Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-17
ON THE TRAIL OF THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY


ers with noble hearts to help him. Our only
possible course was to shake him of and
pass on.
In an elemental struggle such as. this. be-
tween man and hunger. with existence
itself as the stake at issue. 1t Is scarcely
surprising to find reversions to beast
selfishness. So. when 1 saw a woman with
two little children one Of them suffering
from smallpox, living in a mat hut three
feet high, three feet wide. and four or five
feet long, l was not astonished to learn
that her husband had deserted her; that
has been the way Of some husbands in ev-
cry such disaster. The astonishing fact is
that so many parents and hunbands are
loyal; 1t Is royalty common among these
uncounted famine victims to find the par
ents wan and emaciated and the little
children comparative ruddy. True. many
parents are selling or giving away their
children, and even drowning Them but this
is usually an expression of solicitude for
the childs welfare. Even the sale of little
daughters into slavery must not be judged
by occidental standards. Several mothers
have besought me to buy their children, or
to accept them a gift. This morning I
had pressed on me by forlorn mother as
healthy specimen of Chinese babyhood
as one would care to possess. Having been
driven from the refugee camp. with her
family and possessions on wheelbarrow,
she was on her way back to the country to
starve, she said and fear she spoke truly.
The stoicism with which, having ex-
hausted all possibilities of lettering his
end, is an interesting and admirable trait.
There is nothing of pose about this it Is
his way. learned in long, long school of
endurance and suffering. When farmer
said to missionary whom he knew: Il
have been ten days in. camp. but 1 could
not get morsel of food. Now 1 am going
back home to eat my dog and then starve."
he meant literally that. AS might be ex-
pected. this famine has resulted in a great
mortality among dogs and cats, since both
of these animals are esteemed proper food
by the poorer classes. A beggar whom we
met on a city wall was carrying a dead cat
What was he going to do with it? we
asked. Eat 1T, Of course But he was will
ing to sell it to the foreigners and he
would let US have it cheap-only 40 cash
(siX cents!
Practically the entire famine district has
been almost wholly cleared of live stock.
We have no beasts, and men are eating
beasts food" is the way one farmer sue
cinctly put 1t. He meant that the people are
living on grass, bark. roots. leaves and
suoh like. This morning I inspected the
houses Of almost an entire village. looking
for food-and such bare crude. filthy and
comfortless homes they are-and nowhere
did 1 see a grain of rice. The whole village
is subssting upon dried sweet potato leaves.
which l found cooking over many stoves.
Out here 1t Is customary to extract the oil
from peanuts and then to press peanuts
shells and all. into a hard cake as cattle
fodder. Beans are trea ted in the same man.
ner Now these dried cakes are sold as
food for human beings 1 watched one man.
on whose features grim hunger had written
large her signature. buy portion of this.
He was given a wedge about four inches
long, three inches deep, and possibly two
inches wide at the outer edge, for 20 cash,
which Is two-thirds of the government al
lowance per day for an adult. The avidity
with which he seized and devoured dry
few additional crumbS-fhe "littlp
that goes with every bargain in China-was
eloquent Of the cravings of his body.
i
This dole Of 80 daily cash-equivalent to
one and half cents American currency
the Chinese government pledges to give
every sufferer in the famine district north
Of the Yangtze river. 1t really seems as IL
the higher officials are in earnest. and ex-
traordinary efforts are being made to pre-
vent squeezing" by the other officials
through whose hands the money must pass.
This is one of the manifestations of a
new" China which abound these days. OF
course. the attempt is not wholly success
full. and myriads Of starving people have not
received a single cash. Most Of those who
have encamped. ominously. outside of the
walls of several cities have been helped;
for the officials fear them. Now, with force
and fair promises, the larger part of these
refugees are being driven back into the
country. All of them distrust the official
promises Of help. The assistance that Is at
present extended Is not expected to hold
out for month. since a cent and a half
a day given to 3.0OOO persons is a sum
to tax any treasury.
Foreign relief is being distributed in the
form Of -four to bring down the prices
Famine prices is no mere phrase here: the
cost Of all foodstuffs has risen 200 per cent
or more. The missionaries. who have been
chosen by the general relief committee at
Shanghai to disburse the worlds bounty
or r7offf per tHA ri lran fHpna =.
depots for the sale of food. thus making
every dollar given continue Its work
throughout the entire six months of dis
tress: for the worst will not be over until
July.
Kevnota of I.ondon