The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-19
RELIEF WORKS IN INDIA.


The New Jhelam Canal and the Natives
Employed on It-Methods of Housing
and Paying Vast Numbers of Men
Who Would Otherwise Starve.
During the last two days Sir A. s.
Lethbridge, member of the Viceregal
council, accompanied by Mr.. Thorhnrn,
commissioner for Rawal Pindi; Brigade
Surgeon Colonel Roe, sanitary COM
missioner for the Punjaub; Afdal
Khan, deputy commissioner for Gujrat;
Kurthi Singh, famine officer and other
officials, have been making an exhaus-
tive inspection of the vast relief works,
| by far the largest in the Punjaub, on
the new Jhelam Irrigation canal. For
ty thousand coolies are here congrega-
ted, including twelve thousand infirm,
aged and blind persons, who are classed
as non workers. The inspecting OFF,
cials-comparing existing arrangements
with the famine works of 1S71-noted an
| immense advance in scientific relief, re-
| sulting from the labors of the famine
| commission and subsequent researches,
Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick (the lieutenant
governor) and the Punjaub govern
ment having closely adopted all the
| improved executive and sanitary meth
| DDS that We're recommended. The ofti-
cial party, which I was permitted to
accompany, approached the works just
as the coolies were permitted to accom-
| pany. approached the works just as the
coolies were beginning to leave off la
| Dor for the day.
| The scene recalled a great Russian
peasant fair or Oriental mela (festivaD.
There was an immense preponderance
of women and children of all ages. The
starting point of the canal, which is
supplied by the Jhelam river, is at Ja-
PAM village, a point seven miles up
stream from here. The site of the pres
ent works extends over one and a half
| miles along the alignment of the future
canal and III the midst of an extensive
sandy plain. 1t is some two miles dis
| tant from the river on the southern
/ side. The first visit we paid was to the
tents of the officials and engineers.
Hard by is the bazaar market, a long
| line of neat huts, made of mating or
matched grass, running along each side
| of the sandy street. This is kept per-
fectly clean and sweet. Most of the
nuts are occupied by traders in grain,
and in front of these heaps of wheat,
| barley, maize and millet are piled on
| the ground. We learn that prices have
fallen slightly in consequence of recent
rains; but modern railways and other
means of communication, while greatly
diminishing the danger of actual star
walton in any locality, tend to keep
prices up to one level everywhere.
That level is now terribly high, and
above the reach of the poorest of the
population apart from the relief works.
The last quotation we obtained for the
| cheapest sort of grain was ten seers
| (about twenty pounds) for rupee,
against normal rate of over twenty
seers. The regular traders in the ba-
Ear are furnished with huts by the gov
eminent free of charge; but some enter
| prising outsiders have erected similar
structures for themselves. There is
also curious collection of itinerant
cobblers and other petty traders. Al
one stall [ noticed tea, stewed goats
flesh, and other luxuries offered foI
sale. The members of the honorary
staff and the numerous subordinate Of
| ficers are the chief customers for these
commodities. We next viewed the hos
pital tents, of which there are twe-one