Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-10-09
THE CHINESE FAMINE.
a Nation Of Cannlbals-AvvfuI Pic.
ture OF Distress and Misery.

Shanghai Correspondence New York World.
Again Shantung is heard from, and
if the province ever needed help it
would seem to be now. On April
we read that "the famine increased
daily; no rain has fallen and the
ground is as dry as bone. The dis
tracted mothers, unable to still the
hopeless, unanswered cries of their
children, expend their last efforts in
burying them alive, to stop their
moaning and end their miseries."
Many villages present the came ap-
pearance as If rebel horde had de-
vastated them. As Chinaman re-
marked, "where only short time ago
In passing along, you heard tho bark
ing of dogs and the singing of chill
dren at play, now all is hushed and
still"--the dogs eaten and the people
too weak to laugh and sing, or to do
aught but pray for soon or speedy
death. Here is what one OF the dis
tributors writes of the situation:
"Up to the present time the people
contented themselves with eating
those who had died, but now they
kill the living in order to have them
for food. Husbands eat their wivee,
parents eat their sons and daughters
and children eat their parents" Wo-
men and girls are sold at less than ~
apiece, and human flesh is offered for
sale in the markets. Writes another
"a mother, after having, with her
husband, eaten their little boy, 6 years
old, whom they had themselves kill
ed, prepared also to cut the throat of
their little daughter, s years Old
The little girl began to weep at the
sight of the fatal knife, and the neigh
bors who heard her, arrived just in
time to save her." (Note by Pere Ay-
meri-"Sometimes parents, in order
that they may not be themselves the
executioners Of their own children,
agree with other parents-I will kill
his child for him and he shall kill
mine.") 1t is the same story ofall the
provinces, and bodies of men combine
to attack the smaller haInlets, not to
rob them Of treasure. or seek revenge
for wrongs inflicted. Literally and
truly they 60 about as wolves, seeking
whom they may devour.' 1t would
be possible, were it requisite to con-
tinue this chapter of horrors existing
in these five provinces almost indefi-
nitely, for only half is told, and
that half is weak and tame as compar-
ed to the actual facts, but the particu-
lars of the latest reports are so revolt
ing that it is inexpedient to further
their publicity.
The widest imagination never pic
turcd atrocities or suffering equal to
Il Onn>nn - cNvv ~ nr - ~ ~
out the famine region, and what the
future has In store for them, who can
say? These are not "reminiscences of
the past, but faithful statements of
what is and what must be the condi-
tion of China for months to come, for
bright immediate future 10 not to
be looked for. A full year must
elapse before the natural fruits of the
land or governmnt and private sup
plies, with tho best Of management,
will be able to come with the require
ments, and in the interval China will
be decimated. To expect the foreign
community to continue to any great
extent their liberal contributions OF
tho past,is, in the universal stagnation
Of sstrade, unreasonable, and for the
future 1t must devolve on the benev-
olently disposed Of all nations, to alle-
viate, 30 far as may be, the sorrows
and sufferings Of Cathay. To leave
the victims to the mercy or enterprise
of their rulers, is to leave them to per-
ish, for the central government is too
utterly effete and bankrupt and itl
subordinate officials too given to pee
ulation and self-agrandizemen Ia
give us hope that necessity may
stimulate them to efficient action
So far the aid from this source hal
bcen shamefully inadequate and in
termittent, consisting very largely iu
the remittance or postponement Of tax.
90 they would have found it impossi.
BILE to collect. Even such material aid
% was extended, was unavailable
through lack of means to transport II
and know of NO sadder satire of the
exclusive policy Of China, than hel
government stores Of moulderine
grain, her starving millions scarce
200 miles away, and the rusting rail-
and moss grown r0ad-bsd of the
IWoosung railroad ~ . monument
lagainst her. In closing may state
that tho total foreign aid 80 fal
amounts to 13O, l63. 20 taels, of which
America has contributed . paltry 20(
taels. I have done, and il my story
diverts single dollar from the thou
sand channels of sporadic charity; 1
can convince people that just nov
. pound of rice is worth . ton o
tracts, or that the prayer Of gratitud'
from . poor wretch saved from
; wealthy corporations, then shall I b.
what now am not.