Sin,—On receipt of your let month informing me that the Comm of the above Fund had appropriated $9,090 for relief of distress "t Wuhu, and asi me to form a sub-Committee for the di: tribution of this sum, I invited the mem-hers remaining here of the existing local Relief Fund Committe Mr. Merrill, Mr. Lund, and Mr. Christie, together with the two gentlemen proposed by the Shanghai Committee, Dr. Hart and Pere Rouxel, to discuss the best measures to be taken. Tt was unanimously agreed that the relief should for the most part take he form of wages for work done paid to the distressed; and accordingly work has been begun on the improvement of dykes and repairing of roads in the vicinity of Wuhu, two objects being kept in view as far ax possible, nathely, that the work should be rected towards lessening the destructiveness of future floods, and that it should be located where it can be carried on under the direct supervision of foreigners. Some 350 men are now employed under Dr. Hart, Mr. Eh and Mr. Lund, who devote much time and energy to sce: ing to the proper application of the wages fund; and Mr. Beals, who has kindly consented to join the Committee, has nov undertaken to supervise 100 more men. Taking into account the probable number of an adult workman's family, we estimate that in this way some sixteen hundred persons will share the benefit of the relief works, the expenditure being at the rate of about $1,900 a month. Nearly $800 hag already been spent in wages, At the same time it is realised that this system docs not reach the needs of distressed women and children who may be without natural protectors, and of refugees who ave incapacitated from work by age or ill-health. The only way in which we can assist these classes is by devoting a portion of the fund at our disposal to giving small donations to existing institutions such as Miss Mitchell's Soup. Kitchen and Dr. Hart's Hospital. Miss Mitchell's admirable organisation provides food for some 1,500 women and children daily, and it will be a calamity if her work has to stop for want of funds. We have appropriated $509 to this charity, a very small amount in view of its heavy expenses for rice and fuel, but we trust to be able to make a further contribution from additional subscriptions to the fund. Dr. Hart spends smali_ sums monthly in feeding at his Hospital indigent patients from the class for whom the Relief Fund is intended.
'A full report on the disposal of $5,000 will be furnished in due course, but mean-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.