The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 182

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182

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

The Flood and Our Missions in China.

Our Chinese Christians and the missionaries
have shared with others in the great suffering that
has overtaken those who live in the flooded areas
along the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. The
suffering is by no means over at this time, but will
continue for many months to come because of the
destruction of crops and homes as well as the loss
of lives in that awful disaster. Our missions also
sustained considerable losses, especially in Hankow.
Our Chinese Christians lost most of their property,
and the furniture of our missionaries was greatly
damaged. Relief measures have been inaugurated.
We bring below extracts from letters written by
missionaries to relatives. The first letter was
written early in August. Here are parts of it: —

What the Flood Did to Hankow.

This picture was taken before the flood had reached its height.
The arrow points to the residences of our missionaries.

“Tf I were to describe my experiences and reac-
tions of to-day, it would fill a book; I shall just
touch on the high spots and leave the details for
later.

“Rice and food of all kinds are very expensive.
I talked with W. and P. this morning to arrange
for getting a list of the Christians in dire straits.
Also bought a sampan [river-boat] for $65. This
afternoon I went out in it with Rey. S. and Mrs. B.
to our new houses. A poisonous snake got into the
boat and was next to A. She did not see it, but
S. did. He asked her to change seats and then
showed her the snake. She almost passed out.
Imagine being in the same boat with a snake.
Some thrill! We managed to corner the beast and
to kill it. The Chinese in the boat said that kind
of snake is very poisonous; death ensues in three
hours after one has been bitten. All this hap-
pened while we were crossing the golf course of the
" race club, with about twenty feet of water under us.

“them to the disease that is sure to follow.

“T could weep over all the sad sights of to-day.
The poor, houseless, hungry, suffering Chinese!
Imagine the filth of all those thousands crowding
on to what bit of dry land is left. And the future?
I hate to think of it — hunger, disease, death, and
no place to bury the dead.

“The water is still rising a bit. Yesterday the
whole native city above Taiping Road was swamped,
due to the breaking of another dike. The first dike
broken was below the city and the water came in
from the back. F. tried to get to the San Hsin Kin
chapel, but was unable to do so; the water was three
and four feet deep on the big Ma-wo. Such sights!
When will the water go down? The J. estate can-
not drain off till the Yangtze River goes down to
thirty-four feet, and according to records it does
not reach that level until the middle of November.
Realize what that means
and spread thenews gently
to the others! It means
that our homes behind
the J. estate will not be
in livable condition till
next spring; it means
flood conditions outside
of the concessions till
Thanksgiving; it means
that all the families had
better prepare to spend
the winter in Kuling. It
will be most inadvisable
to bring any children
down here and expose
One of
the men at the American Consulate said, “We may
all have to get out because of sickness, food short-
age, and Communist trouble. The Reds are busy.’

-There was looting in the J. estate last night and

trouble in the native city. It may be possible to find
houses to live in in the concessions, but I doubt it.
Refugees are everywhere and are constantly stream-

_ ing in.

“To-morrow morning with M.S. I am going out
to our old houses, and we shall try to make arrange-
ments to move some of our trunks and boxes in.
It will be-a big job. Winter clothing will be needed
before any of the houses now flooded will be
habitable. Rev. K.’s boxes should be moved in, but
it is not an easy job, especially with all the snakes
around. Maybe we can manage. I think it would
be well if Rev. Z. would come to Hankow at once
and Rey. R. as soon as possible, as they can pick out
the most necessary things to move to the city. Have