Gathering fuel in the Manchurian corn fields

The scarcity of fuel in Manchuria was one of the problems which caused a great deal of trouble to the Japanese army. Our picture shows a number of Manchurian peasants pulling up corn stalks by the roots and loading them on a wagon, to sell to the Japanese as fuel. Thus the war, terrible as it was, became a blessing in disguise to the inhabitants of Manchuria, who turned many an honest penny by catering to the needs of the invading army. To be sure, the existence of these people was a precarious one. At any moment a shell might be flung at them from one of the Russian forts only two miles away, and might burst over their heads or near them, riddling them with shrapnel bullets or smashing their team. But "familiarity breeds contempt." After a while these peasants became so accustomed to the danger that they pursued their labor without heeding the shells, and the Russians tired of wasting their ammunition on these poor drudges.Original format: 1 photomechanical print on stereo card : halftone, stereograph, color ; 9 x 18 c