The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-02-22
JAPAN IN GRASP
Of DEADLY
FAMINE
Over a Million Papa Starving,
Living on Grass Appeal
for Hell ..


The condition Of Northern japan
appeals TO the sympathy OF the whole
viliZed world. 1t is usually one Oh
the finest granaries of the nation, but
Tor a month or more letters from In
terested toleI-neTs have told or the
extreme desiCu ion in the three north
ern provinces of Fukush1ma, lwate
and Miyagi. More than one-thlrd OF
the popu al on OF three millions are
strUg gIing desperately to keep sodl
tncr In the early au-
tumn of last year, it was evident that
- .-,- .-..4 "a. 81, out this news
was carefully concealed while the
war went on, lest 1t should give the
enemy renewed courage and prove
disadvantageous to the interests OF ia
pan. Now, however, the necessity Ior
silence as to the fam ne no longer
exists. The government officials
frankly admit that conditions in the
provinces named are so serious as 10
demand not only all the aid the gov
eminent can render, but that outside
I'D will be gladly welcomed.
In Fukushima, the horror of the ca
lamity may be gathered from the
statistics, which show that 10000 I'M
happy people are seeking to assuage
the pangs of hunger by eating little
cakes made of seventy-five per cent.
chopped straw and twenty-five per
cent. foreign rice, no domestic rec
being available. With a population
Of over a million, the rice crop is less
than One-fourth of it's usual yield, and
in some districts it is only six per
cent. of what the farmers reasonably
looked for
The Heaviest Sufferer.
Miyagi Province is the heaviest suf-
ferer Of the three, and the straits to
which the unfortunate people are re-
duced can hardly be described. Months
ago the leading paper Of the province
warned the people that the crop losses
would be appalling. 1t now says:
The sentence of death has been pass
ed upon the people of this province"
In the the village Of Kamusaki, the
rice fields last year yielded $4,000
bushels. This year the harvest has
brought to their stOrehOuses just 519
bushels, not enough to furnish the s.
900 villagers with a single meal. The
local Relief Committees describe the
conditions as extremely pitiful. Gaunt
mothers, with their wasted babies and
hollOwed-cheeked children, sit wait
ing for death, seemingly hopeless of
relief.
Inadequate as government relief
has been, it has helped to prOlong I'M
til now the fierce battle for existence.
The stoutest-hearted foreigner would
shudder at the miserable chopped
straw substitutes for food. Yet in
some sections of the provinces of the
north, the people have found even
their last prop removed by the worth
lessness of the straw, which rOtted be-
cause of heavy foods.
The government has done it's best
to relieve the situation. The war de-
partment has sold it's sUperfluOus
stores below cost to the starving COM
munities, but even this resource is
exhausted. Moreover, there are thou
sands of villagers who have no money
TO buy anything; they have sold their
clothing for food. In the fall, the
government forest preserves were
thrown open to the people; they
swarmed like locusts over the large
area, sweeping it bare of every edible
root and bark within its boundaries
Whole communities, emaciated and
enfeebled from insufficient nOurish-
ment, searched eagerly for each tiny
fern root, or bit Of fungus growth.
This helped to stay the misery for a
time. Touched by the suffering of his
people, the Emperor of Japan gave
$4,000 from his own private purse
for the relief work.
Would Mean Life.
Rice is the staple food of the Jap
anese, and a shipload Of rice, wheat
flour, would mean life and hope to
thousands upon thousands now in dire
extremity. Every pound of flour
might mean the saving of life.
Whatever is done to help these peO-
pie must be done quickly in order to
be available. One OF the local Jap
enese papers puts the situation effec-
lively in single sentence, when It
says: Unless help comes, more peo-
pie will die of famine in these three
provinces than persisted on all the
battle-helds of the Manchurian War,
counting the wounded and the miss
ing as dead
An Official dispatch from the United
States Consul in Toxic, is followed
closely by an appeal from President
Roosevelt for aid for the starving peo-
pie of Japan.
On the same day this appeal is is
sued, The Christian Herald is cab
ling $4,000 to the japanese Red Cross
Society, which will work in conjunc-
tion with committees appointed for
the purpose of administering the dis
trfbufion of all SunDliaS