The Portland daily press., 1900-03-23
INDIA's AWFUL FAMINE.
II WIN Last UntiI the BEGINNING OF the
Rains I'm June,

India has been called . land Of dreams
II IL now o land Of horrors as her people
fRht with plague and famine. 10 is no
nightmare, but terrible reality. Thous-
ands OF onoe strong men are now akin
and bones with terrible gnawing Of
hunger within. II 10 q pitiaSle sight to
SEQ tall manly men SO terribly reduosd as
to be hardly able TO walk, yet somehow
making their way somewhere to find food.
More pitiabls are the women who with q
keen sense Of modssty are fighting woman
fully with their fast-rctsing rags aud
their children emaciated, fire. tful, crying.
or too weak to cry, adding to their ter
rible personal suffering from days OF in
sufficient food. The bodies, finding no
nourishmsnt, turn into those little skele-
tons that one can hold In ones hand.
Thousands OF families like these, hav-
ing exhausted every possible resource,
sold and pawned the last article OF their
possession, having lived somehow for
time on coarEest OF wild fruits, or roots.
or weeds-Anything to satisfy that awful
craving that comes from days o. ftarvA-
tion-tramp many n long, weary mile to
find some government, or other, relief.
There 10 the soorohing sun BY day-un.
usually foorohlng this year-the pangs OF
thirst as well as hunger, for every stream
is dry and when the sun goes down. out
Ia the open fields with nothing to cover
them. they SILVER all through the chilly
night.
Where can human woe find anything
equal to thisf And this 10. the story not
Of one here and there, but OF thousands, of
tens of thousands. and will be tns sad
story OF hundreds of thousands. -Four
months of the famine have passed months
remain before the monsoon bursts" In
June, and brings Its usual deluge Of rain.
Other missionaries describe finding
abandoned children In dying condition,
whom they have been able to save, or
failed to save because too far gone. The
fam liar famine scenes are with S5ed OF
furnishing people following grsin-oarti
and struggling among themselves for tue
stray kernels that fall by the way. Aban-
doned children are found subsisting on
olods Of earth and every possible thing
that has nourish ment In It, filling up
with water to drown the gnawing OF
hunger. and producing those painful
monstrosities- bodies swollen out OF oil
proportion, but with sticks for legs and
arms, and head that 10 but skin-oov-
cred skull And the babies grow weaker
and weaker in their hungry CRY, or,
silenoed by opium, rapidly turn to pitia-
BILE little skeletons that move with emo
tion the strongest hearts that look upon
them. What wonder that a despairing
mother, unable to endure the sight and
tempted by her own furnishing body, sells
her little one for a few handfuls Of grain
and, when the famine is over, beats her
breast in anguish for her little one, gone
shs knows not where!
The W. st camps are being filed. The
anxiety ana concern Of cover nmsnt end
officials are greatly on the strain. All
departments OF the administration, native
and otherwise, are called upon 90 exercise
the wisfs caution and the utmost vigil
Lane to see that none worthy are neglect.
ed, and that those not actually reduced
to suffering ks not the place Of the
needy. And It should be borne In mind
that the prospect must grow gloomiel for
months to come, up 10 at least the begin
ming OF the rains in the month OF June
next. The gravity of the situation needs
to be- recognized. Inc viceroy personally
and the government of India are giving
their undivided attention to this which
threatens to no famine OF the worst
kind. 1t is no wonder then, that urgent
appeals ars made by missionaries to the
Christian peopls of this land. Ii would
be q wonder II they did not.
Contributions FOR the relief should be
sent to Treasurer II. II. WiRain, care OF
American Board OF Foreign Missions, IA
Beacon street, Boston, who cables at
short intervals the amount available,
thereby sffording immediats relief to the
suffering In Indis.-The Rev. Justin 4.
Abbott In Leslis's Weekly.