CHINA: Again the Black Horseman

The Western year 1949, in China's ancient lunar calendar, is a leap year, with two seventh months or a double July. The superstitious say a double July means a month more of rain and so a great flood.

Last week the great flood of 1949, the highest and most disastrous in 20 years, had passed its crest. As the waters subsided, the misery they had created grew. In the six southern provinces still under their sway, the Nationalists reported 10 million people in need of flood relief.

The plight of Farmer Ah Teng, a...