The Lamar register., 1907-04-24

blind old mother. the mere skin-an-
bone framework OF a woman They
wanted help. and pleaded for it in the
thin whine of the utterly miserable
and / dared not give them 50 much as
a copperi
The Mothers Suffering
Or that mother. hardeyed and
rigid. who stood against a wall with
her six children gathered about her
tattered skirts. staring out uncaring on
company of living refugees. who are
more melancholy sight than the
thousands of ancient graves among
which they are encamped-- They had
been fed-one portion Of thin. watery
rice porridge for them all-and now
they must wait in the cold for another
"a hours to pass before they can be
fed again-and even then some
stronger ones may push them aside
and steal their turn at the meager re-
lief
Strange incongruities fash into
ones mind as he walks about among
these 10000 refugees AS / passed
this morning an old. old woman. Gov
W ArN 1885, "Ao o1N "a
the cold, bare ground, sharing her
small bowl of rice with babe of IL or
IS months. evidently her grandchild.
who sat on her knees. thought of
some grandmothers whom | know in
America-sweet-face and comfortable
and kindly. whose evening of life is
made pleasant by the love OF children
and grandchildren. and who know not
tie word want And / recalled some
baby friends-sweet, rudy little dears.
wrapped in the finest linen. with ward
robes upon which love has layished
its generosity. and whose food is a
matter of careful consultation with
physicians and friends.
''Of course. l cannot imagine these
delicately nutured babes in dirty tat
tiers and exposed to the cold winter
night and day. week after week. yet
so-,ehog one picture suggests the
other. Just 50, when a refugee mother
accosted US this morning and asked US
to accept her child as gift. magma
ton brought instantly to view the pre-
ciousness of the American children !
know.
Suffering OnparaileIed.
incidents could be piled upon Incl
dents; every one of these 10000 refu-
gees incarnates a story-a story of
home abandoned. of toilsome journeys
to this southern district in the hope of
finding pittance of food to ailay that
awful gnawing of hunger; of the
eager hunt for a sheltered nook in a
doorway: OF being driven from spot to
spot. until at last a few feet of bare
earth are secured out among the
graves with the other Refugees
space no bigger than a Chinese grave
sufices for an entire Chinese family;
of the daily and nightly budding to-
gether in one mass for the sake of hui
man warmth; of the search for dry
gra-s with which to make a tiny fire:
of the morning struggle for a portion
of the government rice and of that in
describable. terrible. primitive duel
between life and starvation which the
Chinese so dauntlessly endure.
In all this. write of the best, and
not of the worst. This is only the first
outpost OF the famine district.
Always Close to Starvation.
The Chinese live closer to actual
starvation than 1t is possible for a
westerner to comprehend: they are al
ways poor. So the failure of the crops
not to mention the destruction of
their homes by fiood-at once placed
them in a state of actual restitution.
which can only be relieved when the
wheat crop is harvested in July.
Meanwhile. owing to lack of seed. only
half of the spring wheat crop has been
planted"
The cargo of food which the Chris
tian Herald sent over to the stricken
district in China cost 100000. and
this sum was raised BY popular sub
scription.
Its arrival in China is expected to
do much for the sufferers. but more
food will have to follow at once. Con