Wichita eagle., 1888-09-14

r
. Pathetic Incidsnt-Refuge in the Mount
ains-Grayes Of Great 1Ien-After thu
Floods Subsistence.
, The water Of the Yangtse Kiang had been
, rising, and at last it had overfowed its banks
and filed the plain. The city Of Kin Kiang
where was living, was half submerged, and
the only outlying lowlands were covered
with water. AS many as had boats, and
had warning enough to take to them, had
sought refuge on adjacent highlands. This
brought many hungry refugees to Kiukiang,
which added to an already overcrowded pop
ulation, and half submerged streets made it
good piece to get away from.
native magistrate told me that there
were no less than 10000 of these hungry and
impoverished wretches in the city They
had neither silver nor gold, and depended
for subsistence solely upon the charitable, Of
whom China has a goodly number, and upon
what they could steal or pick up. So great
was the distress and SO irnportunate the cries
for bread Tor rice) that many merchants
closed their stores to get rid of the cries Of
the hungry for food. I had forty pound
"Rob Roy" canoe, which 1 kept in my parlor
for safety. The water stood some two feet
deep at my front stoop. l launched the canoe
81 TIE door and made excursions through the
| streets OF the city, and many were the
novel sights. The stores and shops had
| water In many instances TO the counter tops,
/ Grd upon these sat merchants who kept
guard over goods stored upon shelves and
/ hanging from beams above the water line,
entered these stores in my canoe, and
/ traded and chatted with the merchants who
amused themselves between customers by
watching the fish which swarmed in vast
schools IN the stores and fed upon the falling
crumbs OF rice thrown them by the clerks.
Occasionally I would find resident street
upon lower ground where the water covered
the doors and where the only means of pass
age was through holes made in the tile roofs
L frequently found families living upon i'm
provlsed lofts and the children were sl1s-
pended in baskets or tubs hanging from the
beams or rafters
HOPELESS PLEADING FOR RESCUE
passed one street built Of reed and adobe
shantles, where the frail houses of the poor
We're rapidly yielding to the encroaching
waters. One house had Just cruInbled away,
and the late occupants-a man and woman
were standing in the water to their ar1npits.
holding on to their little possessions, in the
way Of scanty wardrobe and crude bedding.
and pleading in piteou3 but fruitless PRAYERS
for rescue. My boat was so light as to re-
quire careful manipulation to carry one in
safety. To render aid was out of my power.
SO that all | could do was to do nothing in the
way of relief. shall never forget the look
OF helpless grief and stoical submission to
fate that marked the faces of that hapless
pair as rowed past them, and as could not
help the suffering and my life and health
We're in danger, l betook myself to the noun
tains, where the air was clear and healthful.
till the floods should subside The Journey
to the high ground was long and tedious. but
once On the heights we secured quarters with
some Buddhist monks in an ancient temple.
After days rest and recuperation we
WhIled the time away in exploring the noun |
talns. Hid away in the most inaccessible |
places We're the graves of distinguished dead, |
which had for centuries been overgrovn |
with acacia bushes, now in full bloom, and |
whose rich blossoms loaded the pure noun
tain air with a sweet perfume The only re-
naming relics of these tombs were the carved
and entablated stones, which told in crude
hieroglyphics of the renown of the men
whose bones had long since returned to dust.
Around these graves, wild bears now found
q hiding place, and huge serpents coiled their
Shiny bodies and alternately slept and fed
upon such birds and mice as chance brought
within reach.
AFTER THE FLOOD.
Now and then we came upon tall groves of
bamboo, from whose branches our guns
brought down wild pigeons, which found a
warm welcome upon our table. In the
gorges were crude mills fitted with wheels
upon which the spring fed 'babbling brooks"
Ieu N ceaseiess torrents in their rush to the
sea. Upon the ends Of Anticipated levers
were huge stone pestles which fell with meas
ured stroke upon stone pots filed with dried
sandalwood and camphor brush and reduced
them to fine powder, which were worked into
paste with oil ard made into incense sticks,
whose sweet smelling odors as they burned I
upon Buddhist affairs appeased the wrath Of
the gods
Two weeks were thus passed, when we re-
turned to our yacht and after a few hours ! s
sail again cast anchor off the crowded city.
The waters had subsidized and the populous
city was again busy with the ceaseess chatter E
ard CHATTER If oriental commerce But the
iood had left tears and desolation in it's
racks. Where a few weeks before wera (
crowded streets of humble homes of the poor
vas now only clean washed sand plain. The
adobe houses had been dissolved In mud and
washed away. Many people had gone into a
he tide and become food for sharks and por-
'oises Their place Of sepulture will never
70 marked by carved stone, nor their graves
listed by filial descendants. No last honors {
we're performed over their biers. TIE places :
which had kncwn them simply knew them ;,
70 more They Were gone Survivors
luickly erected like shanties upon the spots :
there the Others had been, and awaited their L
urn to be drowned the next food that came.
The Chinese, like the traditional Arkansas
armer, never mend their dikes when there is .
10 food. because they do not need it then; ;
nd wien the hoods come they cannot mend :
hem a
The loss OF lie and property by that food Ia
Vii never be stated in figures; but to the end St
1 my life shall never forget the scenes Of \
oFrOw and desolation then Hitnessed--C a
eSe Letter Il
shrewdness of q Confederate. =
The hero Of the following anecdote, boy ~
I l6, was not Yankee, as might naturally "
q supposed but q Johnny Reb.n He had -