Shanghai, July 20. HINA'S casualty list, in less than one year of fighting, is already more than half. the British Empire's four year World War total of 3,089,757.
The World War was an even match of steel against steel, but China, with little more than a wall of human flesh is withstanding the latest engines of mechanized warfare hands long trained i their use and the results are not surprising. The fall of Shanghai, says "Time," took 250,000 Chinese lives and only 27,000 Japanese: almost ten to one.
In later fighting the ratio has not been so great, but Chinese losses are far greater than Japanese and if recent estimates placing Japanese casualties at over.400,000 are correct, China's losses have already passed the two million mark, A Is little wonder that with wound~ ed coming in at a rate two or three times that of the British wounded Inthe World War that their plight eries aloud for the compassion and help of every passer-by. China was totally unprepared for war on the vast scale Which has developed. She hag relatively few doctors and nurses with modern training. To the base hospitals, often as much as a thousand Kilometers to the rear, thousands of wounded have been moving daily over the already ove: taxed, single track skeleton of a railway system, augmented by an occasional unpaved highway SIL equipped with transport. Most of the ambulance trains are improvised: passenger coaches with seats re~ moved, or, most of them, mere strings of box cars, inaccessible except when stopped: None of them have facilities for operating. Few have even a kitchen. That the wounded have been moved at all is modern miracle, and that moving them. has involved much suffering and hardship 1s easily understand~ able, The ready response of those to whose attention the fate of the hitherto forgotten wounded has come ig a gratifying demonstration of the spirit. animating the new China. Almost all of the more than $50,000.00 received through the middle of June hag come from Chinese sources. But even this sum has been pitifully in-Adequate for this emergency.
The Need In November the National Christian Council asked Dr. A. R. Kepler to make a survey of the war area to discover "where Christian groups might render the ion, the greatest service.
XK was relict for the wounded soldiers in transit, He saw them lying on the ground along the tracks, or left fon open platforms, or crowded into box ears where they lay on the steel floors without blankets or straw. There were no sanitary arrangements. Some soldiers were found frozen to death and had to be cut from the ear floors with shovels. Always they wore hungry and thirsty, for while each wounded soldier receives an army allowance of 20 cents a day, the heavy wounded cannot get out buy and even where food is acces sible to them peddler profiteering often makes this sum inadequate, Charges as high as dive cents for a Grink of water have been reported.
Dr, Kepler's proposal that a "National Christian. Service Council for Wounded Soldiers in Transit be formed met with immediate and enthusiastic Tesponse. Dr, H. H. Kung) became the Honorary Chairman, Dr. F, C. Yen, Chairman, General J. L. Hwang, Vice Chairman, Mr. X. T. Chung," Vice Chairman and honorary General Director, Messrs. L. T. Chen and F.C, Brown have given generously of their time as treasurers and auditors, To set up the working organization Prof, W. B. Djang of Chee-Too University joined Dr. Kepler and went into the field with the first team, When health made necessary Dr. Kepler's temporary retirement, Dean 'T. C. Fan of Hangchow Christian College stepped into his place as General Director, The Episcopal Mission released Mr. A. J. Allen to assist at the general office, "No salaries are paid but grants to cover actual living expenses are made where necessary.
Mobile Units The Council hoped to put thirty mobile teams of from four to eight men each Into some seven regions covering every fighting front. Each team Was to recruit volunteers for oct Lack of funds has service. greatly restricted the number of paid Workers put into the field, but the. 123 s0 placed have recruited in the. frst four months 993 volunteer workers and so it has been possible to carry on extensive work. Other organizations, the Red Cross and Swas-{ika societies, the ¥.MEC.A.
local groups in some places, but thet is no competition or duplication of work, for I of the organizations, working a Jot the time, cannot begin to meet the need. The Red Cross Societies, both Chinese and International are making appropriations for the work of the 'Last night I was down at the station and saw the wounded as they' Jwere taken care of by the two or-' ganizations at work here. When 800] {to a thousand wounded arrive all Jonce it Is surely no small task to take Jeare of them. Our team started at the north end of the train and they started at the south end and we Jworked toward each other until all books the poor, pitiable soldiers were looked) after, afier a fashion. We had forty lor tity people. Dr. Ho directed our workers and Dr. Olson and Erling were among those doing dress-Ings. "1 fear some of those poor solders died before reaching their desination. 1 don't see how mere bullet wounds could be so terrible, they must have been burned by some acid' lor gas. Our school boys kept busy giving them. water and somethin, feat. We have not yet used up halt lof our $1,000 grant and are trying to} as saving as possible.
'A Ride with the Wounded The experience of Rev. S. Bate of /Siaokan who was helping set up work for the wounded along the Hupeh section of the Pinghan railway. shows how Inadequate all of our work is, where different organizations wye undertaken definite service prots. At Siaokan the students, nurses land other members. of the London Missionary Society have been going to the station three miles away to meet the ambulance trains, give! Jcongee to wounded and refugees and to dress the wounds of those needing Jattention. In order to interest the: Jother stations in similar work Mr.
took a trip up the line and return decided to come ybulance train to soldiers really fared. 'The box car lhe boarded was filled with heavy wounded, Two were dead, two more were dying and one was raving mad {from thirst, The heat and smell were' lover-powering, but there was no feseape until the train stopped. He! assured the soldiers that there would be water at the next station for there ithe local people had raised money jand bought water heating equipment for the purpose, but when the train stopped no one'was there and there iwas no fire nor water. He could not {face the men whom he had promised twater but entered a car at other} lend of the train. 'The next stop was [Siaokan, his own station, and s0 he' knew he was safe in, promising them congee and something to drink, but when the train arrived even' the station master had had no word of its coming and so no preparations had been made. 'The train went on to Hankow. One wonders what kind of reception awaited them there, and' [how they survived the next three to ten hours before their train arrived there. Mr. Bate's experience shows how essential it.{s to have permanent full time units at Important points. [Such workers can round up volunteers, but in emergencies they are there and if necessary can go along! with the train until their. work 5
'The Rev. Mr. Sutor, who has given much time to the work of the Sian units, writing June 10 says, "We need more, money this month,' We have fat ready had to feed 1,500' men and today three more trains are due from Kaifeng, one of which has just arrived. "None of the men on this train Ihas had any food for three days, In view of this emergency we hope you lean make a further grant and send it through to us as soon as possible."
The gentleman climbing' into the box ear with the bed pan in his hand iwas a professor at one of China's best known universities. Inside the lear: he found the floor covered with heavy wounded, men unable to move, land lying so close together that was difficult to find a footing. For more than two days they had lain here with no attention whatever. The! Jalth and stench were overpowering. JOne of the men, dying from tetanus, grabbed the professor's clothing with both hands, mumbling inaudibly. Iwas with difficulty that he was shaken off. Alone and unaided, for other
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.