White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-29
RAILROADS WILL
REDUCE FAMINE
PREJUDICE AGAINST MODERN
CIVILIZATION GRADUALLY DIS
APPEARING IN CHINA AND SUI
FERING MILLIONS BENEFIT.

For many years, perhaps for many
centuries, the failure of a crop in any
portion of China has caused the death
of thousands of people by famine. So
dense is the population that necessar-
lily the people literally live from hand
to mouth, and when the crops fail,
there is nothing for them to do bur
starve. A great famine is raging
there now. 1t Is in the northern part
of Kiaugsu and Anhwei provinces.
There, in a little space not larger
than one of our small states, are hud-
died together 5000. 900 people. They
are nearly 200 miles north of the
great Yangtse river and cannot be
moved, and there is no possible way
to carry su ffieient food to them. They
are doing the best they can by con
tributions. but it has to be packed Oh
animals or OF the backs of men, and
can only reach a few, says the Salt
Lake Herald.
Ii is a relief to think that China is
already projecting railroads toward
that region, and IL is to be hoped that
this is the last great famine that Is
to be followed here by such whole
sale loss of life.
OF course, those people, living
through an experience of that kind
once every few years, cannot be level
headed. The ghosts of starved rela-
tives must be around them always.
We can only imagine what deeds of
self-sacrifice are performed there by
mothers to try to save their children,
by fathers to try to save wife and
children.
But the final result must be that
the brains of the race are tainted be-
aust there Is a character of suffering
beyond which poor human nature
cannot make way, and that has been
going on through the centuries, no
one knows how long. But it is only
within the last twenty-five years that
the ban has been taken off and the
Chinese have been reeoneiled TO the
building of railroads through their
country.
The first road was twelve miles
long and the people were so incensed
over it that the government had to
buy 1t and tear up the rails. That
was about thirty-ive years ago and
the objection of the people was that
lnt lOdu Adn IhiOiS Soue Vi their
burial places and must naturally dis
turb the sleep of their dead ancestors.
They have perfect faith In that kind
of thing.
Dan DeQuille wrote a story which
was true about forty years ago. Dan
knew every Indian and every China
man in the country, and he got many
an item from them, and in. his quaint
way of stating what they said, the
matter was most interesting. One
morning he had a story that ran like
this:
Yesterday | met HI Lung and ]
said. Xxi. what news?' Whereupon
he said, You savoy? Last week Hip
Lee he die. We give him big funer-
al. You savoy? That night he came,
he say no comfortable. Next day he
came, say he no sleep good. Well,
lesteday we went dig him up. We
open box. You savoy? One leg ben
up so blending his knee.) We
straighten down that leg, we fix him
up, put him back. Last night he no
come"
But the prejudice Is overcome in
China and the building of railroads
is going on with increasing momen-
tum, and We all Fan hope that in a
very few years more the coming of a
famine in that country will not pro-
duce the wholesale deaths that have
afflicted ii so long.