Catastrophe: Wheat Crop Poor rose Oon Owst Comesroxone, Sutsien, Ku. Sept, 30.
'The flood waters' of the Yellow River, which have been threatening this part of Kiangsu during the summer months, have at last arrived, bringing destruction and misery.
One of the most impressive features of the situation is the slow progress: made by the flood, as it creeps across the country. More than two months have passed since the Yellow River broke its banks and started on its dreadful work of devastation. In that length of time, it has actually advanced only about 200 miles, perhaps tess than that. No doubt many people have often thought of what happens when the Yellow River changes its course, of how the water rushes in mad torrents, sweeping away hundreds of villages, and drowning thousands of people, 'The observed facts are entirely different from this mental picture, 'The advance of the water is 0 slow. that most of the people have plenty; of time to escape with their' lives, and In many cases they succeed in saving at least a part of their possessions," Of course the late fall crops: fare almost entirely lost, and countless. houses are being destroyed. Meanwhile, the refugees have nowhere to 0, and many of them have no food to cat. Unless prompt steps are taken to provide adequate supplies of food, clothing, and shelter, countless thousands of these unfortunate people must die within a few months; but in most, eases death will come by the slow process of starvation and exposure, not by the sudden process of drown ing.
The slow progress of the flood Is probably due to two main causes, First, the country is very flat, so that the water spreads out to a width many miles, instead of being confined to a narrow stream. Of course this means that, in most places, the current is very slow.
Secondly, this part of the country a a great many dykes, running in various directions. In ordinary times moat of these dykes are in the midst of dry land, some of them several miles from the nearest water. Strangers may well wonder" why, dykes were built in such - places. When small foods come, these dykes may succeed in confining the water certain districts. In case of large] Moods, ike the present one, most the dykes are overwhelmed, forms the southwest bank of the Grand Canal,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.