Letter from Hattie to Mother, November 8, 1879
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Mother, November 8, 1879
Subject
Sick; Women missionaries; Furniture; Silverware
Description
Harriet informs her mother that Miss Rowe, who lived with them for a month, left a day ago. Miss Rowe had a fever during almost her entire stay. Mis Hartwell brought a package of expensive silver knives that Harriet's mother sent. Harriet assures her mother that they have everything they need to live comfortably. Harriet withdrew $100 from her Board allowance and invested it in their "benevolent fund" to furnish the Ladies House.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1879-11-08
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_205
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
Nov 8th 1879.
My dear Mother,
We must begin our
writing for the mail but I
am afraid we shall not get
as much done as we would
like as we hav'nt very much
time. We are having really
cold weather to-day it is dark
and rainy. We still have
plenty of company. Miss
Rowe left us a day or two
ago, she was here nearly a
month and had meanwhile
quite a severe attack of fever.
Miss Whilden came and staid
a day or two to help take
care of her. I was very
glad that Mattie had not
come back from Amoy.
Miss Rowe was much better
able to be out of bed when
she came. Kitty Talmage
came down with her is still
with us. She is a very nice
girl and not the least bit of
trouble so it is a pleasure to
have her here. Day after tomorrow
Miss Hartwell is coming. She
is now at Dr Happers. She
brought the package of silver
you sent. The knives are
beautiful. We never dreamed
that you were going to send
such nice ones. I am afraid
they cost a great deal. We
shall prize them & enjoy
using them [u]very much[/u].
They are really the nicest kind
of knives to have here because
the Chinese servants will take
care of them and keep
them always looking nicely.
When we bought knives we
wanted to get black handled
ones but could not and it is
quite impossible to make them
take good care of the white
handled ones and we have
been distressed that they so
soon became yellow.
Now these beautiful silver
ones will always answer
when we have company to
tea and we do not often
invite [u]dinner[/u] parties. You
could not have sent us
anything that would have
been nicer and of more
use to us. Mrs Kerr said she
was strongly tempted to get
a set she thought they would
be so nice to have here. But
as she had knives enough
she concluded not to do so.
We are [u]very well supplied[/u]
not with table furniture.
Mattie had a chance
to get a dinner service in
Amoy for $20.00 very
pretty white with an edge
of black red & gold. You may
think of us as having [u]everything[/u]
that we need to be comfortable.
Our house is just as pleasant &
comfortable as it can be and
we have it very nicely furnished.
I had never drawn my allowance
for furniture from the Board
so I drew $100.00 and then
we have counted that we invested
our "benevolent fund" in this way
for the past two years. I think
it is a good object, to furnish a
Ladies House of course whatever
Ladies occupy the home in the
future will have the use of it, as
although it is ours and we could
sell it if we wished we would not
expect to do so. I wish you
could all see how pretty & pleasant
the house is. We hav'nt anything
expensive but Mattie said when she
came home from Amoy she thought
the house looked prettier to her than
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
any other one
she ever went into
Henry thinks our
parlor is very pretty
& many have spoken
of it so. When I
showed the knives to
ASam & told her
you had sent
them she said
you sent us so
many things what
did we give you.
I wish that there
was a parcel
post that we
could sometimes
send little things
by perhaps there
may be sometime.
Ever your loving daughter
Hattie
中国广州，
1879 年 11 月 8 日。
我亲爱的母亲，
我们必须开始写邮件了，
但恐怕我们不会像我们想要的那样完成，
因为我们没有太多时间。
我们今天的天气真的很冷，
天又黑又下雨。
我们还有很多公司。
罗小姐一两天前离开了我们，
她来这里快一个月了，
同时发烧得很厉害。
怀尔登小姐来了，
呆了一两天来帮助照顾她。
我很高兴玛蒂没有从淘大回来。
罗小姐来的时候能起床的能力要好得多。
Kitty Talmage 和她一起下来还和我们在一起。
她是一个非常好的女孩，
一点也不麻烦，
所以很高兴有她在这里。
后天哈特维尔小姐要来了。
她现在在Happer医生家。
她带来了你寄来的银包。
刀很漂亮。
我们做梦也没想到你会送出这么好的礼物。
恐怕他们要花很多钱。
我们将珍惜它们并非常喜欢使用它们。
它们真的是这里最好的刀，
因为中国仆人会照顾它们，
让它们永远看起来很漂亮。
当我们买刀的时候，
我们想买黑柄的，
但买不到，
而且很难让它们好好照顾白柄的，
我们很苦恼，
它们很快就变黄了。
现在，
当我们有朋友一起喝茶时，
这些漂亮的银色总是会回答，
我们不经常邀请晚宴。
你不可能寄给我们任何对我们更好、更有用的东西。
克尔夫人说，
她非常想买一套她认为他们会很高兴在这里拥有的一套。
但由于她有足够多的刀，
她决定不这样做。
我们供应充足，
没有桌椅。
Mattie 有机会以 20.00 美元的价格在厦门获得晚餐服务，
非常漂亮的白色，
带有黑红色和金色的边缘。
您可能会认为我们拥有舒适所需的一切。
我们的房子尽可能地令人愉快和舒适，
而且布置得非常漂亮。
我从来没有从董事会提取家具津贴，
所以我提取了 100.00 美元，
然后我们计算了过去两年我们以这种方式投资了我们的“慈善基金”。
我认为这是一个很好的目标，
提供女士之家当然，
将来无论女士们居住在什么家中都会使用它，
好像它是我们的，
如果我们希望我们不希望这样做，
我们可以出售它.我希望你们都能看到这所房子是多么的漂亮和令人愉快。
我们没有任何昂贵的东西，
但玛蒂说，
当她从淘大回家时，
她认为这所房子在她看来比
[注：信件在第一页垂直结尾]
她去过的任何其他人都认为我们的客厅非常漂亮而且很多已经说过了。
当我把刀展示给阿萨姆并告诉她你已经寄给她时，
她说你给我们寄了很多东西，
我们给了你什么。
我希望有一个包裹邮寄，
我们有时可以寄些小东西，
也许有时间。
永远是你最爱的女儿，
海蒂
Nov 8th 1879.
My dear Mother,
We must begin our
writing for the mail but I
am afraid we shall not get
as much done as we would
like as we hav'nt very much
time. We are having really
cold weather to-day it is dark
and rainy. We still have
plenty of company. Miss
Rowe left us a day or two
ago, she was here nearly a
month and had meanwhile
quite a severe attack of fever.
Miss Whilden came and staid
a day or two to help take
care of her. I was very
glad that Mattie had not
come back from Amoy.
Miss Rowe was much better
able to be out of bed when
she came. Kitty Talmage
came down with her is still
with us. She is a very nice
girl and not the least bit of
trouble so it is a pleasure to
have her here. Day after tomorrow
Miss Hartwell is coming. She
is now at Dr Happers. She
brought the package of silver
you sent. The knives are
beautiful. We never dreamed
that you were going to send
such nice ones. I am afraid
they cost a great deal. We
shall prize them & enjoy
using them [u]very much[/u].
They are really the nicest kind
of knives to have here because
the Chinese servants will take
care of them and keep
them always looking nicely.
When we bought knives we
wanted to get black handled
ones but could not and it is
quite impossible to make them
take good care of the white
handled ones and we have
been distressed that they so
soon became yellow.
Now these beautiful silver
ones will always answer
when we have company to
tea and we do not often
invite [u]dinner[/u] parties. You
could not have sent us
anything that would have
been nicer and of more
use to us. Mrs Kerr said she
was strongly tempted to get
a set she thought they would
be so nice to have here. But
as she had knives enough
she concluded not to do so.
We are [u]very well supplied[/u]
not with table furniture.
Mattie had a chance
to get a dinner service in
Amoy for $20.00 very
pretty white with an edge
of black red & gold. You may
think of us as having [u]everything[/u]
that we need to be comfortable.
Our house is just as pleasant &
comfortable as it can be and
we have it very nicely furnished.
I had never drawn my allowance
for furniture from the Board
so I drew $100.00 and then
we have counted that we invested
our "benevolent fund" in this way
for the past two years. I think
it is a good object, to furnish a
Ladies House of course whatever
Ladies occupy the home in the
future will have the use of it, as
although it is ours and we could
sell it if we wished we would not
expect to do so. I wish you
could all see how pretty & pleasant
the house is. We hav'nt anything
expensive but Mattie said when she
came home from Amoy she thought
the house looked prettier to her than
[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
any other one
she ever went into
Henry thinks our
parlor is very pretty
& many have spoken
of it so. When I
showed the knives to
ASam & told her
you had sent
them she said
you sent us so
many things what
did we give you.
I wish that there
was a parcel
post that we
could sometimes
send little things
by perhaps there
may be sometime.
Ever your loving daughter
Hattie
中国广州，
1879 年 11 月 8 日。
我亲爱的母亲，
我们必须开始写邮件了，
但恐怕我们不会像我们想要的那样完成，
因为我们没有太多时间。
我们今天的天气真的很冷，
天又黑又下雨。
我们还有很多公司。
罗小姐一两天前离开了我们，
她来这里快一个月了，
同时发烧得很厉害。
怀尔登小姐来了，
呆了一两天来帮助照顾她。
我很高兴玛蒂没有从淘大回来。
罗小姐来的时候能起床的能力要好得多。
Kitty Talmage 和她一起下来还和我们在一起。
她是一个非常好的女孩，
一点也不麻烦，
所以很高兴有她在这里。
后天哈特维尔小姐要来了。
她现在在Happer医生家。
她带来了你寄来的银包。
刀很漂亮。
我们做梦也没想到你会送出这么好的礼物。
恐怕他们要花很多钱。
我们将珍惜它们并非常喜欢使用它们。
它们真的是这里最好的刀，
因为中国仆人会照顾它们，
让它们永远看起来很漂亮。
当我们买刀的时候，
我们想买黑柄的，
但买不到，
而且很难让它们好好照顾白柄的，
我们很苦恼，
它们很快就变黄了。
现在，
当我们有朋友一起喝茶时，
这些漂亮的银色总是会回答，
我们不经常邀请晚宴。
你不可能寄给我们任何对我们更好、更有用的东西。
克尔夫人说，
她非常想买一套她认为他们会很高兴在这里拥有的一套。
但由于她有足够多的刀，
她决定不这样做。
我们供应充足，
没有桌椅。
Mattie 有机会以 20.00 美元的价格在厦门获得晚餐服务，
非常漂亮的白色，
带有黑红色和金色的边缘。
您可能会认为我们拥有舒适所需的一切。
我们的房子尽可能地令人愉快和舒适，
而且布置得非常漂亮。
我从来没有从董事会提取家具津贴，
所以我提取了 100.00 美元，
然后我们计算了过去两年我们以这种方式投资了我们的“慈善基金”。
我认为这是一个很好的目标，
提供女士之家当然，
将来无论女士们居住在什么家中都会使用它，
好像它是我们的，
如果我们希望我们不希望这样做，
我们可以出售它.我希望你们都能看到这所房子是多么的漂亮和令人愉快。
我们没有任何昂贵的东西，
但玛蒂说，
当她从淘大回家时，
她认为这所房子在她看来比
[注：信件在第一页垂直结尾]
她去过的任何其他人都认为我们的客厅非常漂亮而且很多已经说过了。
当我把刀展示给阿萨姆并告诉她你已经寄给她时，
她说你给我们寄了很多东西，
我们给了你什么。
我希望有一个包裹邮寄，
我们有时可以寄些小东西，
也许有时间。
永远是你最爱的女儿，
海蒂
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Mother, November 8, 1879,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 29, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/261.