Flood Relief Work in China

the temple door, and in the murky slrndow under a torn ancl dilapidated piece of matting a pair of bare feet - very dirty and old- and knottedlooking - poked out; they belonged to an old woman, a villager washed out o:f house and home and reduced to dire poverty. She is now receiving her bot rice each day.

A Sunday Attendance at Our Colo1·ed Mission in Buffalo, N. Y.

Walking through the creaking door, grinding painfully on the large wooden hinges, incidentally awakening the herds of mangy, scaly pariah dogs round about, we at once set out to imestigate the motley tribe of humanity that has taken up a temporary abode there. There is a feticl odor, nn almost overpowering one, and that peculiar stertorous

or sisters are filing in. An· obsenring bystander wonders where they will all find room. It is explained to him that arrangements have been made for one class to meet in the front hall. "But," the puzzled inquirer continues, "can you sent them all?" "After a fashion only; but if necessary, the tots in the Primary sit three on two chairs or double up on single chairs." "And how many chairs ha,•e YO'IJ ?" ' ~Seventy-two." "And what is your a"erage attendance?"· "Our average attendance has been steadily climbing, but last mouth [October] we reached a new height - seventy-b"o." "That was ·splendid. But do you not really need a more adequate place of worship?" "Indeed we do, and we have every reason to thank God to-clay because of the fine Christian spirit shown by our fellowLutherans of Buffalo and vicinity. Due to their • liberality we shall soon be work;ng under ideal conditions. A new _ and inviting,chapel is now being erected, and we llelieve it. will be ready for use some time before Easter. With a new chapel and God's blessings we hope to reach out to many more ~ouls than . we could possibly reach, or care for, under the PJ.'~(?nt circumstances." E. P.

Flood Relief Work in China.

What Others· are Doing.

Making our uncertain way along the "duckboards" ( though this is a misnomer, for no decent duck would use these boards, but ,,•ould flounder through the muck beneath, I'm sure), we stopped at breathing of wearied people- a flash-lamp ! What a sight! .All around, everywhere, on the ground, under the very feet almost of the huge idols and images, there lie under the most filthy rags, families herded like cattle; no, worse than cattle; the very pigs in the stench-laden, filthy mud are ~t least in their natural surroundings, but these men and women are huddled in promiscuously, men, women, and children. The first lies just touching the door, and we touch him gently, and his grimy, naked form partly appears from uncler the dirty, p·aclded quilt. c:oh, yes, gh-e me one, please; I have a family of six n:1ouths here and one on the old home roof watching that the timber is not washed away or _ stolen. Yes, please give me tickets." "How many persons are there ?" "Three big and three small -myself, . wife, aud my mother'' ( she is eighty years old and·

Right: School and Living Qua1·te1·s of Miss Olive Green. Left: Residences of Missionndes Buuck nnd Werling.

is blind). ":M:y elder brother is watching the house."

Under his direction we discover, lying in all directions, head against feet, in narrow, inconceivable places, the family I was looking for. Tickets were ~uecl. A dozen other families - some with men already t at work as hawkers, some blind, maimed, idi<?ts, d the like, are investigated, and each family is C1>ated on its merits. Outside the door, in the next

§mpound, we turn to the left, and under some more il-smelling matting we find some poor, old, and ly, witchlike creatures, some children and one 01n. They are sorted out, and some tickets are .,jiiued. Then up-stairs. The crazy old ladder nearly brought one of the investigating party to grief, and C:,'tt old women, decrepit, make their way up, and thers with tiny babes scramble up and are there cry out for tickets. Each lot is ordered to a etched couch, systematic rounds are made, and kets are issued. One woman here is lying with pallid face on the or-boards, with apparently no covering as yet, aiting her babe to be born. We arrange to let • .lwr neighbor bring her rice. r Down the ladder again, and we are called back .Q the outside of the door where the "witches" are. e have just had some rascally business to denl with :::=. the way of imposition by a practised beggar. This ,.. _._djusted, a tug at the trouser leg of one of our party 'f.rew our attention to this corner, where in the open, under one sheet of matting, making a rough shelter at least on one side, lies a woman. J;Ier face is gray, and her eyes are e::\.-pressive of patient agony. She moans out her name, and when asked, ''How many mouths?" she tries to point to something lying at her back; and the neighbors said she gave birth to a child in the night. She had no pillow, scarcely anything to lie on, and although rather better than the rougher folk about her, she lay, as we discovered later, in a borrowed garment on the cold stones. I thanked God that I was the servant of One who was born of a poor woman in a stable, and I knew He would pity and help her. We arranged to send her gruel by the hand o.f a neighbor, and some little further help has been afforded.

Farther on we strike almost a colony- of folks from a tiny hamlet that has been entirely washed out. Here and there we find among them c,limbcd, healthy, stalwart men and strong, b . m women; but all_ aTe red~ced to abject distress e yellow things flood havmg carried away all except th¢.~ they stand in. Whilst so far there is nG>ii demic here, disease growls and threatens, and w find terrible cases of unnamable diseases, sin b g d ing its own rewa1·d. Little children penned i~ these places with profligate men makes one e~ .. ' but we can only push on and work to bring ut Cf.OS better conditions. We offered to take over the 1~ of the refugee camp; but for reasons best kno~t&:l the local authorities the people were sent away. g§ t;

Up on a pile of coffins, thrown rather hur · x;; into the temple-rooms to avoid the flood, mo them "full of dead men's bones," are lying t ol!:; e€5 families, the dead and the living divided by a • of wood. Some of them are closer to death n that; who knows? Noisome flies buzz agains~ne here, ugh! We write the tickets and hurry on?,4

Here the people a1·e all up, and the place is filling with people from outside, and the morning's