Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-03-09
The CHINESE FAMINE,
A vivid StAfeueato OF FaetS "a 20 the orr
Gin and Nature ofthe Crest Calamity.

W..Asv!sF O: doing % l5
the starring Millions I'D gc Lot
Wells N.l1 f Na Or
drawn 3 . ra 30
le e- Nz ars E-1. SAT-,
--os praying ms.
1-. @ me fund known IS the
indemnify Fund which surplus
amounted II - 20 $4,000 sLs-. b
zc-.,ei 20 relieving The famine s,El-ze1
Chinese. TIE objections which -S7e
been us3A il :1= U1i.=3 >ia.es s=-4.=:5
tie carving ar o! .li. scheme 1re tina.
,lc1 4 proposition would give lie 70 no
.J-.e3 lets:e- sll .ra. before me
money could r sent. the pressing Iced
:7r :: would 1a7+ es4~l TIE -ac;s con
:Si-75 IN P-:, William. memorial SIC
extremely distressing AMI zre contained
in the following paragraphs
The u1-eIs -ls1, c.: z5ns Of New
Haven. resp fully AK the attention %;
congress 70 he n-s>sn, distress il the
northern province. Of Cllrs, caasI by
tie failure O. ire usual rains during the
p2., s2mn=r Tie region over which
.1= dzartA exists comprises psr.s O.. The
,71c large provinces o. Chill, >1a-.i,
H5-su and >sensi, contiguous N the
Yellow river. s-i measuring altogether
10: les .1a-u1z LuIlre4tCC-sant square
niles. The province O.. Slausi. We. o..
FezinE, i.s1 upland region, lie moan
lain. bare q Tees no means o. irrigation,
s14 ~ttueu1eu: On tie rainfall .-r ii,
a--us. LarTe:.E: and O this j. the
third .szSl1 II which l::.e or nOrsll has
fallen 10 il. southern districts. Ile har-
,ssi-. ds.sl.- O. the e~Z.rsm..les 70
which the furnishing inhabitants were
reduced TWO months ago have beeu re-
ported hy eyewitness, Protes.an. and
Catholic missionaries, - that there can
Il II dJub. That j. is 0re0. the mos.
ssriou. and viissDresI ca'ani.ifs O.
modern times. The governor OF ~lausi
reports, in his appeal 70 PeSinE for
aid. tina: between three and four
millions Of people are dependent on
c-Ecia. support. In the southern par.O!
tbs. province there remains neither bank
Of tees uer wild herbs 70 be eaten; and
ordinary food slutis, grain and meats,
hsys disappeared. Ia some places the
people have been eating earth to Prolong
lie. while husband, were selling their
wives, ard parents their children, to pre-,
serve. if possible, all from death. A,
may readily be inferred, all who were
able had lett their homes TO seek q preca.
rious subsistence in other provinces, and
the road. were tbroDged with hosts OIL
beggars.
In the midst Of this sudden and ire.
mendous woe the imperial government
has been more than usually alert in doirg
what it can to relieve its subjects, nor
has private philanthropy among the PEG.
pie been idle; but the urgent demand.
for help far overpass their means to re-
lisve them. The population Of the entire
region suffering from want of the usual
harvest last year is estimated at not less
than 10000 900; and Of this vast number
Of our fellow. men there can hardly be
less than l0,000.G00 now in a condition
OF utter restitution. 1t is inevitable,
therefore, that before the winter
is over, and the crops can
be gathered in next May and
June, hundreds Of thousands, if not mil.
lions Of tie sufferers must inevitably
: perish. No human agency can reach all
|. of them, and no rhetoric can add
!, strength to the facts which describe the
suferings endured or the dreadful mean,
. taken to allay them,
8" ia view OF this unexpected visitation
your memorialists respectfully represent
to your honorable body their belief thai
, the present call for help is one which
; commends itself as a national affair. II
! the recent famine in India the means
skill and power of the British govern
ment were taxed to the utmost to saw
E life, while private %beneyOlence was no.
r lacking to supplement public aid. But
+. the Chinese government cannot com
mand the means, the skill or the powe
2 to meet this call Gifts distressed subjects
!. and it is chiefly the necessities and dis
i tresses offs common humanity which Civ
force to this appeal for aid. A little ba
d been done by private charity, and be
. tween $4,000 and : 5000 have been sen
to Shanghai. 1t is not necessary to sen
t out food, for there is enough in China t
i relieve the furnishing; the funds ar
e needed to get them. They can be trans
mitted by telegraph 80 as to be immed
atelv available"