p. 12 | THE FAMINE IN CHINA

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 7, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 19.

THE FAMINE IN CHINA.

CHRISTENDOM'S great heart has been deeply touched by the woes of China. First came the devastating war, then the famine, sweeping off its millions of victims, and as a culmination to the catalog of afflictions, the floods along the Yangtse Valley, ruining the crops over a vast area, and drowning thousands of the rice-growing peasantry. After ruining the great dykes, levelling orchards, and sweeping thousands of little homesteads bare, the waters receded, leaving such a scene of misery and helplessness as is seldom the lot of any people.

Such is the Yangtse Valley to-day, where the destitute and the homeless and the orphans are huddled together in helpless droves in the towns and villages, wholly dependent on charity.

During the summer of 1901 there were great floods along the middle course of the Yangtse River, destroying crops in a large part of the provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, Ngankwei, Hupeh, and Hunan. U. S. Consul-general Goodnow says, in an appeal for aid, that at least 1,100,000 people of these provinces must be fed until the next crop grows, or they must starve. Relief-works have been started, and merchants, business men, and missionaries are doing what they can for the helpless, needy sufferers.

An American missionary, Miss Emma Mitchell, thus describes the flood:—

I am living just across from the worst section flooded. The Yangtse began to rise the last of June, and reached its climax in August. The heavy rains added much to its overflow; and many came from the flatlands across from Wuhu, and built mat sheds on the hills outside the city. Soon, on our own side of the river, dyke after dyke gave way with a boom like thunder, and the yellow, muddy water poured over the rice-fields far and near. Each hill soon became an island, and was only reached by boats. One small section was saved by strengthening the dykes. All living on the flats were drowned out, many losing their all. . . . As to the number drowned or killed, no one knows. In one night, during a high wind, it was estimated that one thousand were drowned just across the river, and their dead bodies floated down to a hill seven miles below Wuhu. The officials sent hundreds of coffins; but these being insufficient, many bodies were wrapped in matting, and buried. Whole families were found tied together, and of course dead.

Just now we have several thousands with us. We are feeding over 1,600 a day at our soup kitchen. . . . Each day over a thousand children are taught and fed. . . . At first, in answer to the question, “Why did Jesus come from heaven?” the children would say, “To help us broken-dyke people.”

The most needy have been clothed, over five thousand garments having been given away.

We trust the lessons learned will, in the spring-time, be scattered far and wide.—Condensed from the Christian Herald.

The following is from a missionary writing to the World's Crisis:—

The flood rose and rose until only the tops of the trees and peaks of houses were in sight. The poor people were swept away by the hundred, while those who did get away safe, did so in tubs, and lost almost all. . . . It is now five months after, and yet for miles upon miles in all directions there are great lakes where once was cultivated land. The land lies so low behind the dykes that the fields can not be drained, and so many will be unable to put in a crop next year.

The flood sufferers are still with us. It is so sad to see what we see, and to hear their pitiful cry for work. They don't ask for money, but for work at five cents per day. This will keep a family of three or four from starving. All relief money is spent in hiring them to build dykes. This will not only help them now, but will keep back the floods another time. Each mission here has its hands full and heart also. As we go out we can see them dying by the roadside, starved to death in some cases, and chilled to death in other cases, all the result of a great flood.