Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-06-18

tions Cawnpur Plague Hospital
Burned and Constables Enforcing
Sanitary Law Burned Aliye-Brit-
ish Surgeon Threatened With
Death.
Under the date Of Simla, May 8, the
special correspondent of the London
Standard sends these statements in re-
gard to the famine in India:
There has not been the slightest
change for the better in the general
situation in India during the last three
or four weeks. The official figures
show that there are 100000 on the
relief works and that the tendency is
for this huge total to increase at the
rate of at least 100000 a week.
I'm Madras, which has hitherto been
regarded as outside the afflicted area,
the number of people on relief works
has more than doubled in the space of
n fortnight There has been u little
rain, but this came too late materially
to benefit the crops on unirrigated
lands, which are now in many places
given up for lost.
Going from Madras to Bombay the
traveller does not see one single patch
of green, not even as much as a blade
of grass, for hundreds of miles on end.
There is no abatement of the famine.
and things are merely getting slowly
and surely more terrible and more dis
astrous than before. The people are
literally dying of starvation. The great
er portion of the cattle are already
dead
More than 100000 persons have
died in the district of Gujurat alone
To add to the embarrassment of the To-
cal officials a severe epidemic of chol-
era has now broken out at some of the
relief works in the Godha district, and
the people, weakened by many weeks
and months of low diet, are succumb-
ing to its ravages.
I'm the Bombay Presidency, as a
whole, there are now no fewer than
100000 people on famine relief, and
the population affected is more than
20,000.00O. In the semidesert tracts
about Jodhpur and Bikanir the inhab-
itantS exc out a mere existence on
quarter ratiOns as long as they can,
and then, when physically quite une-
quail to the strain of a long journey
over the sun baked, waterlesS wastes
of sands, they try to make their way
to the relief works or the big towns,
perhaps hundred miles or more away.
There is every reason to believe that
very large proportion of these people
never reach their destination, but die
in the desert, where their emaciated
corpses are soon picked clean by the
jackals and vultures which hang on
their track.
I'm some parts of Rajputana, 1t Is
said, scarce a day passes without
number of people of all ages and both
sexes being found dead by the road
side. The next most afflicted portion
of India is the central provinces. There
has been no change for the better in
this region. There are now about
1,75O. 900 people on famine relief, and
the population directly affected by the
famine is some 100000.
THE plague outlook seems scarcely
less reassuring. This terrible disease
latterly has spread to such an extent
as TO threaten speedily to embrace the
whole of India in it's grasp. Already a
very large portion of southern India is
plague stricken. So, too. are Calcutta
and the greater part of the province Of
Bengal The disease has also appeared
at many places in the central portion
of India 1t is found in Sind, in Raj
putana. and in the Jollundur and Ho-
shiarpur districts of the Punjab.
THE plague itself by no means con-
stitutes the most serious aspect of the
question. The measure taken by the
government to stamp it out have set
afoot an undercurrent of native dis
content a rumbling of rebellion such
as preceded the mutiny.
There have been many signs of late
of some secret disturbing influences at
work among the people. a very SINH
lar outbreak of protests and denuncia-
tions has greeted the adoption of these
precautions in Bengal and the north
west provinces. At Cawnpur the mob
burned the plague hospital and. after
severely beating the half dozen native
constables in charge. threw them, still
living. into the flames. They then
searched for the English civil surgeon.
with the avowed purpose of'murdering
him. The troops and volunteers were
called out TO preserve order. All the
usual features betraying n deep laid
organization by influential persons
were visible.
Europeans are no longer treated
with the politeness and consideration
which up to within the last few years
have been the rule in the country dis
tricts, though they have long disap
peared from the presidency towns
Violent assaults on Europeans have
been disquietingly plentiful of late"
Virus For killing Western Wolves.
DR.. Charles GreSsweu of the live
stock census bureau has returned !
TO Denver from a trip to the eastern I