The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-11-20

Inold Is I2mlne-Surlcken, clCl6Id-
scourged and plague-visited. Famine
was bad enough, famine and cholera
seemed a heavy scourge, but the ap-
pearance of the bubcnic plague. or
black death in Bombay has flied the
cup of calamity to its t-snbling brim.
India is indeed stricken this year.
What the famine is may be gathered
from the fact that less than half the
usual rainfall has been received, and
the greater part of wlnAt has fallen
came unseasonably. Rice, wheat and
the cheaper grains, upon which mil
lions live, have Slowly shriveled under
the burning sun. Pastures have become
crisp and yellow. Every breeze carried
its two-fold burden of heat and dust.
Cattle are mere skeletons, and starving
huma nifty abOunGS. In many parts OF
the faGnine-stricken districts the popu-
latiOn numbers as high as 700 TO every
square mite Imagination can fill in
the details Of the suffering which crop
failure means to these close-huddled
millions of our fellow beings Even
the guarded wording of government re-
ports show how desperate a cOGlSerVa-
tive government considers the situa-
ton. l quote from the Weekly ALA
habad Pioneer of Oct. s:
1.-The continued drought is proving dis
astrous to the standing crops, Axcept
where irrigation is practicable, and rain
is very urgently required throughout the
provinces. Agricultural operations for
the spring sowingS are retarded for
want Of sufficient moisture. Prospects
continue to be unfavorable. Flights of
locusts passed over several districts and
caused slight damage to the crops in
Meerut, Budaun, Ghazipur, Lucknow and
works and in receipt of gratuitous relief
on Saturday, September 26 were u.5Ic.
OF these 696 were dependents gratuitouSIy
relieved On the works and 6,634 PERSONS
were gratuitousy relieved under other
provisions Of the famine code.
A private letter received yesterday
from an old friend in Lucknow says:
We are just entering on famine here.
The very cheapest rice is annas seer
equivalent to cents pound-three
times its regular price,, and already some
are dying. We are beginning to give out
help, and as a test to keep out the pro-
yard. The. way a professional beggar
won't break surki is a caution But
Ta:.en they stick to it we give food or
wages, as we think best. Poor people
who only earn to rupees Cl.50 to $3.50
are suffering. That amount will hardly
keep the head of the family in feed. We
shall try to buy rice cheaply in Calcutta,
ship 1t in and sell it to our own people
native Christians) at cost. The rascally
grain dealers (all Brahmans) have cor
ne-ed all the grain and when the gov
eminent tries TO force down the price
they simply shut up shop. Cholera is
very bad, and now that the black plague
has broken out at Bombay We feel that
we are drinking the dregs of calamity"
The heartless grain dealers make
huge profits out of this hunger of In
6las millions. SelfstnnesS IN its most
cruel and fiendish phase never eclfpsed
that of the calcuiat ting grain dealer of
India in famine times. The conqueTorS
of the empire are the peTsonifcation of
mercy and justice, compared to these,
of one flesh and blood, believers in the
same god, with the multitudss WHO
slowly starve to death before their
shops for lack of money to buy the
grain which the dealer bought cheap
and sells dear.
The government authorities provide
relief for the hunger bitten people in
three ways: First, by shipping in rice
from other districts and selling it to
all who can buy, usually below cost;
in The second place relief works
are opened in the afflicted districts. r.
rfgation canals, roads. railroads, etc,
are built by the labor of famine
stricken men, who are paid in money
Or grain as they choose. These relief
works confer q double benefit to the
country: They give help TO the needy
and provide better roads, better irriga-
ton channels, and generally further
the interests of commerce and agricul-
ture. In this improvement all share
when times Of plenty return. The gov
eminent also supplies. graltuitously,
help or food. medicine and medical SER
vices to those too far gone with want
or its attendant disease TO work.
Practically speaking, all the ordinary
functions of government are in abbey
ance at such a time, while the energies
of public officers are directed TO the be-
nevolent worS Ct feeding the starving
and caring for the sick. All this help
is English. Natives have little pity
for one another.
Now the black deaf has added a new
horror 70 the situation. It's appear
ance in Bombay puzzles the city health
officer the sanitary board and the citi-
zers. So far as can be ascertained, it |
has not come from Hong Kong, where
it has ragged so fatally since 1892. Sus-
pfcEOn rests upon Mecca. Pilgrims to
and from that hottest and filthfest spot !
on the planet make Bombay their port |
OF arrival and departure, and it may |
be that this awful scouIge comes from
Arabia instead of from China. In amy |
case, it has come, and parts of the |
great city OF Bombay are fun of the |
cries Of .nlourners for its victims.
The sanitary authorities are bending |
all their energies to rid the cry of filth. !
drastic sanitary reforms, |
of the expense involved. A |
centrifugal pump has been placed ON |
one of the docks along the front of |
the bay, and every night pumping is
carried on. and sea water mixed with !
carbolic acid as it is discharged from
The pump, is poured through the drains. |
The drains of houses, where the plague
is raging or threatening. are being !
The flushing of all pipe !
sewers is being undertaken by means |
Of large flushing tanks, holding 600 gal- |
Ions each OF pheuyie solution.
DR.. Weir, the Bombay health officer, |
points out that the drainage of the |
island is wholly Insufficient
There has been an enormous in |
crease of the water supply since 1922
he says, from 1880, 900 gallons to |
- 900, 900 gallons or more daily, and very |
jl.le increased in the number OF drains, |
The island is flooded or irrigated with |
water. and unless drains are construct |
II 20 take away an the water thai. |
comes into the city the life Of 0 healthy |
population viii not be possible; what !
has been seen in countries of marsh |
and wet, the poisoning Of life from ma
alC5l fevers, Will be seen here. 1t IS |
rot possible to look to the future ex-
sent with anxiety"
In spite of all precautions, the plague |
broe out in five new places in the city.
and the percentage of fatal cases was
daily rising when the mail left. Thou
sands of inhabitants fed, panic-strick-
IN, to their native villages or down the
seacoast. Thousands of devout Hin
zoos make daily pilgrimages to shrines