Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-01-13
The Grcn, Flood in OHM.

THE MOST TERRIBLE DISASTER OF MODERN
TlMEs-THREE THOUSAND VILLAGES IN
GULFED AND nIE DEAD NUMBERED BY
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
The awful catastrophe of which Ho Nan
the garden Of China, has been the scene, is
certainly the most appalling OF modern
times in its enormous loss Of life and de
struction 10 farms, villages and cities which
had been deemed secure against any sudden
inundation. 1t is difficult for Americans
or Europeans to realize the fun extent of
the disaster, since nothing anywhere ap-
preaching it in magnitude has been expert
cnced 10y the western world within histori-
cal times Following is the story in brief
as told by the London Standards CORES
pondent at Shanghai
About one sixth Of the entire area Of the
garden of China, as llo Nan is styled, is
now converted into vast lake. with pa
CODA top or the gable Of some higher wall
rising over the river Of increasing waters
10 mark the site Of what were "a short time
ago prosperous cities Of many thousand in
hahtantS. The rest Of the country is over
run with wretched refugees " hu were for
tunatr enough to escape with their lives
though with nothing else In hundreds of
instances men who, three short months ago.
were men OF wealth, today sit gazing ON the
inland sea, stunned, hungry, stupid and de
jccted, without rug to wear or morsel of
food to eat.
The inundations began little distance
from kaifung Flu, one of the largest cities
of the province, and IN one instant some
four miles of solid embankment of stone.
brick, sand and clay were swept away. In
the districts Of Ching Chow and Chen Chow
no less than 1000 large villages are reported
to have been engulfcd in very few mo
ments, and scarcely any of their i'll fated
people had time to save themselves, Us the
breach occurred in the night. An extent
of country much larger than the whole
princlpality of Wales and much more thick
~ populated, is now a raging sea, and all
the inhabitants are either drowned or have
fled The people 50 terribly visited cannot
number far short of the whole population
Of Ireland, as the province includes about
21,OOOOOO inhabitants, with an area of G5,
600 square miles, and the waters of the riv-
er now cover between 5000 and III. 600
square miles.
The accounts daily published in the native
and foreign papers and in the Pekin Ga
zette reveal most horrible sufferngs under
gone by the survivors, who are perishimg
of famine. In hundreds of cases on the
present occasion, when the waters rushed
into the cities, sweeping walls, houses and
everything down before them, the people
refused to stir, and met their death with
that wonderful Indifference which charac-
teri2es the Chinese in some cases, for the
Celestial is nothing if not fatalist of the
most pronounced and unreasoning type.
According To the best and most Trustworthy
authorities, the loss of life will not be num-
bered by thousands or by tens of thousands,
but literally by hundreds of thousands,
while the starving people must amount 10
many millions, who are utterly beggared
and depending for subsistence upon the
charity of others. The emperor has al
ready contributed 100, 900 taels out of his
private purse besides paying 2OO,0 taels
out Of the imperial treasury toward the re
lief of the sufferers