Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1877-09-27
The Famine in India.

All Hlndoos are charitable by nature
Most families have crowds OF hungry hang
ers-ou. even In the best OF times but with
this great dcarth the family burdens have
been greatly added to. In going through
a street Of the more veal ny part OF the
town, II Il common 10 see al almost every
house number OF poor people collected
waiting for the dailyidole of food and In thl.
way the native communities Of this and
other towns have been doing quietly aud
unostentatioasly great deal to help their
poorer breathren 10 the struggle for life
But from all that can iearu distres. Il
already reaching the class above the very
poor With these there are caste difficulties
about getting food at the regular relief
houses and many are gradually starving be-
fore the pressure becomes so great that
they will leave behind their pride and socia
prejudlces and Join the common herd Of gov
ernment Kitchens. With regard To the town
OF Madras the local committees are now
making Inquiries regarding the numbers
OF the better classes who are In want OF
relief, and this relief will be administered
as far as possible la Il manner consonant
with the feeling aud usages of the classes
We wish TO heneht.
1t is quite certain that the destitution is
very real. Within a stones throw ofmy
V"h hpAnc thCft - uatlNt ttuantei
by servants OF Europeans. small shopk eep-
ers and others, aud for some time
pas, my wife has been feeding n few little
starvellngs belonging 10 this village on
bread and milk. These are not immigrants
but children of our local poor. and out OF
dozen little things who come every morn
Ing for their food, two or three are so far
gone that they will not be saved II We
fed all who wanted help out Of this small
village, We should have hundreds on the
list.
As write there comes before me
woman with two children, the woman In
the last stage of exhaustion, one child at
the breast.with the face like a little wien
ed old man. and its body mere skeleton,
the other little girl OF, nveivears Of age ,ex-
tremely emaciated aud feeble. With this
family are two young girls. both miser-
ably thin and famine stricken. aud with
their strength quite spent. They all speak
with voices that are thin, aud sounding as
II far away, just as happens In patients Ia
the last stage OF cholera. A little warm
soup and bread and milk for the chill dren
reviyes all OF them la a wonderful way.
AFTER rest they get a meal of curry and
rice, and are sent off in a cart to relief
camp. Standing at the entrance gate of
my house can In half an hour count hun
utcus VI WtttcHtu creatures VINO nave
hardly strength enough lett to drag their
weary limbs along. These are the house
less and homeless wanderers from distant
villages, for whom the government provid-
es centres of relief; but the people viii not
rest quietly and conserve their energies.
The drag themselves and their feeble
children about, wandering from camp to
camp, until the time comes for them TO
lie down and die.
Deaths In the street are getting more
frequent. One day last week | saw
small crowd assembled near the Govern.
ment House. The people were gathered
round famine family one OF whom, a
little girl Of seven, was dying OF exhaustion.
The bystanders were trying to feed her
with milk and rice, but she could not swal.
low. In Bangalore hear that the peo-
pie die IN the streets at the rate of fifteen
or twenty day, and the police In Madras
are reporting such deaths as common.
There comes time in the course of every
famine when the people affected by the
scarcity can neither exert themselves nor
bear any climate changes without great
peril To life. Bodies enfeebled by long
privation are very susceptible 70 fatigue
and weather changes. The last ten DAYS
have been alralny time, andkhe mortality
among the famine camps has been higher
than ever.-LoAdoR Times Nddros- CORES.
p0adeRce, august s.