The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1921-05-10
orroRFSTATION AND
FAMINE IN CHINA
onc AND EROSION FOL
FLoUD,T0 ENUDATION. SOIL IS
Io GONE; MEN MUST GO.

DISTINCTION, u. 81 ne iu'.i
"- ,,.trnction of their forests by the
les, esq., os IS, according to foresters OF
United States department Oh d tsrl
the ot'' one OF the reasons why lam
CULTURE hague today hold this nation
inc anu P sinister grasp. Denudatio!II
in then ar nracticed, leaves naked SON.
WheTe'ooin d erosion follow, and When
Hooos as is gone men must also go
TIT, son 70 or0cess does not take long.
and lt' # is pointed out, not only play
Forests, r II ~ part in the distribution
an lnp ,I.;n ra over the earth's surface,
OF n nam deeply affect his SPIRITUAL
but a lS1 md economic life. A country
P a+ '[[q@ckIessly wastes its natural re-
tnat rcas faces ultimate. poverty anu ue-
source source History is full OF examples:
caq qe the provinces OF Honan, ohensl
III C I'll China, over an area some
ana ana oS GNI snnare miles in extent, seVeral
lV !J,:ot neople are starving. The I'M
mili 1,to canses of the famine were dis
media. S Aoods followed by long pc
a :15 Of drought, which resulted IN the
rlous o - Of three successive crops.
Reforestatlon MOI go
NJ ~la GREAT plains of eastern China,
Inc bv the first Chinese OF whom
oCVupI l, +oIis were centuries ago trans
HlS.Ul2d from forest into agricultural
i iaa The mountain plateaus OF central
Sh;no have also, within a few hun
Gll LI Years been utterly devastated OF
oleu growth, and no attempt made
ue5 .+5er natural or artificial reforesta-
.;on As result, the water ruSh6es on
IN. .lU' naked slopes in verltaDle hoodS'
living tri away the mountain SIDES
guy ,: 3me rivers to run muddy with yell
, Iau' so3I and carrying enormous mass
wv" fertile earth to the sea. Beware
q the mountain water" read signs IN
y, Nv, CANYONS of China, posted as a
n.ar to travellers against the sud
I I~l'' rise of torrents during storms.
UT This lack OF forest cover has made
ooss;bIe many of the factors that have
Rroaht disaster to millions OF people
y; China this year. The tree-covered
mountains formerly absorbed, a con- /,
Siderable portion Of the annual rainfall
and let it escape by slow, regular se!ep-
ace during the dry season. Now that
t5ere are no trees, shrubs or even
Grsss TO restrain the rainfall the
Streams that formerly were narrow
and deep, and supplied an abundance
ri clear water the year round, have
become broad and shallow, with slen-
der currents of muddy water, which,
when if rains, swell to roaring tor
rents that bring disaster everywhere
Water courses have also changed
rivers become uncomfortable, and the
water level of the country lowered per
ceDtblv. In consequence, the untortu-
nate people see their crops W1ther and
die for lack of water when it is most
needed. In many parts of China, it is
said. these factors combined with un-
certain moisture conditions make sew
en- years out of every ten more or less
famine years.
Floods and Famine Are Common.
The Hiwang Ho or Yellow river
which drains a large part Of the fam
inc district, once, records show, flow
ed through a rich fertile valley, its
tributary hills we'll wooded. Today il
is broad moving quicksand with a
small amount of water most OF the
year, but when the floods come the
whole face of the landscape may be
changed. In 1886 this river, which is
known as "China's Sorrow" flooded
some 10000 square miles OF the most
densely populated lands, wiped out
thousands Of villages and towns, anc
drowned 100000 people.
Some idea of the rapidity of the run
of in the mountains may also be OBJ
tanned from the records OF the Yanstt
river which has been known to rise
% feet above mean water level in one
week, and then fall 6S feet in less thar
three weeks.
Human folly and short sightednes:
nave thus made a country, fertile
enough to support over 50,000,000 PEG
PIe' INTO place where man must evel
be haunted by fear of starvation anc
destruction. The lesson of deforesta
ton IN China is one which mankind
should have learned many times iron
what has occurred in other places. II
IIact it may, in a lesser degree, ever
De brought home to the people o
america in future years unless, through
WISE torethought, care is exercised il
Inc Preservation of our forests from
obstruction by fire and wasteful lum