OCR Text |
Show Buildings will be torn down to got the timburs for fuel.^he problem of cooking what food they can get will be difficult of solution, and sickness will follow on the use of improperly cooked food. ENFORCED SALE OF ANIMALS While the supplu lasts moat is charp,--because people cannot afford to feud their animals. At a market where I stopped the place was full of animals for sale. In reply to my question "How will 37011 plow your land for wheat?" the answer was, ''Must we not yprotect our mouths'? We'll sell these animals ana buy smaller onus." Animals are being sola at rediculcuslu low prices and sent to distant places by the carload and by the herd. A cow ordinarily worth $50 to $80 sells for $15 to 20. The low price of moat ana animals of all kmas is a sign of severe famine; it moans that' the arua affoeteu is largo ana the animals must be taken far away before a market can be found. INABILITY TO SUPPORT CHILDREN IN SCHOOL A higher-primary school in Ling Hsien ordinarily has 120 boys; now it has 20. In one county it is reported that three-tentha of the schools only will open this fall. In our mission schools the attendance will be greatly reduced,--practically halved. The boys have no money for tuition ana no grain to bring for food. My survey leaas to the conclusion (confirmed by the observations of others) that with such crops as there are to be harvested, together with leaves,alfalfa, ana such fooa as they can get, most of the people will be able (some only with grea| difficulty) to take care of themselves for two or three months. Beginning with January and lasting for five months (until wheat harvest) there will be actual starvation on a large scale. Whether life is saved depends on whether help comes from outside. Moreover, the immediate loss of life is but wipe nut the results of one such famine. ™e do not believe tha+ you want those of us who are in the midst of it to stand idly by while_ thousands of our human-kind are dying of starvation; nor do we believe that anything less than our utmost efforts will be truly representative of Christianity. Merely to preach a gospel of heavcnlv bliss will not suffice when men, women, ana children aro dying the slow death of starvation. -----*- Grain can bo brot in from more favored regions; distribution centers can be organized; work can be arranged for many who are able to work for their food. BUT all of this requires money. Two dollars per person per month will sustain life. Take your pencil ana figure it out,- 7,000,000 people, five months, two dollars a month. So large is the task that nothing less than a gr^at,united effort will suffice. Consulates, Chambers of Commerce (Chinese ana foreign), Red Cross and other agencies thrucut China are lining up, A united appeal from a central committee may reach you later. Of the need youalreauy know; send your 'bit' as inaicatea below or thru Central Committee, A J). Heiftinger. Drafts on Tientsin, cr: Checks U Fredrick A.Gaski.ns, 14 Beacon St., Boston, marked ;,F*r Famine Relief, fechow, Qhimt |