The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-10-07

tention on the part of the medical officers /,
charge OF those camps as many as S, liz person
have died during the past seven months. TIL,
poor people are so reduced by insufficient o.
unWholesome food before they enter the relic
camps that the efforts of science to restor,
| them generally prove failure
The famine is daily increasing in severity
| lhose VINO bad come little resources in grafr
or money are being gradually reduced to
state OF pauperlsm. The reserves of grain are
exhausted, aud the little property possessed, il
the shape of money utensils, has been Q llc
| TO purchase food and the conse quence is tina,
many who hoped to DO able to tide over the
| famine season without the aid of Government
| find their means all exhausted, and are com
PEELED to seek State relief One OF the worst
| results OF the famine is the Wholesale loss OF
working cattle. which have persisted in thou
| sands for want of fodder. Ia travelling
| through this country you can scarcely "a
we'll thatched house, the straw having been
every where stripped off for food for the fam
ishtng cattle. Already men are employed in
the place of cattle to work the plough and TO
banl carts for the transport of grain TO remote
districts in the interior. And when the famine
comes to an end, no one can see how cnltiva.
ton is to be resumed on account of the
scarcity of cattle. The loss to my poor Cath
Ole people is greater than can realize Ia
the Bellary and Kurnool districts, where the
famine was most severe, there were several
Catholic congregations, numbering in the
aggregate over a OCO souls, who belonged to q
respectable class in Hindoo society. They
the small farmer class in Ireland. They are
all of the T.lugoo race, and have been able
hitherto to maintain themselves comfortably.
Their condition at present is wretched. Un-
willing to seek Government aid they have
sold everything to buy food; their cattle
have for the most part persisted, and from o
condition OF comparative comfort they have
become absolute paupers. In the Chin gleput
district, about thirty two miles from the town
OF Madras, there are several Christian Soudra
villages, aggregattng over 5000 souls, who
ha mo ola . Ill.
and Kurnool, and who like them are now re-
duced to absolute poverty from q condition of
comparative comfort. How all these poor
Catholics will live till January next and if
they do live, how they are to resume their
former position is to me q most serious and
perplexing problem.
Dat of all these calamities some good is like
ly TO result for religion. There is in the Hin
doc population a movement in favor of Cathe-
licity snch as has not been witnessed since the
days of st. Francis Xavier. The French mis-
sions in the Vlcariate Immediately South of
Madras have during the past twelve months
bsptised some Is 600 adults, in addition to 81
900 famine orphans. Though We are not able
to reckon our converts in Madras by thousands,
the number is five times as large as in any
year since the establishment of the mission.
Another way in which the Church draws
good out of the calamities of the year is by
taking charge of the maintenance and educs- |
ton Of the numberiess orphans left by the |
famine. But considerable funds are REQ uired |
present calamity into @ blessing The famine |
orphans cannot be fed DOR can the many Cate
chumens who seek instruction be maint tanned |
without money. The Vicar Apostolic of Pom
dicherry, who has the consolation of numbe
ing his converts by thousands, tells me that
he has already spent in feeding neophytes
and orphans 10000 rupees Csc OOO). He is
poor like all the Indian Bishops, but France,
30 noted for its generous support of the Foreign
has supplied him with the rneaus Of !
1sing for the good of the Church the present
opportunity: Finding his funds exhausted he
was most reluctantly compelled to instruct his
Priests not to incur any further expense on
account of orphans or Catechumens.
Catholics share in common with all other
lal Government under which we live. But it
3 not unreasonable to hope that, when Our
condition is made known to Catholic commu-
ities at home, the sympathies of some bene
oent persons will be enlisted in our behalf;
nd that, in addition to their subscriptions to
be General India Famine Fund, some means
will be furnished to help us to converse the
:atholc congregations scattered here and
Or time the numerous Catechumens who
eek instruction and the many orphans who are
oft destitute by the famine.
l may, in conclusion, state that the Vicariate
Apostolic of Mysore served by the Priests of I
he Congregation of Foreign Missions, with q i
TOSS population of 500 000 and Catholic
opulation 26 600, well as large part ,
f the Vioariate Apostolic of Pondi- ,
berry, with Catholic population of lis 600 |
i British territory and 81 900 in French terri
Dry, suffer as much Madras. The Vicar 1
ties Apostolic of Coimbstore and Madura are Z
reaG sufferers, though in less degree than t
bose above mentioned. If any charitable /
ersons be good as to entrust funds to me i
Or any all of the abovenamed districts, / /
lall be happy to distribute the money as :
lay be instructed. L remain, my dear Sir, =
OURS very sincerey, q
IS. FENNRLLY, Bp. Vic. APP Madras.