Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-07-14
SUFFERING IN INDIA.
Fearful Famine Conditions De-
scribed by DR.. Klopsch.
SHOCKING SIGHTS IN HOSPITALS.

Attendants Give Scarcely Any Heed
10 Low Caste Natives--Government
Efforts to Relieve the Distress.
suggestions That Missionaries BE
Employed to Aid the Sick.
DR. Louis klopsch, proprietor of The
Christian Herald, who has been in In
dia experimenting the distribution of
the supplies and food purchased for
the relief of the people in the famine
districts with the money of The Chris
tlan Herald relief fund, arrived in New
York on the Hamburg American steam
ship Pennsylvania. In speaking of
some of his visits in India he was par
ticularly Impressed with the efforts OF
the government to relieve distress and
how these efforts were often futile.
Poorhouses, hospitals and relief camps
under native management were fire.
quently found In a state of criminal
neglect, but as soon ms eases of this
kind were reported TO the government
efforts Avere made at once to relieve the
conditions. DIR. Klopsch described one
Of these hospitals at Dohad to repre-
sentative of the New York Commercial
Advertiser. He said:
AT Dohad the state OF affairs was
certainly the worst ! have ever expert
enced in my life. The scenes in the
poorhouse were distressing. One wo-
man had gone stark mad and sat there
vacantly staring at the scene about
her. out Of 33i patients admitted In
two weeks all but 30 died. Sick people
lay on the cots, and food brought to
them was actually dumped beside
them. One sick person turning around
put his body into the food. The air
was microbe laden. Clothing was Inn
pregnated with the smells In the place, |
and 1t was two days before could get
the odor out of my nostrils. Outside
In the sun, lying on the ground, was q
nude woman in the last throcs OF chol-
era. Next to her was another woman
grooming and writing In agony. while
native attendants looked stoically on
without making the least effort to as
sist these people. | Lad the women
carried in aud placed under shelter.
.'The explanation or tho apnarcnt
carelessness Of the attendant was that
the-poor things were low caste women,
the inference being that they were not
worth caring for. They were treated
as If the officials had grudge against
them because they did not die fast
enough. The manner In which these
poor people were regarded by the ma
tive attendants was indicated by one
instance. Regarding n man who was
In the death throes, asked how long it
would be before he died. OH said the |
attendant, he should be dead in ten |
minutes, but he may live half day.
ITO make matters worse there was q |
plague of flies. There were millions Of /
them, and they gorged themselves on
the fostering sores on peoples bodies.
Nobody made any attempt to drive |,
these pests away.
81 visited relief camp at Vansar,
near Khaira, where there were 1000
people engaged. Everything there was
well ordered, the only drawback being
that there was no shelter for day or
night. The country around was de-
populated, and the trees were Topped Of
their branches for fuel. The relief
camp at Viramgaum l also found to be
In good condition. | visited this place
on a Sunday. and the people gathering
around the carriage took the opportu-
nifty of addressing them through the
medium of an interpreter. told them
that they ought to be thankful for
what the government was doing for
them. | mentioned that American
sympathy for them had been aroused
and If they would only hold off little
longer relief on gigantic scale would
surely come across the waters to them,
and this. with what the government
was doing, would soon relieve their dis
tress and give them a fresh start In
life | also visited the hospital at vi
inspecting the smallpox and
cholera wards, and found everything
In excellent order. A few weeks before
the hospital had been In a deplorable
but a Christian missionary
had been permitted to try his hand at
It, with the result that there was
great Improvement. :.
while not presuming to recommend
anything to the Indian government, it
seems to me that 1t would be a wise
thing IL the greatest possible use be
made of the missionaries. who are will
ing to work for nothing and can give
Intelligent and efficient cooperation.
The missionaries should be made hon
orary superintendent in the institu-
tons, so that they can get some official
footing and their requests and sugges-
ions receive attention"
The secretary of the navy has Sc