Salt Lake Telegram | 1921-02-13 | Page 37 | Deaths in China Exceeds War Toll

WIISIII1I EXCEED II Distress and Despair Stalk Efforts of People to GeRelief list durma-th. wlnl.r In the (unln '.k-1"1" .wl" " a.an In the world war unless the other nation.. and particularly America, come to the rescue on a tremendous (ale. according to th. Kev. Dr. W. A. Mather of Caldwell, N. J.. PreabyterU. missionary, who rocsntly roturned from China. Hlt",r r"orta that mors thaa IB.000.000 persons fa- the lmmedlat. irlc' .'.rvatlon. and that 45.- . rrthers are nrrected In the Tarn-Ine Tarn-Ine aone. which covera an area of 100.000 square miles. The Chines, ar. dying; at th. rat. of 15.000 a day lr. Mather was In charge of th. Pre.byterlan mission at 1'aotlncfu. Id the province of Chlhll. one of th. flv. states In the famln. district. H. d clares that drought left the (round barren bar-ren last fsll and that when h. left th. native, wer. subsisting on root, and leave.. Other statistics regarding; th. fear-rul fear-rul condition In th. famine districts In China ar. given out by C. K. Daues, American con.ul at Tslnan, China. Hhantuns Is th. most d.o.ely populated popu-lated .province In China. It. population popu-lation Is estimated at 30, SOS, 2(5 (latest postal census), and lta area I. (S.I84 square miles. This a-lre. an average density of population of ... to lh .qtiare mile. But as a large part of th. provlnc. I. only sparsely inhabited. Including th. mountainous sections and great tracts of land along th. lower reaches) of th. Yellow river with aandy and alkaline soil, the d.nsity of population in other districts is correspondingly Increased. The famln. area of Hhan-tuna- -cover, the most densely populated popu-lated part of th. province. The pressure of orerpopulatlon 1. so great than even in th. year of slightly lean crops there I. a persistent persist-ent migratory mov.ment toward other sections, and annually thousands of natives of tihantung cross over Into Manchuria. Hut still th. population 1. so great that a aingl. poor harva.t causes distress to thoussnds, and a prolonged drought or sudden flood Invariably In-variably brings famine and disaster to the peoule in extensive areas. Tl. mini,.... ...,i.,i I. .1 districts are dependent almost entirely on the products of the soli, and the productive area Is insufficient for the support of the population. Ohiiia generally, and especially Shantung, Shan-tung, has bean particularly susceptible to recurring visitations In the form of flood and famine. A famine in 1877-s is said to taavs caused the death of . . 00 0,000 of the inhabitants of Shantung. Shan-tung. Hhansi, Honan and ChihlL In recent times one district or another has recorded famine with attendant loss of life each year. The famine of mo-mi Is of widespread wide-spread and alarming proportions. In Hhantung the estimated population popula-tion of the severely stricken districts alone is 6.791.313, and In the less severely se-verely affected but admittedly serious areas, l.&40til. The great masses of the people are poor; poverty stricken beyond any conception of poverty in the United. Htates. This Is especially true in (shantung. Tactically all of the affected area have suffered more or less severely from floods, drougth and locust hordes for from two to three and four successive suc-cessive years. Following on these barren bar-ren years has come the complete failure fail-ure of the spring wheat crop ana the scant autumn harvests due to lack of spring and summer rains. In Kn Hsien, for example, four harvests har-vests have been lost, one after the other, two because of the 1118 floods, one by locust ravages, and In 1920 the farmers have not even recovered the'r seed nor secured fuel. In some districts dis-tricts a little wheat was realised last spring, but the must was only 30 pee cent of the normal yield. The autumn crops have varied from nothing to as high as 0 per cent of a crop in the most favored regions. In the famine section of Hhantung "ffilllfft forms one of the principal items of fodder. Very little grew this year and that which survived matured only an Inferior grain and straw. Kaoliang (Kaffir corn) ie tbe staple article of diet of the poorer people and the kaoliang stalks sre the principal fuel. In some areas the kaoliang did not come up at all and the section . where a fair crop was had are few. Certain sections are beginning to suffer from lack of water, the shallow shal-low wells are becoming dry. Tat water if many wells has been polluted by the bodies of little children whose parents could not ionejer supply their needs. In every village It has been found that large numbers of the able bodied have left. Many have bricked up the doors of their huts and headed for Manchuria . others have sought employment em-ployment in less stricken places: many are adrift begging, the strong have had to desert the women and children snd the aged and weak in many cases to go and seek help. Tragedy follows the refugees. They go from sorrow to distress, from die-tress die-tress to despair.