Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-09

to be saved for the lean years of fam
inc. Hence, when drought or food de-
stroy the crops, there is nothing for
the hard working farmers TO fall back
upon
large family is often divided; part
go OF as refugees, part stay at
home. Those remaining take stock Of
what they have. They perhaps find
sufficient grain for the five mouths"
that are left for four months IL they
eat but small quantity, but the farm
er knows that now the four months
supply must last them seven months,
and, therefore, they Immediately be
gin to make their food thin, that is,
they eat Cruel instead OF dry bread.
Thus tens OF thousands live through.
the famine who otherwise must die.
This Cruel gets thinner and thinner
and contains more and more weeds
and leaves and greens, or even roots
where they can be found, and less and
less of grain. Every resource is used
to obtain edible herbs, and everything
not poisonous is put into the pot to
help fill up. There is however, little
! in these things to sustain life, and the
bodies OF the suffering family grow
thinner and thinner until finally their
stomachs and faces become bloated and
distorted from the unhealthy elements
on which they vainly strive to retain
spark Of life.
In the case Of man OF means, he
sells first his COW. the water buffalo
that plows his fields, then his farm
utensils. and finally his household
| goods. One by one all are "eaten up"
as he would say. Then the doors and
windows are taken from the mud
brick hut and carried TO market, and
at last the few timbers that support
the roof go 10 nourish the family. Left
at last without a roof, they join the
endless procession of refugees, some
TO drop and die where they fall, and
others to struggle and stagger onward,
In the hope of reaching some more pros
porous region. Often they gather to-
gether into huge camps, huddled into
tiny huts hardly larger than a half
barrel cut endwise, and made of cheap
mating, and in these camps pestilence
soon finds its way, often in the form of
Irelapsing fever, frequently the deadly
typhus, and also in the dread small
pox which soon ends the misery Of
hundreds in these horrible groups.
These are the conditions existing
today over an immense area of China.
II is the result of three lean years
followed by excessive rains and floods,
with terrific typhoons, during all last
summer, which wiped out whole towns
and villages from the map and turned
the roads into boys.
Mr.. Jameson, the Red Cross engineer
in the field, writes of professions of
gaunt, starving people wandering aim
lessly, hopelessly along the roads. and
falling and dying in the mud when they
can go no further. Day after day he
passed dead bodies Of men. women and
children lying where they had fallen
Famine conditions are indeed so des-
perate and terrible, so beyond the
power of imagination to picture, that
the descriptions received from differ
ent regions seem incredible With
, every day these conditions become
/ more acute and must so continue un
, til harvest. The bark has been eat
p on from trees, roots have been dug
, and devoured, and even cannibalism
is resorted TO in the mad craze and
? uDbeara5le cravings Of starvation
The recent state OF civil war de
: struction wrought by foods. and the
, unsettled political conditions. still per
sisting, make it impossible for the new
5 government to do much in aid of tht
+ sufferers. For this reason it become.
! imperative that the United States. al
ways Chiua's friend, should come gen
r erously to the front with help. Tit
p, remarkable patience of the Chinese IN
+ der suffering makes relief comparative
r ly easy, II only 7he means are supplied
, So prompt and systematic were thu
+ plans formed by the committee il
+ Shanghai that nearly all Of the 5000. OOt
starving ones might be saved, If bu
+ the tender impulse of charity were t
touch the hearts of a sufficient numbe,
D OF people in this prosperous land. Eacl
: day the cable, with lightninglike rap
idity. conveys the dollars sent to tn,
committee in New York direct TO tn,
committee in Shanghai. Thousands o
the helpless ones are 10y this means
given work TO do and food to sustain
them, and, with the experience gained
In famines oil the past, the loss of mon
ely in administration and all unnecess
airy expenses are eliminated. Certain
ly nothing can more appeal TO the hu
!. man heart than the knowledge of star
walton. and as the extent of this grea
famine is becoming better known, 81
the response becomes more general
, The New York China famine relic
committee. composed of representative
men, is cooperating with the Red Cross
and all money received is promptly ca
bled TO the committee in Shanghai
without deduction. Thus far, through
; this channel and others, over $175.0O
has been sent, a sum which is accom-
plishing great good. but one totally in
adequate TO meet the terrible need.
, Some Of the letters received wit
contributions to the fund are as pa
thetic as the sad stories from starvin
: China. The following is typical O