The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-07-05
STARVING In CHINA.
The Sad Condition Of That Un.
happy Country.
MILLIONS DyiNoFoR BREAD.
fsars Of Drought the Cause.
Death by the Thousands.
& Children Sold for
Bread 70 Eat.

;VuluroH btarVlugi uulVGr6ht hungoT
that causes thousands Of doathu daily;
Epsrohod folds and drought Of three
years duration; whole villages abandon
ed to the doad, and the population sub
ssieting on roots and herbs; mothera
boiling their ohildron for bread, and
tho horrors Of oannibalism.
sASuch is tho awful picture that has
|lrocently been brought to tho attention
S,of.tho world from beyond the noun.
ateins which onolose the .provinoos Of
lShnnsi and Shonsi, in China.
/ The first break in the silenoo Of do.
spair, the fest signal Of distroBs from
the millions Of starving in thoir iso-
S1htion oamo in the form Of a cablogrom
TO Amorioa from III Hung Chang.
China "Qrand Old Man, tho Bis.
Inarok Of Asia.
The cablegram il itself was a strange
4 hing For tho fest timo in that long
history which began in tho dawn Of
time, China was appealing for aid to
lthe newer world beyond tho Great Wall
.hnd the,great sea Mover boforo had the
Hike occurred. Calamities and wars
and pcstilsnoos thore havo been in
SsUhina during the long, moaotonous
|a9nasties, but mono that she considered d
Of reliof from roeouroos
within her own borders. All the tradi-
tions Of her past, ell PRECEDENT and re-.
,iieion, were opposed to q plea for aid
from foreign power. Sad, indeed
Sllfnast DO the plight of tho 10000, 900,
when Li Hung Chang says to Christian
a4Almerica: 4 Help, or We poriyhl'
Very serious famino," Earl Ii ca
blod; 'apreads over whole provinoo Of
s3hanai. Over 100000 population
am mccied. Urgont reiief necessary. Con-
dition warrant immediate appeal. ," FL
|g Wu Ting Fang, UhinoBo minister to
fho Unitea Slatos, supplemented tho
HicerOy's words with an urgont mes
Hage Of his own, and forwarded q
|Ssranslation Of. tho following touching
appeal from tho govornor and native
ieltef committee of Shansi:
|ssgll'o Our q I'm i People and IL foreigners:
Ess he famine lis. moro sori-
psfllgS be Sns s6S Si1 D Id OF ti aro
ftsss,s
;haye several places in rebellion. China
is very poor nov, and the people are In
|lsuoha slraightened position that no very
|tbig 9aasistance can be expected from
them. Since moro than several months
nov, tho famine has been beginning in
placos In this province. In somo viii
lagos thoy are eating human flesh.
3 All our brothers in the world should
be very sorry forus, and should know
how unfortunate we are. We wish all
our people to share some Of your money
which you spond amusing yourselves,
and for travelling, and for dressing and
for all kinds of comforts, to rescue
these poor peoplo. It is much better
to save tho starving and dying mon,
womon and ohildren here, than to build
q pagoda or temple, or even churoh--
because from ten to twelve million peo.
plo are suffering to doath."
The two provinces Of Shansi and
Shonsi arc side by sido in tho northern
part Of the Chinese empire, 600 miles
| from tho sea ooas6, the,r combined
area of 167 600 square miles, about that
Of the Now England States with Now
York and Pennsylvania; yet, crowded
into this small territory are 20, ,OOO, 900
human boings, moro than one quarter
tho entire population of the United
States.
Shapsi and Shonsi were onoo boauti.
full and fruitful. Thoy are mountain.
GUS and. .furrowed by picturesque val.
leys In faot, literal translation OF
Shanai would mean mountains of tho
Naat." For centuries before wostorn
history began, the denso population
cultivated rioo on the torraoes on tho
hillsidos. Shansi is old ever for China,
Its principal oity, Tai yuen, was the
capital OF the empire when Pokin wa:
new. lts people were simple oontontod
and peaooablo.
During tho last decade European and
American civilization has driyon an on.
tering wedge into tho projadioos and
yinoos. Especially was this true Of
Shansi, tho noaror of tho two to tho sos
coaet. Until recently it was the scone
OF tho labors If moro than 18O mission
aries. Agents Of foreign firms in Hons
Kong and Shanghai havo crossed the
mountain passos, and have made bo.
ginning iii what will somo day bo un.
doubtedly a large import trade with the
farmors OF Tho terraoed valleys.
There arc comparatively few streams
IN tho two provinces, and Water for the
rico folds 10 supplied by irrigatina
dltohes and wolls. These dry up whom
rain fails, and the result ID q failure o.
crops and famine. Sach is tho oondi.
tion now, For two years scarcely any
rain has fallon in Hhanai and Shensi.
Before tho lsst Of tho missionaries
left Shansi, the black SHADOW of hun.
ger hung 30 low over the land al tc
mako eyon tho famine horrors of India
emall by comparison. And tho shadoa
has continued 10 doopen. No ono viii
probably cvor know the exact numbo,
Of victims, but rooent accounts give
somo idea Of tho doath harvest that ID
boing cleaned in tho parchcd fields.
Rice, tho one important staple Of food,
ID worth ita Weight in gold. AS q sub.
stituto the people, in sheor despair, oat
grass and tho Leaves Of troos.
| Deaths are too humorous to make
funorals any longer possible. Outside
OF evory village deep pit Is dug, and
every morning are laid tho bodies Of
those who have diod during tho night
covered only by q thin layor Of oarth
Later IN tho day anothor ghastly lsye,
10 placed upon them and tho process
continued until tho pity Ia flllod, which
seldom takes longer than q few DAYS
i Largo towns ara Annnrul Ia "A tx M, Y ],