The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1911-05-20

pire, and the victims of the
dual persecution are now num-
gered by the tens of thousands. The
plague Is bad enough. but the famine
will be ten times worse. Already
hundreds are dying from lack OF food'
yet these hundreds will number thou
sands and tens of thousands before
the first scanty rice crop furnishes
relief. From the relief committees OF
the interior comes word that one mil
lion people will die before the first
crop is harvested. Even this Will be
scanty, because the people have not
the strength to till the soil and no
animals remain for blowing
1t is estimated that 100000 people
are without food. They are existing
on roots, grasses or anything that az
fords the slightest possibility of nour-
ishment. Those possessing grain
guard it day and night Missionaries
who are distributing relief tell OF
many tragic occurances-a man on
his way to meet them, dying on the
road; another falling by the wayslde
as he was returning to his family
with a packet of rice. These relief
committees describe the people as
horrible skeletons, some with their
limbs hideously swollen. They suf-.
fer all the pangs of hunger until death
brings relief. This endless relief is
coming to thousands daily from starry
alton
The pitiful condition of these starv
ing wretches is well shown by the
recent food riot at SHAY Yang. when q
persons were trampled to death. The
emaciated men and women fought
like demons for these few mouthfuls
of food, and the peril to the relief
workers who were distributing 1t was
great. A considerable amount of food
stuffs had been received by the mis-
-sionaries. who planned a systematic
distribution. Their work was hardly
begun when thousands of desperate
men, women and children, who had
learned that there was a chance Of
their hunger being half satisfied,
swooped down upon the supply depot.
An uncomfortable riot followed. Each
fought for himself and the weaker
went down and were ruthlessly
trampled.
In some portions of the province
parents are offering their children for
a mouthful of rice. Many parents,
despairing of keeping the entire fam
fly until the new crops appear. are
deserving their offspring.
The lawlessness in the stricken ter
ritory is growing each day. Made
desperate by hunger, bands of hun
dreds of starving refugees are rowing
through the famine area plundering
and killing. and reign of terror pre-
walls.
At Kunshan. walled village 50
miles from Shanghai, the villagers
after a raid in which stores were
looted and many killed, meted out
punishment peculiarly Chinese in it's
callousness to the raiding refugees.
A band of more than 500 are reported
to have been surrounded in a com.
pound and burned to death.
Relief has been coming in, but it
has proved inadequate. The Ameri-
can Red Cross society has sent over
about $4,000, while the Chinese of
San Francisco have forwarded 800
600 1t costs but cent a day to
keep one of these starving Celestials,
yet the United States and Japan have
been the only nations to give aid.
China is sending its plea over the
entire civilized world for help.
The famine situation has recently
somewhat overshadowed the plague
ravages, but not because the latter
has shown any signs of let up. 1t
Is still sweeping over the northeast
ern territory. scattering death right
and left. The plague conditions have