FAMINE IN JAPAN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXX, Issue 8428, 19 April 1906, Page 2

FAMINE IN JAPAN.

Terrible Suffering

News to hand by the San Francisco mail states that the misery and suffering in the famine districts in Japan has been slightly relieved by prompt aid from domestic and foreign sources. The authorities are trying (says a despatch dated Tokio, 25th March) to provide work for the able-bodied, but the extent of the work is inadequate, and tens of thousands are still on the verge of starvation. Many parents are parting from their children, sending them to already crowded Okayama orphanage. Among the children who have arrived was a girl, six years old, who was found treasuring a package of dirty old newspapers. On examination the package was found to contain a postal card with the address of the parents of the child, who had told her to mail a card upon her arrival at her destination. The severity of the sufferings undergone Iγ the children is clearly depicted in the faces of those who are from their homes, where the food coHftts of flour mixed with straw and weeds. The Government has remitted the land tax in the famine districts, but this (adds the despatch) will not afford immediate relief. Liberal contributions from American sympathisers are already effective.