AT FLOODS IN CHINA.

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 64, 10 January 1918, Page 3

AT FLOODS IN CHINA.

■ Appalling Loss of Life. The typhoon disaster in part of Japan is nothing to what is being suffered in China in the province of Chihli (writes the "New East,") Drought throughout the spring and summer, threatening famine on a formidable scale, was sucin the lata summer and \| early autumn by heavy rains. The rivers debouching upon the Chihli plains from the Western hills all burst their banks. The result was a huge lake, estimated to measure 15,000 square miles. Most of the Chihli rivers have uo outlet to the sea, but lose themselves in the marshy region north and west of Tientsin. When floods come upon this region they stay, sometimes for two or three years. The present floods exif ceed anything that has occurred \ for a quarter of a century. The * flooded country is rich and thickly populated by agriculturalists, mostly living in mud villages. In ordinary flood .times the water surrounds the villages and penetrates into the streets without damaging the houses. It leaves a rich covering of silt on the fields, and if there is some damage to property it is compensated for by the increased fertility of the land. When the floods are heavier the houses are invaded and collapse, and the inhabitants rhave to flee, and may not be able N to e.uttiva'te" theiif yea/ or more. This happened in 1912, when 70,000 of the people were made homeless. This autumn the floods exceed all experience, and as there is no possible means ©f removing the water it is safe to say that by the time winter sets in millions will have lost , their, lives by drowning or starvation. Tientsin, more or less protected - by dyk«s from ordinary floods, has been inundated, the native city and the Japanese concession suffering most. Within the city the homes of hundreds of thousands have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, while the majority of the foreign houses in the concessions have two or three feet of water in the lower rooms. i Thou sands of refugees have come " into the city destitute and starving. One gruesome story is told of the inhabitants of a village, numbering about 1000, who set forth on rafts made of doors, tables, chairs, logs of wood, and anything that would float, seeking a place of refuge. They were overtaken by a storm, and all w A ere drowned. The situation between Tientsin and Paotingfu cannot be described, for nothing is known of it beyond the fact that the country is flooded and devastated. Tientsin itself is in a critical position, for the Grand Canal, which is in reality, for 100 miles before reaching Tientsin, the course of the Wei River, is pouring water into it. There is the danger of the Yellow river leaving its present course and flowing north into the Wei, and thereafter seeking a new outlet to the sea. Up to October 10 there has been no subsidence of the water at Tientsin, and there is grave fear that frost may set in before schemes for pumping the concessions dry can be put into operation. Damage to property in that case would be enormous when the thaw set in. Disease is also feared, for nearly 1,000,000 people are dwelling in what is practically stagnant water.