The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1907-04-25
rod AT CHZ7XzZ1IyG

BostOn.-On the treeless steppes of
Russia. beyond the pale" ard in the
arid districts of northeastern China,
thousands of human beings are dying
Tor want of food. Lack of rain in the
first instance, excess of 1t in the sec
ond Is the cause.
Five provinces in China and 81 in
Russia are affected, and, while from
the former country come awful tales
Ut the bartering of human flesh for
food. Of the sale of little children, and
OF the breaking out Of the plague
among the close-packed sufferers, from
Russia comes a wall of despair, where
men. women and children are trying
TO cling to life, with almost nothing to
eat and with no fuel in temperature
Of rs degrees below zero
Conditions are such in both coun-
tries that it is estimated that what in
this country would be the price Of a
single visit to the theater would save
human life until returning crops
bring self-support.
The Christian Herald of New York,
which has taken charge of the Ameri
can end of the Chinese famine relief.
pledged itself TO supply 100000 900
mounds of -four, corn, cornmeal, medi
cal supplies. etc, in addition to what
had already been sent The govern
ment gave the army transport Gen.
Bufc-d to carry this consignment from
San Francisco to Shanghai
Government Aid Inadequate.
In Russia the famine Is being re-
leved to some extent by government
aid, but the restrictions this aid car
rles with 1t make it very inadequate.
IL involves the delivery of one pound
Of bread a day only to sufferers less
than II and more than SO years Of
age. Infants under one year. and all
tho vast majority between II and 80
get nothing except what the unselfsh
among the more fortunate are willing
to share. And, above and beyond this
there is the fact that the black hand
Of Russian official graft appropriates
for private ends at least onc-half OF
The money the government voted for
relief
Bishop Potter, Of New York. IS pres.
ident and Dr.. Samuel j. Barrows, for
mcrly Of Boston, is secretary of the
American relief for Russia.
1t is hard TO Judge between the two
but perhaps the situation in China is
the more pitiable at present. Stats
tics gathered early in February in one
of the five stricken Chinese provinces
showed a total OF $4,000 deaths. This
is but a small section of the awful
aggregate
A foreign correspondent writing in
description of the affected districts
saws: Every semblance of grass
plants and roots has disappeared, and
starving parents are eating their chill
dren. know this to be true, and
have myself found human flesh on
sale"
Three Months In Famine's Grip.
The district involved in the famine
is known as "Kianpeh, meaning
north OF the river" the stream being
the Yangtse. For more than three
months this region in northern China
has been in the remorseless grasp or
famine and famine-hred disease. Forty
days OF rain and consequent floods
heaped calamity upon the 10000
square miles OF territory and its 49,
100000 Of people. Before new crops
can be raised 1t is estimated that,
despite the best efforts for relief, the
death list will exceed that of Naples.
San Francisco and Jamaica rolled into
one.
Writing after tour through one Of
the famine camps of 10000 starving
refugees. correspondent said recent
ly: Little more than an hour ago l
saw two women, presumably mother
and grandmother, wailing over the
tiny coffin of child that had been
part of grim famines daily toll.
TT il all so horrible, so overpower-
ing, SO haunting, so heartrending, that
one cannot write of 1t in orderly fash
ion. It seems as If only the repeated
cry of Help! Help! Help! can be
fashioned for the ears of the prosper
Gus American people, to whom God
has given a year of plenty, while the
moor of China perish from want.
"OM of the awful mass OF suffering
A succession of individual pictures
comes trooping before my vision.
There was the man. too weak to stand
erect. who bore on Ms back. as older
brothers carry babies In China, his
blind old mother. the mere skin-an-
bone framework of woman. They
wanted help, and pleaded for 1t In the
thin whine OF the utterly miserable
and dared not give them so much as
"a copper! #
The Mother's suffering.
"Or that mother. hard-eyed and