Pueblo chieftain., 1921-03-06

l-Ea1nt, hungry. savagc-devourinE &
what lies in their way. In some in
stances men and women. insane. fight
with the dogs for food. And once
one of these dogs is killed. he is at
once eaten by man or dog"
Tho natural causes of famine in
China are droughts and floods. Mr..
jameson says. South of the Yang
TIE river famincs are rare as the rain
fall is fairly regular but north of the
river the country is classed as semi
arid and the rainfall is subject to
great variations. Some times the rain
is so heavy that the grain is beaten
flat on the ground. and large areas
left under water. The harvest is lost
land becomes sodden and no crops
are possible until the next year.
What is not actually under water
becomes one vast swamp.
More than four-fifths of the trans
portation of China is accomplished
by hundreds of thousands of two
wheeled carts, pack camels. mules,
horses. donkeys, men, wheelbarrows
and boats along tho great rivers and
canals.
Mr.. jameson asserts that the Gala
nifty that has now fallen upon mill
lions of Chinese is due to no lack of
industry for they are tho most re-
markablc farmers in the world" altho
their methods and tools are much tho
same as those used iuEgypt in the
time of Moses The people live n
hand-tomouth existence and failure
of crops one year means undcrfeed-
ing. Two years of bad crops brings
starvation and worse.
Combinations Of men. women and
draft animals pull the plows used in
cultivatinE the soil. The crops are
rclped by hand and threshcd on the
earth floor in the open. The straw
is stacked for use as fuel or food and
the grain is ground between mill
stones moved by men, women or
donkey power. Old men and women
spin the cotton with distaff and
spindle. Their houses are of one-story
with two or three rooms built of sun
dried bricks. with n clay floor and
matched roof and windows covered
with paper.
II is essential that relief work
should get under way as soon as pos
sible owing to the extreme slowncsS
OF transportation, Mr.. Jameson points
out. Rice and grain are shipped up
the rivers and overland and then dis
tributcd by Chinese relief committees
formed in the towns and villages to
forward food and clothing. In this
work tho missionaries lend efficient
aid. he says.
The famine areas of Chill and
Shantung, are relatively easy OF ac-
cess but in the less accessible prov
tnCeS OF ShhnSl, WncTN inc ltnlIlS
area Is widespread. he predicts that
the suffering and deaths will be ap-
palling and the number OF fatalities
may run irto the millions In Chill
and ShantunE. the conditions are said
to .beggar description" Describing
tho present situation, Mr.. Jameson
says:
This is the second year and the
people have no food or money. They
have sold their belongings for n few
cents There Is no credit ana the
land is being sold at a quarter of It's
value. Families are bartcrlnr their
children because they have no food
for them. Many small children and
babies are being killed.
There is nothing to eat but leaves.
twigs, the bark of trees and grass
roots. The Chinese government is
giving what aid it can but no busi-
ness can be done and everything is at
n standstill. The only real hope of
the starving is in foreign money, ad-
ministered under foreign supervision.
But To save the people, this aid must
como quickly