The Famine In China

A telegram trom Shanghai calis attentíou to a state of distrees concerning which there can be no more uoubt than if we could see the starving witü our own oyes. Tho telegraphio reporta are coufined to the aocoiuits of journeys, made in the uutumn, into thefamino regions, broughtby Shanghai newspapers. Even then, after tüe harvest, and bcfore winter set in, tliere was the beginniiig of suffering and death for want of food. Here are a few quotations from one account : " This extended tour, 760 miles, revealed the fact of a vastdeal of suffering in (the proviucesj Chihli, Shausi, Honau, und Northern Shautung. Multitudes are now on the verge of starvation, niany havo already died, while multitudes Lave not enough to carry them through the winter. Men heretofore well-to-do, having eeveral acres of land, and six, eightortcn rooms in their houses, have, ii' multitudes of cases, torn down and sold all the wood - doors, windows, rafters, etc. - of all the rooms save on e, for a mere trine to get a littlc money to buy food. It was made manifest, too, how easily, and to what a terriblo degree, drought may affect tlie North of China, and briug suffering and death to thousauds of its iuhabitants. " Of one district it is said : "This year there was absolutely no harvest, and the erop had been very small the two preoeding years. Well-to-do farmers and mechamos have been reduced to beggary. Hundreds are leaving the province daily in search of food. Women and girls are being sold for a tófling sum, and tlms hundreds of families are being broken up and scattered." 'Trom tho harvest at Linching it soon feil to three-tenths, twotenths, onetenth of a erop; and chafl', the leaves of tho sweet potato, the pear and apricot tree were saved with great care and mixed with the grain for lood. " Of another diBtrict: "The yield of the year varied from notliing to ' our-tenths ' of acrop." Said one old man: "It is difficult getting food now; what are we to do when winter comes?" "Many houses have already some inmates dead of hunger. I personall ventered 120 houues in six or scven villages. The scènes wero heartrending, yet borne with a patiënt cheerfulness that fairly astonihed me." Oltl Pensioners. The. Eurviving soldiers of the Mexiean war are estimated to number about (5,000; the widows of Mexiean veterans, l,0C0; surviving soldiers of the regular army jiarticipating ia that war, 2,700; soldiers and widows of the Black Hawk, Creek aud Seminóle wars, 3,700, all of whoin aro provided for undo.r the bill recently reportcd favorably by the House Oommittee on Invalid Pen-ions. Their aggregate pensions at $96 eaeh will amount to &l,2SG,4flO per annum, but this sum will, of ooarse, be rapidly diminished, as the beneficiaries of the proposed legifllation average 60 years of age, and in less than two decades few will i '-maixt to answer roll-call. One lliiiulred aml Fiftecn Years Old. Having recently paid a visit to Grahnmton and vicinity, I met Mr. William Blankinship, ono imong the oldcat, if not the oldest, citizeuinKentucky. Ho was bom in Franklin county, Va., ia 1763, and went to that State with Berry Wright about sixty-live years ago. He has beon married three times, hisyoungest child being now only 5 yeara old, and be says that if he should lose his wife h! would marry again. Though uneducated, his mind seems very active and strong. His recollections of early life f.oem more distinct than of reeent events. His own story of his ngeiscorroborutod by old eitisens, whc giy ihut he raust be at least 115 years, pld,-