The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-06-22
THE FAMINE IN cHAo-SHING-FU.

VIC ACSC4FOu LAS IO4lOW1uS SIdIO1u0AL
from Bishop Reynaud:
THE immense and rich plain of the
Prefecture of Chao-Shing-Fu, in the
province of Che-Kiang, is protected
by series of bikes against the in
vasions of the sea. Cotton is the main
crop raised in the fields bordering the
sea; rice is cultivated in the lands of
the interior.
"All that extensive region, one of
the most beautiful and the most peo-
pied of China, is now in the thralls of
misery and unheard-of desolation.
Violent typhoons raised the sea
against the bikes which were felled by
the stormy waves and then the whole
plain was flooded; the cotton crop was
annihilated; rice rotted in the water;
entire villages disappeared. Later, to
make things worse, came political
troubles, panic, riots, plunderings, etc.,
which have crammed the possible
measure of misfortune, and have utter
ly ruined commerce.
In order to live, most of the fam
lilies had to borrow money and pawn
their clothes, furniture and all that
had some value; afterwards they had
to sell their fields, houses, ETC., finally
having nothing to sell and unable to
borrow, they now have to beg, become
highWaymen or starve to death. 1t
is a most cruel dilemma involving the
darkest misery. The situation is des-
perate.
I'm this Prefecture alone over
100000 people are starving. Many
and many have died already, others
have eaten up the sprouting wheat of
their fields and will have no harvest
this year. Some, driven to madness,
ate the straw of their bed pillows or
the cotton of their comforters and
died of it. Every day new sad cases
of death are registered and many vic
tins fall. Shall I mention some of
the incidents of the plague? The fol-
lowing three are the latest ones
have heard of:
THE father and son were lying in
the same bed; for five long days they
had not eaten anything, Get up said
the father, and try to find something
to eat The son obeyed, staggered to
the door and disappeared, not to re-
turn. After some hours of expectation
the father, uneasy, with an effort, got
up and went slowly to the door. There
he stumbled against corpse. 1t was
his son. This blow was too much for
him and he fell dead by the side of his
son.
"A mother was nursing newborn
baby, the third of the family. The
eldest son was nine years old and the
second six. The father, an Oarsman,
was working outside. When he re-
turned home he found them all dead.
The mother, with the babe, was on
the bed, the other two children were
lying on the floor. They had yet in
their mouths some clover leaves they
had chewed to relieve hunger.
"A family of five persons were
gathered around large table in front
of a dish of herbs saturated with
arsenic. These poor people said:
why should we suffer any longer?
There is for us no hope for relief.
It is better to die now than endure
a dreadful agony They decided to
die together, together they ate of the
fatal dish and fell dead beside each
other.
THE cases of suicide are frequent
Some throw themselves into canals
and wells to escape the torments OF
D,1% ho 0f hn uiatiD0c
wait for the approach of grim death
and even try to fight it with all the
means in their power, yet she comes
to them slow but sure, and they see
their lives waste away, breath by
breath. Even then they hope till the
end comes. Shall they be deceived in
their hope?
IF we hasten we will yet have time
to relieve those who still fight. Il
is comparatively easy to rescue lives
since with five dollars we can save
a whole family. When l say save,
mean soul and body, for salvation is
two fold in this case. Rescued by us
pagans become converts, they become
Christians spontaneously in spirit o.
gratefulness and without any previ
Gus condition imposed upon them by
us. How beautiful and plenteous i:
the harvest in prospect if we but have
the means. What miraculous fishing
could we do, had we the nets, that i:
to say, some money! Wasn't it Otter
thanks to temporal favors conferred
that Our Lord and the Saints VOL
souls over?
The Protestants are ahead of us
More fortunate than we, they distrib
ute help that comes mostly from
American Professionals. Has not Amer
lea given millions to the starving
people of China, during the last few
years? AS consequence, the Amer
lean Protestant ministers are popu
lar; they are much thought of. Man
darins promulgate public edicts, prais