DISASTROUS FLOODS IN CHINA

Otago Witness, Issue 3330, 9 January 1918, Page 43

DISASTROUS FLOODS IN CHINA

APPALLING LOSS OF LIFE. The typhoon disaster in part of Japan is nothing to what is being suffered in China in the province of Chihli, writes the Now East. Drought throughout tho spring' and summer, threatening famine on a formidable scale, was succeeded in the lato summer and early autumn by heavy rains. The rivers debouching upon tho Chihli plain from the western hills all burst their banks. The result was a huge lake, estimated to measure 15,000 square miles. Most of tho ChUhi rivers have no outlet to the sea, but lose themselves in tho marshy regions north and west of Tientsin. When floods oomo upon this region they stay, sometimes for two or three years. Tho present floods exceed anything that has occurred for a quarter of a century. Tho flooded country is rich and fchiefclv < populated with agriculturists, mostly living 111 mud villages. In ordinary flood times tho water surrounds tho villages and penetrates into the streets without damaging_ the houses. It leaves a rich covering of silt oa tho fields, and if there is some damage to property it is compensated for by tho increased fertility of the land. When tho floods are heavier, the houses are invaded,and collapse, and tho inhabitants have to flee, and may not be ablo to cultivate their land for a vear or more. Thi3 happened in 1912. when 70.000 of tho people on tho Chihli plain wep; made homeless. This autumn" the floods exceed all experience, and. as there is no possible means of vamoving the water, it is safe to say that by the time winter sets in millions will have lost their lives by drowning or starvation. Tientsin, more" or less protected by dykes from ordinary floods, has been inundated, the native city and the Japanese concession suffering most Within the city the homes of hundreds of thousands have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, ; while the majority of the foreign houses in the concessions have two or three feet of water in the lower rooms. Thousands of refugees have come into the citv destitute and starving. One gruesome story is told of the inhabitants' of a village, numbering about 1000. who set forth on rafts made of doors, tables, chairs, logs of wood, and anything that would float, seeking a place of refuge. They were overtaken by -a storm, ~:nd all were' drowned. The situation between Tientsin and Paotingfu cannot be de-cri'bed, for nothing is known of it beyond the fact f-hat the country is flooded and devastated. Tientsin itself is in a critical position, for f-bo Grand Canal, which is in reality, for 100 miles before reaching /Tientsin, tho course of tho Wei River, is pouring water into it. There is the danger of the Yellow River leaving its present course and flowing north into the Wei, and thereafter seekinar a new outlet to tho sea. Tin to October 10 there has been no subsidence of the water at Tientsin, and there is crave fear that frost may set in before schemes for pumping the concessions drv can be mil into operation. Damage to pi*oa»ertv in that case would be enormous when the thaw set. in. Disease is also fenrcd. for nearly 1.000.0C0 people arc dwelling in what Js practically stagnant water.