The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1885-09-02
THE GREAT FLOODS m cHlNA.
OVER TEN THOUSAND f.ERsONs
DROWNED,



WASHINGTON. Aug. 26.--Details
of the destruction in Canton China,
and its vicinity by the recert great
rain storm there, have beer received
iu this city. The food was the most
serious which has visited Canton in
thirty years. More than ten thous-
and persons lost their. lives, and a
] far greater mber are left in starv
| ing condition. Entire villages were
engulfed, and the rice and silk crops
in the vicinity were almost ruined.
The price of rice has been raised Is
per cent. in consequence of the loss
of the crop. The rain fell the lat
ter part of June, filling and over
flowing all the rivers. Many of the
streets in Canton were flooded for
over week.
At Sz-Ni City the water broke
through the city wall. 1t is report
ed that several thousand people
were drowned there. The embank-
ments of the rivers were broken in
numerous places and the water swept
across the surrounding country,
carrying everything before it. A
foreigner. who was an eye witness
of the scene of the devastation, re-
ports that one night the boat he oc-
cupied anchored near bamboo grove.
By morning the water had risen to
the tops of the bamboos. At other
points it rose as high as forty feet
+ in the night. The inhabitants fled
from the villages and camped on the
hillside.
At Kun In, market place, situa-
ted near the embankment of one OF
the streams connected with the river
which brings water from the north
and west rivers, the majority Of the
inhabitants were drowned by the
water breaking through the embank-
ment, Some escaped to a piece OF
rising ground in the neighborhood,
but the water continued to rise and
gradually over topped the elevation,
drowing those who stood upon It.
Seventeen Chinese graduates in
Canton, hearing of the distress and
suffering prevalent to their native
villages, took passage on a boat
: with a view to proceed home to rem
der what assistance they could. On
the way the boat was cspsized and
all in it were drowned. In some
places parents tied their children
! on the branches of trees, while they
instituted measures for their general
. safety. The trees were washed up by
the roots and the heart-rending cries
of the children were siIenced in the
surging waters.
| The body Of bride dressed in her
bridal robes was found floating in
the river at Canton. A large tub
was also seen. 1t was picked up
and found to contain boy and girl.
With them was paper stating their
names, the day and hour of their
birth. The parents had Instituted
this means to save the lives of their
offs spring. The writer of the letter
from which the above is taken says:
The suffering that is being endured
by thousands in this province IS
; simply heartrending. Children
are calling to their parents that they
are hungry, and the brok n-hearted
parents can only reply, with eyes
blinded with tears, that they have
nothing to give them. These floods
will, of course, bring on other calam-
tiles. The subsiding water will leave
an allurial deposit which will bur
den the atmosphere with malarial
! poison. The people are obliged to
use the filthiest water, which must
give them all sorts Of disease"