El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-15
HINDOO HORRORS.
Terrible Suffering Occasioned by
the Drought.
Ceylonese In Chicago Tells of the
MiserIes of the Poor Buddhist
Contagion and Starvation
Are Rife.

| The present drought in India is one
Of the most severe ever known said
| Mr.. Vincent l.. Tissera recently.
Il am from Ceylon and know what
the horrors of famine resulting from
drought are. Ten or II years ago the
Ceylonese were the victims of a COM
paratively mild water famine, but the
suffering | witnessed then wrung nv
heart and | can see as plain as though |
were in the country the agony of the
starving HindoOs. The British papers
have not given the truth in it's pitiful
completeness, and even though they did
all in their power to alleviate the pres
ent distress thousands must die of
starvation. Russia's proffered aid was
refused by the English for political rea-
sons. John Bull wants nothing done
that will augment the kindly feelings
of the HindooS for the Russians. There
are 20O,09O,O00 people and nearly all of
them are vegeterians. They believe it
q sin to kill an animal and the result is
easily seen. No vegetation on which
they can subsist can escape the drought,
and pathetically sincere in their belief
of the teachings of Ruddha. the poor,
ignorant people will starve rather than
prove unfaithful to this time-hOnored
tenet of their religion and eat the flesh
of animals.
America has spent millions of dol
lars in sending and maintaining mis-
sionaries in India and |. as a Christian.
am thankful for it, but now is the time
when the Americans, and the churches
especially, can show that the love and
charity they have preached so many
years to my cOuntrymen are not merely
subjects CT discourse but real condi-
tions. Aid from America would do more
for the conversion of these people than
all the preaching that has been done in
all the years since missions were first
established in India. 1t is a charity
the ignorant could understand and |
know and God knows how wOefully they
are in need of it now.
a car load of husks would be re-
ceived with the JOY of a people who
have been living on roots that tn"
drought has spared. Millions of people
have no other food and knowing the
likely results of such diet they still
must eat. Leprosy is the outcome in
many cases. but what will not starry
ing man do? Think of your own arctic
explorers who reSorted to cannibaliSm.
But leprosy. though the most dreaded
disease and a, common one in India, is
not the most prevalent or fatal of the
ills that come from root Diet and i'm
pure water. \ plague called in the |
native tongue 'burbOnic' fever. some |
thing like yellow fever. carries off |
thousands. | hear daily that it has be- |
gun it's ravageS to add to the horror of |
starvation and poverty. One day 500 |
died of it, but it has not begun to do its |
worst yet" |
Mr.. Tissera is a Ceylonese. At the |
time of the worlds fair he came to |
America in charge of the agricultural |
products of Ceylon. Obtaining Il three |
leave from the railway by which |
he was employed at home that he might |
visit further the country with which he |
was fast becoming impressed he tray
eled all over the union. That decided |
him and he resolved to make America |
his home. He is the first of his nation
ality to go into business in this city. |
Beside his native tongue. he speaks |
Tamil, the tongue of south
ern India, Spanish, English and is now
the German language. He
is not recent convert to Christianity.
as the religion has been handed down in
the family from the time of the first
100 years ago, when the ]
forefather of the present Tissera was /
onverted.-Chicago News.