The Batesburg advocate. [volume] (Batesburg, S.C.) 1901-1911, 1901-07-03
STARVING IN CHINA.
The Sad Condition of That un.
hsppy Country.
MILLIONS DYING FOR BREAD.
Years Of Drought tho Cause
Death by tho Thousands.
Children Sold for
Bread to Eat.

|
Bread to Eat.
Twenty millions Of men, women and
children starving; universal hunger
that causes thousands of deaths daily;
parched fields and a drought Of three
years duration; whole villages abandon
cd TO the dead, snd the popul alton sub
sisting on roots aud herbs; mothers
selling their children for bread, and
the rrors of cannib,lism.
Such is the awful p;c,urs that has
recently been brought 10 tho attention
of the world from beyond the noun.
taius which enclose tho provinces of
Shsnsi aud Shcnsi, ia China.
The first break in the silence Of de.
spair, the first signal Of distress from
the millions Of starving in their iso-
lation csmo in the form of cablegra IN
to America from Iii Hung Chang,
Chinas Grand Old Man, the BIS
marck Of Asia.
The ca iegrAm in itself was strange
thing For the first time in that long
| history which began in the dawn of
time, China was appealing for aid to
the newer world beyond the Great Wail
| and the great sea Nsver before had the
like occurred. Calamities and wars
and pestilences there have been in
China during tho long, monotonous
dynasties, but mono that she Onsider. d
impossible of relief from resources
within her own borders. All the tradi-
tions of her past, all precedent and re-
| ligiop, were opposed to plea for aid
from foreign power. Sad, indeed,
must be the plight of the 1000, 600,
when LII Hung Chang says to Christian
America: Help, or we perishl'
Very seriou, famine, Earl Ii cs.
bled; spreads over whole province Of
Shansi. Over 1000, 600 population
affected. Urge Mt relief necessary. Con-
dition warrant immediate appeal"
| WI Ting Fang, Chinese minister to
the UniteI States, supplemented the
viceroy's words with an urgent mes
sage Of his OVID, and forwarded g
translation of the following touching
appeal from the governor and native
relief committee of Shansi:
ITO Our Own People and Foreigners:
This time the famine is more seri-
GUS than ever, because in the north are
pthe allied troops, and in the south we
\ have several places In rebellion. China
I 10 cry Puvr new, and the people are in
such Strengthened position that no very
Dig assistance can be expected from
them. Since more than several months
now, the famine has been beginning in
places 10 this province. In some viii
lagos they are eating human flesh.
| All our brothers In the world should
be very sorry for US, and should know
how unfortunate we are. We wish all
our PEOPLE to share some of your money
which you spend amusing yourselves,
and for travelling, and for dressing and
for all kinds OF comforts, to rescue
these poor people. 1t is much better
to save the starving and dying men,
women and children here, than 10 build
pagoda or temple, or even a church
| because from ten to twelve million peo-
pie are suffering to death"
| The two provinces of Shansi and
Shensl are side by side in the northern
part of the Chinese empire, 600 miles
from the sea coast, their combined
area OF l07 900 square miles, about that
of the New England States with New
York and Pennsylvania; yet, crowded
into this small territory are 20, 900, 600
human beings, more than one-duarter
the entire population of the United
| States.
| Shansi and SLensi were once beauti-
ful and fruitful. They are mountain
Gus and .furrowed by plcturesque val
! leys. In fact, q literal translation of
Shansi would ncAn Mountains of the
| East. For centuries before western
history began, the dense population
| cultivated rIce on the terraces Oh the
hlilsIGes. Suansi Is old ever Tor China.
It's principal city, Tai yuen, vas the
capital OF the empire when Pekiu vas
new. LIS people were simple, contenIed
and peAceaUiC.
Durlng the last decade European and
| American clvIiIZ AtIOn las Crtveu an en-
ItriIE wedge lu,o .hJ pre- jadlces and
| supIrsIElIons OF the mountain pro-
| Ynces. Especially was this tTue OF
ohan5I, the nearer Of the two 90 the sea
coast. Untu recently 1t was the scene
OF the lsocrs f more than lSO missio On
| i
koDg aLu Shanghai nave crossed tne
mountain passes, and have made a bo-
ginning III what will some day be un.
douoteGly large import trade with the
farmers Cf the ,cTracod valleys.
There are comparatively few streams
In the Two provinces, aud water for the
rice fields Is a-pplied BY irrigating
bitches and wells. These DRY up when
rain falls, and the result is failure OF
crops and famine. Sdch is the ,ondi.
uon now. For two years scarcely any
rain has fallen In Shansi and Shensi.
Before the last of the missionaries
left Shsnsi, the black shadow of hun
ger hung 80 low over the land as to
make even the famine horrors of India
small by Gem parison. And the shadow
has continued TO deepen. No one will
probably ever know the exact number
Of victims, but recent accounts give
some idea of the death harvest that is
being CLEANED in the psrohed fields.
Kice, the one important staple of food
Is worth Its weight in gold. AS a sub
stltute the people, In sheer des pair, eat
grass and the leaves OF trees.
Deaths are too numerous to make
funerals any longer possible. Outside
OF every village = deep pit is dug, and
every morning are laid the bodies of
those who have died during the night,
covered only by thin layer of earth
Later In the day another CHASTITY layer
is placed upon them and the process
continued until the pity is filed, which