ■ f m, Ju , ly ? ains rotted the com (maize). I lie lands were ploughed ern,? iU f USt ’ “u h °P eS ° f al > autumn crop of corn, beans, and potatoes encouraged tlie people. Two weeks later the whole lace of the country was again flooded, and much more than naif ol tlie later crops were destroyed. Even at this time of writing the I whole ot the lowlands have again becorne so flooded that it will be very late before the wheat can be sown, if at an. I Ins has, of course, raised the price of cereals to two or three times the normal market rate. Atrip northwards from Chinkiang now gives I one an idea of the fearful floods. All along the canal water is in tlie houses and boats are anchored at the doorposts. The lakes whicli lie west of I oaymg and Kaoyiu, and cover quite 1000 square miles in ’ normal seasons I aie n °w nearly 10ft higher than usual I the yellow flood wrinkling and glintmg on tlie horizon tells a tale of the woe left in its track. On seeing an o, d acquaintance, and hearing of the almost absolute failure of his crops, I asked, ‘lf that is true, now tell mo, I honestly liow you with your 12 mouths to teed, are living at all?’ He said they had been living on elm and sweet potato leaves, mixed with a I handful of grain, and boiled. He calculated that even such poor food I would only last till New Year, and after that he did not know wliat would . happen, and tliov would pro- I hably not all be able to see another •n V ? relief that can be given I wili be entirely inadequate. If one should give all his substance to feed the poor, it would hardly bo felt beyond ills immediate neighbor. AVe hope to be able to distribute relief funds to those within our reach. But probably money cannot be wisely given away before late winter or early spring. In the meantime all our poor acquaintances are bringing all their furniture and stuff and begging us to purchase it, that they may provide for the present.”

inOTURES OF DESOLATION. Mr M. B. Grier, of the Southern l resbytorian Mission at Hsuchonfu, ■vrites: —“Early in July 1 wrote of nie disastrous floods in all the nortlivest section of Kiangsu. The high water continued for six or eight iveeks longer, and the results aro lard to describe, because of not know>»S "here to begin. The receding >* the waters began two or three weeks ago, bringing to view pictures ot desolation probably never witnessed by tlie people of this province since Hip days of the Yellow River’s inundations. The loss of human life has been small, but the destruction of crops is about as complete as a flood could make it. The wheat crop had been harvested just before tlie rain set in, and was estimated then at only about 60 per cent, of tlio normal yield. Much of this was, of course, badly damaged, because of tlie inability of the farmers to keep it dry, so that only about half-crop was really saved. Since the almost total destruction of everything else this half-crop of wheat becomes the whole food supply for a district so thickly settled as to yield only a scanty support in normal seasons. | Prices have risen rapidly. Flour that was considered dear' a year ago at 25 to 30 cash a catty now sells at from 152 to 60. Fuel is also dear, as the main supply is generally millet and sorghum stalks, now very scarce. The | coal dealers say the mines are flooded I and cannot easily be worked, lienee, I coal has more than doubled in price. 1 Nothing is cheap, except chickens, 1 ducks, hogs, and such animals as conI same grain. I BANDS OF DESPERADOES. I “Robbers, thieves, tramps, and I rowdies are said to he everywhere I made desperate by their loss of food I I have not been able to hear of ■. I single community where there wa: I not disorder. IVe hear sickenin') : I stories of abandoned children. M- • I servants report having seen childrei ■ I several years old thrown out, iiei iI so that they could not follow thei i I parents home. Tlie orphanage i ’ I full to overflowing, and it is sai 1 1 that no more children will be rt -1 ccived. A day or two later foil -1 were left at tlie door, and room fc 3 I them was at first denied, but afte: s I wards some way must have been d< e I vised, for the children disappears •, I At the time of writing- the funnel - I are receiving another set-back. The d 1 have been making strenuous off or e I to plant their wheat, but a steal e I rain has set in, and if it centime i-| much longer all hope of a relief ne: o I spring will be lost. The burden fal 5. I heaviest on the city people, wl d | must buy all they consume. T 1 y I country people can eke out the io scanty supply of the spring harvest while longer,”

A HEARTRENDING TALE. Tho Sydney Morning Herald of Doconibor 25th states ;—Letters wore received by the China Inland Mission yesterday by tho steamer Tsinan giving full details of tho devastation and disaffection in somo pnrtß of China. It seems that owing to tlio unprecedentedly heavy rains during tho months of June, July, August, and Soptombor a large part of the northern district of Kaing-su uiul Anlmei provinces was. iloodod. Tho flooded districts wore estimated as

'7 Dairying itoins from tho Fannors’ Union Advocate :—Tho day is coining when thero will bo a woighing liuichino on ovory farm, and tho stock will havo to pass a regular test. —Givo her a fair chance, and the cow will elotho the children, buy comforts for tlio wife, pay tho taxes, and help lift tho mortgage.— “In tho mattor of economic production of milk and butter fat, thore aro three factors • viz., first, tho man ; second, tho cow; third, tho feed ” —ln buying your foedors for market, select hornless cattlo if possible, tho American Farm Journal says. They aro quiotor and n largor number can ho kept in a small lot,—

Tho eow that fills tho milk-pail and tlio pocketbook is tlio one that lias hud plonty of pure water, plenty to oat and plenty of kind words. She is a iinpjiy eow, and ho is a happy dairy farmer.