Graphic Story of the Sufferings of the Big Nort! hern City From Our OWN Connesronoent bin, Aug: 18.
Such a flood as is being experienc ed in Harbin: at the present moment fas never had its equal in the history"of Manchutias Not' for. one moment did any inhabitant of the own suppose" that™ the streets would, be submerged. to. the extent that they are to-day, but when the Chinese part of the town, called
Sunday, August 7, causing the re-Fuchiatie, was auddeny fod on fidents'to flee for their liver, the Business. part. of Harbin, namely the. Pristan, suddenly awoke to" the fact that' they might" share th fame fate. Phe sight which sean on Sunday was one that, no! be forgotten and eminded one of he scenes witnessed in Belgium France at the beginning of the rear War. Exactly" in. the same manner, on the broad road leading fom Fuchiatien to New Town which is the higher section of Harbin, a String of carts and vehicles "of very Kind cout be ween" making safely was obtainable. 'These vehicles their way to. any' place where
were packed with a human freight of hoasebold effects, while behind Open a3 there war no place for not avoid a flood as well. los increase the height of the dams me much more. However, it cone ought. that the water" would not tinued rising the whole of Mani and by Tuesday morning the lower part of the Pristan was under water, great fears being entertain. ed of the collapse of houses erected on the ground which ten years ago was a bogey-marsh, Japanese sappers and volunteers from several organisations in the town worked their hardest to keep the water back, but as a matter of fact this only delayed, but did not stop the great flood of water Which was coming down the Sun-gan, though it permitted residents who resided on ground floors to get away in safety" before the fore Of the water broke the dams. flooded the whole of the business centre of the town, Banks had to bb closed, electric flight stations had their engine Tooms flooded, newspaper offices haa! to remove at least one machine some place where they could print, and hundreds of small stores hastily collected all their goods, removing them to the higher parts of the the town. For three days th: water continued to rise inch by inch and on every one of these days the pilgrimage of people and their belongings from the Pristan to New Town continued, but on the fourth day the water stopped, those remaining in. their Pristan houses hiring boats or motor cutters to convey them from. one place to another. The Kitaiskaia, - which is the main street of the Pristan, is venetian in -aspect, but instead of gondolas, a string of boats, fts, and even bath-tubs can be. seen paddling along from one end to the other, while on the pavements the public are walking in bathing costumes or similar attire, gener ally holding long poles to enable them to discover' any unexpected holes. Where the water is not so deep rieshas and wheeled vehicles are also used for short distances to get to a dry spot from which their passengers can make "their way to New Town, As the water does not flow in a cir cent across the' Pristan but" simply creeps along till it reaches a spot which is higher than the level of the river, the result is" that most of the streets have. now become. stagnant Ponds, in' which the people' are washing' their ditty linen, throwing in all kinds of refuse and in which dead rats and mice can be "teen floating, while at the seme tine river fla are to be seen dav ting ere and there, youngsters tryin to catch them with their hands.
While the Pristan is submerged, ther acones "are taking "place New Town, where every dvaisein Piece of ground is covered with tents and huts made of' mut' sheets, Blankets: tarpaulin thing which will "give the "unto tunate refugees some kind of shel ter from possible rains Te is not at all surprising that in such circumstances cholera'ts bats ning to make its appearance everyone of the. refugee emp lover a hundred: cases a day tong registered. Choler however, not the only disease to) be 'Tested, as owing to the want of ict ater and the dirty. state of the streets, "the medical' professiee anticipate a serious outbreale uphold fever, which is much moss dreds than even cholera ikely to earsy off people in hare Added to W. this, there is" no train' service $9 any' direction and thus people who Want to go away from Harbin' other places are compelled to stay in the' town, crowding the hotel {and boarding houses which might be led with Jocal residents wise houses have: become: flooded," there are-no trains no supplies any kind can be brought into. the fon, this making the outlook ex: tremely serious, as within anetier nth provisions will run""short and medical supplies will" feel last ebb.
instead of the great _prosperit hich was predicted for "afar jehukuo nothing but ruin stares People in the face, and'no one coa foresee the "enormous. les of fife which will occur in' the countige nor the fearful losses. which wil accrue from the disastrous' foods Jand' from which it may take years recover.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.