TAMPING EARTHWORK.
“Next in numerical strength are the ‘small workmen,’ of whom we have about 1,000. Their work is to carry water from the canal to the dyke in order that the latter may be pounded firm the more easily. Also many of them receive the earth as it comes on to the dyke, break it up, level it and dig small holes into which the water may be poured. They are paid in grain at the rate of 150 cash per man per day.
“Now we come to the pounders. They number 750 and were divided in groups of ten. Each group has a stone weighing about 100 pounds, circular, a foot in diameter, and eight inches thick. To each stone are attached ten ropes, one for each of the ten men, and when the men all pull in unison the stone rises above the level of their heads and then comes down with a thud. The dyke is built in layers, which are one foot thick after they are pounded. Each layer is pounded until it is of the consistency of rubber and is then tested in this unique way. An iron rod is driven down and into the small hole thus made water is poured from a tea kettle. If the water does not soak away the layer has been pounded sufficiently. These pounders are skilled workmen and were originally paid 250 cash worth of grain per man per day, but they proved to be so lazy that we had to invent a sliding scale of wages. So we considered 1,200 square feet as a full day’s work, and if a gang pounds that amount each man is given 250 cash; if they pound 1,100 square feet, 240 cash; 1,000 square feet, 230 cash; 1,300 square feet, 260 cash, and so on. Now they are not lazy.
“We have thirty skilled workmen who trim the edges of the dyke and give it a finished appearance. Also there are sixty overseers who understand the work. They keep an eye on the stone men and test their work as described above, see that the dirt pushers place the dirt in the proper place and direct the stream of water carriers as they come. Both these classes of workmen receive 250 cash worth of grain a day.”
In 1911 the American Red Cross sent to China Mr. C. D. Jameson, a well known engineer, to study the conditions which cause the frequent great floods to devise and suggest a system of river conservancy which will reduce the number and extent of these floods. Mr. Jameson was an advisor of the relief committee and was familiar with its public works at all times. He praises in the warmest terms the thoroughness of the operations and the judgment and ability of the missionaries who were in charge of much of the work. These missionaries, in fact, proved themselves practical men and capable administrators, who did not spare themselves, but under adverse conditions gave from twelve to fifteen hours daily to their unpaid tasks.
In connection with the relief operations an interesting experiment in colonization was undertaken under the leadership of Prof. Joseph Bailie, of the University of Nanking. After many difficulties Prof. Bailie, with the co-operation of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, at that time Provisional President of China, secured a tract of waste land at the foot of Purple Mountain, near Nanking, moved some of his more trustworthy men on to it and began its cultivation. Huts were first built. A school was started for the children, so that they would be cared for while the men and women were at work. The land was gradually broken up, drainage ditches were dug, and potatoes and strawberries, wheat and other cereals were planted. A large number of fruit trees were set out. Some of these were Chinese, but many were obtained from Japan and other countries. The land is now being used as an experiment farm and as a testing school for the men. The soil is of a poor quality, and is in many ways unsatisfactory; but Prof. Bailie is persevering in the faith that he will succeed, not only in doing a piece of work which will be deeply interesting to the officials and gentry near the city of Nanking, but will prove of value to the larger enterprise which he still expects to see carried through.
Mr. Jameson, the American Red Cross conservancy engineer, after traversing the famine districts, says of the prevention of the recurrent floods which have caused many famines, including this one of 1911-12:
“There are no engineering difficulties in the way of controlling the rivers, lowering the flood level and reclaiming the waste land in North Kiangsu and North Anhwei; it is purely a question of money and time. Under the present conditions at least three crops out of five are lost over an area of some 30,000 square miles. The soil of this area is exceedingly rich, the climate such that two crops a year should be possible when the conservancy and reclamation work had been completed. Not only will heavy crops be possible over this whole section year by year, but some millions of acres (English), which now are absolutely worthless, will be available for cultivation. All of this makes the expenditure of the necessary money justifiable from a commercial standpoint.”
It is hoped that the Republic of China will accept the plan prepared by Mr. Jameson as a basis for a system of river conservancy which will put an end to the greater part of the flood devastation which has cursed this land for many centuries. Chinese records show that since the year 494 A. D. sixty-seven famines have occurred in this region. All but two of these famines were caused by floods.