Letter from Hattie to Mother, January 30, 1875
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Mother, January 30, 1875
Subject
Mail steamers; Fires; Arson; Missionaries; Church buildings
Description
Harriet talks to her mother about the American Mail which will leave Hong Kong every month. She goes into depth about the burning of the church/schoolhouse that just occurred. They believe that someone purposefully burned it using kerosene (coal oil) scattered through the rooms then set it on fire. She remembers seeing all of the smoke and how terrifying it was. Luckily no one was hurt. The new building will be much like the first, but with better ventilation and six feet taller.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1875-01-30
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_137
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Jany 30th 1875.
My dear Mother,
As usual I have
only a few minutes for writing as
we have company coming to
dinner at one and now it is
after twelve. WE have not had
any letters from home since we
last sent letters and the mails
are so uncertain just now that
we hardly know when to look
for another. This morning's paper
contains the announcement that
after the 1st of March the
American Mail will leave Hongkong
[u]regularly[/u] on the 1st and 13th
of Every month. I hope they
will be able to carry out their
regulation. I feel so unsettled
that I can hardly accomplish
anything I shall be glad
indeed when the school house
is commenced again. They
hope to make the contract
for rebuilding this afternoon.
WE have now no doubt that it
was set on fire probably fired
by means of kerosene {coal oil}
scattered through the rooms and
then lighted. Mr Vrooman
who knows almost Everything as
soon as we described the appearance
of the fire in its commencement
said at once that it must have
been coal oil and we afterwards
tried Experiments with kerosene
which satisfied us that it was
so. When we first saw the building
it was [u]filled[/u] with [u]dense black
smoke[/u] which seemed to change
in a moment into flame
and Mr Vrooman says that
under such circumstances
kerosene scattered about produces
a gas which as soon as there
is hear Enough ignites I understand
now as I never did before the
accidents from the Explosion
of kerosene lamps and how
impossible it would be to
Escape from the flames.
WE all noticed and wondered
at the heavy clouds of black
smoke which rose from the
building so different from the
smoke produced by burning wood
but it is all clear now. As sure
as the wood work caught fire
and the oil and gas was consumed
the smoke nearly all vanished
and what there was was light
colored like that of burning wood.
When we rebuild we will be
careful to leave a space between
the school house and the
houses in the rear so that it
cannot be Entered from the
rear as before. There was nothing
then to hinder any one [?coming?]
on the roof and then they could
Easily climb down and get into
the building without any difficulty
I have often wished it were
different but I never anticipated
such an End. In most
respects the second Edition will
be the same as the first, it
will be much better ventilated
a very important matter we
have found from Experience.
The new building will be six
feet higher and the rooms a
little larger but there will be
three less of them. The question
of our moving back where we
used to live and building the
school house there came up
and troubled me a good deal
for a time but I suppose we
are doing what is best as if we
should all move down there
with our schools it would
almost Entirely stop the Woman's
work here which now seems so
promising. Miss Shaw and Lillie
are both in the Invalid Corps
have done scarcely any Mission
work for more than a year.
In many respects I am sure
we would [u]Enjoy[/u] living "down at
the other End" very much indeed
but that is a matter of little
importance our home here is
a very pleasant one.
So much for the school business
when we write again I hope
that we can tell you that
the work of rebuilding has
commenced. It is not quite
one so I will write a little to Em
Your loving daughter Hattie.
Jany 30th 1875.
My dear Mother,
As usual I have
only a few minutes for writing as
we have company coming to
dinner at one and now it is
after twelve. WE have not had
any letters from home since we
last sent letters and the mails
are so uncertain just now that
we hardly know when to look
for another. This morning's paper
contains the announcement that
after the 1st of March the
American Mail will leave Hongkong
[u]regularly[/u] on the 1st and 13th
of Every month. I hope they
will be able to carry out their
regulation. I feel so unsettled
that I can hardly accomplish
anything I shall be glad
indeed when the school house
is commenced again. They
hope to make the contract
for rebuilding this afternoon.
WE have now no doubt that it
was set on fire probably fired
by means of kerosene {coal oil}
scattered through the rooms and
then lighted. Mr Vrooman
who knows almost Everything as
soon as we described the appearance
of the fire in its commencement
said at once that it must have
been coal oil and we afterwards
tried Experiments with kerosene
which satisfied us that it was
so. When we first saw the building
it was [u]filled[/u] with [u]dense black
smoke[/u] which seemed to change
in a moment into flame
and Mr Vrooman says that
under such circumstances
kerosene scattered about produces
a gas which as soon as there
is hear Enough ignites I understand
now as I never did before the
accidents from the Explosion
of kerosene lamps and how
impossible it would be to
Escape from the flames.
WE all noticed and wondered
at the heavy clouds of black
smoke which rose from the
building so different from the
smoke produced by burning wood
but it is all clear now. As sure
as the wood work caught fire
and the oil and gas was consumed
the smoke nearly all vanished
and what there was was light
colored like that of burning wood.
When we rebuild we will be
careful to leave a space between
the school house and the
houses in the rear so that it
cannot be Entered from the
rear as before. There was nothing
then to hinder any one [?coming?]
on the roof and then they could
Easily climb down and get into
the building without any difficulty
I have often wished it were
different but I never anticipated
such an End. In most
respects the second Edition will
be the same as the first, it
will be much better ventilated
a very important matter we
have found from Experience.
The new building will be six
feet higher and the rooms a
little larger but there will be
three less of them. The question
of our moving back where we
used to live and building the
school house there came up
and troubled me a good deal
for a time but I suppose we
are doing what is best as if we
should all move down there
with our schools it would
almost Entirely stop the Woman's
work here which now seems so
promising. Miss Shaw and Lillie
are both in the Invalid Corps
have done scarcely any Mission
work for more than a year.
In many respects I am sure
we would [u]Enjoy[/u] living "down at
the other End" very much indeed
but that is a matter of little
importance our home here is
a very pleasant one.
So much for the school business
when we write again I hope
that we can tell you that
the work of rebuilding has
commenced. It is not quite
one so I will write a little to Em
Your loving daughter Hattie.
中国广东
1875年1月30日
我亲爱的母亲
像往常一样
我只有一点点时间给您写信
因为我们1点要去吃饭
现在已经12点多了。
自从我们上一次寄出信之后
就没有收到过家信
而且这些邮包很没准儿
我们机会不知道什么时候去找下一个。
今天早上的报纸有一则公告
说3月1日起美国邮政会有规律地离开香港
每个月的1号和13号。
我希望它们可以遵守制度。
我感觉心里很乱
我几乎不能完成任何事
我确实很高兴校舍又建起了。
他们希望今天下午拟一份重建合同。
我们很确定
那个火是因为煤油洒在房间里
然后被点燃了。
我们一描述完火势
就知道所有情况的Vrooman先生说
那一定是煤油起火
而且在这之后就用煤油做起实验
让我们得到满意的答案。
我们开始看到这栋建筑时
冒着浓密的黑烟
然后瞬间就燃起火焰
Vrooman先生说
在这样的情况下
煤油扩散就会产生气体
一旦有足够的条件就可以燃烧。
我现在明白了
因为在这次意外之前我没有处理过煤油灯爆炸
很难从火海中逃跑。
我们注意到
升起来的黑色浓烟
和木头燃烧冒的烟是不同的
木头燃烧冒出的烟是清的。
木头确实会引起火灾
而且气和油消耗
有什么东西被点燃了
颜色就像被烧过的木头。
我们重建的时候
会很小心地在校舍和房子后面留出空间
以至于引燃物不能像以前那样从后面进来。
没有什么东西可以阻止任何人到房顶上去
然后他们可以轻易爬上爬下
进出房间。
我经常希望它能改变
但是我没有预期到结局。
涉及最多的
第二次装修会和第一次一样，
通风会更好
这一点，从我们的经验来看非常重要。
新楼比老楼高六英尺
房间也会大一点
但是会比之前少三个。
我们搬回来的问题是
我们过去住哪？
建起校舍给我带来了麻烦
但是我认为我们已经尽了最大的努力
如果我们需要搬走
会让所有女人停止工作
我也不知道我该怎么做。
Shaw小姐和Lillie一年多没有做传教士该做的工作
因为加入了伤残军队。
我很确定我们会喜欢住在另一头
确实是
但是对于我们家来说
这里已经很好了。
我们又一次写信的时候
又一次提及了很多学校的事情
我希望当学校开始重建时
我能告诉您学校重建的事。
还没有到1点钟
所以我准备给小Em写。
爱您的女儿Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Mother, January 30, 1875,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 29, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/193.