American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-10-07
STARVATION IN BULGARIA
Another Startling Picture of the HOr-
rOrs of War-The Sufferings of the
Bulgarian Women and Children-De-
spafr of the Mothers

rOfs of War-The Sufferfngs of the
Bulgarian Women and Children-De-
spafr of the Mothers
| IFrom the London Daily News.J
But the dead are less to be pitied than
the living. They have been reduced
from ease and comfort to the condition
of wild administrations homo, without
shelter, without bedding, almost with.
out clothing, and living on what food
they can pick up from day to day
There are women here who have known
comfort, who are weak and ill, and who
have three or four little children to feed
They go out in the fields, reap enough
wheat for the days food, painfully
thresh it out with their hands, pound il
into flour between two stones, and bake
it into bread for their little ones day by
day; and sleep, like the foxes, in the
corner of ruined wall on little straw
| at night. There are little children here
haggard and thin and siekly, sleeping
almost on the bare ground, and, when
it rains, on the wet ground. Nobody
who has not seen it can imagine the
misery caused by the burning of a vii
lage.
The authorities had sent some tents
here for the people, which were old and
ragged, capable of sheltering them from
the sun, but not from the rain. But
there were not en- ough for all. The
Mudir likewise received a little food
now and then, which he distributed,
which barely kept those who had no
harvests or other means of existence
from starving. But there was not
enough, and the supply was uncertain,
and might cease at any moment. When
we were starting, the women and chill
dren gathered around us by the hun
dred, and blocked up the way. They
showed us thin, ragged clothing, and
said: "See; we were rich; we had a
house, and furniture, and cattle, and
sheep, and these rags are all we have
left" They barred their lean, skinny
arms, to show US their fearful emacia-
ton; they barred their shrunken, shriv-
eled breasts, at which lean, haggard,
wretched babes were Juggling, to show
us they had no milk. God knows, their
hollow cheeks, and sunken eyes, and
despairing faces were proof enough.
They said: "We are starving; our
babes are starving starving to death.
Can you do nothing for usP'' And we
could do nothing; nothing but shed
useless tears.
And the Turks of the neighboring
villages, who have taken the horses and
sheep and cattle of these starving wom-
en- and children, their clothing Eand
bedding, and the tiles from their roofs,
come to the village sometimes, and ride
through on the horses they have stolen,
looking upon this misery with indiffer-
emit eyes. We saw several here who
had come out of mere curiosity, well
fed, fat, insolent, smiling their con-
tempt for the starving beings around
them. The Turk is not only without
pity, he is without patriotism. He does
not look upon these people as his neigh
bors, his countrymen. He is too igno-
rant and stupid to. know that in injuring
them he is injuring himself, that he is
attacking his own country. He knows
no such thing as country. He knows
only Islam. The people of India, the
nomadic tribes of Central Asia, whom
he has never seen, of whom he has
heard once or twice perhaps in his life,
are nearer to him than his next door
neighbors. The words country, patri-
otism, do not exist in his language.
IL irh
bors, are his countrymen, that on them
as much as on himself depend the great
ness and prosperity of his country, is a
fact which has no place in his mind,
which has no influence on his acts. He
knows only that they form no part of
the religion of Mohammed, and he looks
no further.
When we left the village hundred of
these women ran after us for mile with
their cries and lamentations. 1t seems
they thought at first We had come to
bring them food or succor of some kind,
and when they learned that we had only
come to make an inquiry their disap-
pointment was bitter and overpowering,
and they sat down by the wayside, with
their little ones about them, crying and
wringing their hands, rocking Them
selves to and fro. and moaning, rather
to themselves than for us, "What shall
we dor What shall we dop We are
starving! We are starving to death!"
ONCE upon a time, and not very long
ago, a reverend gentleman entered the
cars at station in New England with
three pieces of baggage, which he de-
posted in three different seats,
and then seated himself in fourth.
Many passengers entered and looked
inquiringly at these seats, but in vain.
By-and-by the reverend gentleman took
out a Bible and began to read. A youth
sitting near asked to borrow the Bible,
and after making some commonplace
remark upon the excellent type and
good binding, suddenly said, in a tono
which could be heard all AROUND, 81
will read fsw passages from Paul's
Epistle to James: BE We kind and