That is bad enough in itself, Dut, it is nothing when compared with the height of the waters still to be negotiated to the The volume of the up-country waters is immense, and growing in momentum. The waters at the bridge just outside the Tientsin alway station are no Tess than ight feet lower than those 12. miles up, the river at a point alld Yangliuehing, which situated on one of the feeders to the Hai Ho. The other feeders—and they converge on the Hai Ho near Yungliuching from north, south and west—are almost equally Whlf-a-dozen This is suM-wallon with the flood waters of
cient to indicate the vast accumula tion of water in the hinterland ite regular outlet On top of this, the countryside for hundreds of square miles in the basins ut the tributaries ix flooded, while thd rain continues to fall! incessantly, washing clear the rain-soaked with remaining uncovered by water into the channels. The yams now. falling, therefore, wholesale floods much nearer than would ordinary rains, "much of which is of course absorbed before they develop flood tendencies.
What is being done to prevent what may be a catastrophe to Tientein? If the authorities had taken faction right at the start of the floods, they might have been able, with the aid of an army of cooties, to build a rude canal from the Hsi Ho to the sea as an alternative channel to the Hai Ho. But there was no indication that the rains were to develop into the. present floods; and, in addition. it would have been next to impossible, not only to mobilize the vast aggregate of labour required, but to persuade the villagers and farmers that such operations were in their best interests. Now it is suggested that the Hsi Ho should be breached, allowing the flood waters to flow seaward willy-nilly over the intervening country. However, the Civil Govexnor, Wang Cheng-ping will not allow' the plan to be put into execution, saying that he will not arbitrarily flood the villages south of Tientsin for the benefit of Tientsin, The Chinese authorities, instead of breaching the Hsi Ho, are employing thousands of labourers in the task of strengthening the the south: bank of the Taching Ho night and day, working frantically to prevent the submerging of their homes. Their nightly vigil may at any time be interrupted by the overflow of the Taching on the south as well as the north. On top of the dyke they look out on a horizon stretch of water covering fields and villages, in which men were sharing in the common task of agricultural employment four weeks ago. Now it of them are on the'south side the river, Working fo save the Reconnoitring: by Aeroplane holdings of the farmers on the dry bank. If these heavy rains keep on, it is doubtful whether they will see them much Longer; they will disappear from sight as they did 1917. Tt is this area that will eventually be the center of the famine belt. In the spring the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.