Letter from Mattie to Edward, March 27, 1876
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Mattie to Edward, March 27, 1876
Subject
Weather; Letter writing; Iodine
Description
Mattie writes to her brother Edward apologizing for not writing sooner. She talks about how Chinese people are moving to California and she wishes they would stay and do good work in China. An incident happened the other day while she was walking to the school with books and iodine and a few boys stopped her and tried to take her books. The iodine spilled on them and stained their skin, and they were afraid of her after that. She also comments on the wet weather.
Creator
Kerr, Martha Noyes
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #5
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1876-03-27
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_494
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
March 27th /76
My dear Edward
It seems a long time
since I have written to you
and I know I am in your
debt but you know every letter
home means all.
March 30th You see I did not
make much of a beginning the
other evening but I am quite
sure of not being interrupted
this morning as it is quite early
and the Chinese seldom come
in before breakfast. The mail
goes to morrow morning so we
have only one day more for
writing. The boy of whom I
spoke in Mother's letter left us
yesterday morning. He goes to
California leaving himself in debt
here to the amount of $100, a
large sum for a youth like him
It does seem a pity so many
leave China when they might do
so much good here and settle down
in California doing anything they
can find to to do to support
themselves. One of the native
assistants who had already begun
to preach, left us in this way
about a year since and was
obliged to learn the teachers trade
for want of something better is
still in that employment I suppose
Of course the mission there can
not give employment to to
all the church members who
emmigrate from Canton this the
result. I think I must tell you
a little experience I had the other
day going to one of my day schools
I was carrying in one hand
some books, a little bag and
a bottle of [u] Iodine [/u] which the last teach-
er had been waiting for some
days. Just before reaching the
school house a lot of boys very
small most of them crowded
about me in loudest tones de-
manding I would give them
books. I said you can not
read can you? They assured
me they could all the time
pulling at my books until I
thought they would have some
of them in [u] twain [/u]. I said [u] stop [/u]
[u] wait [/u] you must not act so at the
same time taking one from the
pile opened it and began asking
them what is this character,
and this and this. Of course they
did not know By this time a
good number of men had joined
the company and were laughing
at the failure of the boys. Of
course I had forgotten all about
the poor innocent bottle and the
[Written vertically]
boys did not so much as know there was one when all of
a sudden down it went striking the stone pavement
[?showering?] the bottle in an instant while the contents
fairly covered the feet of those boys, scarcely one escaping
Well they got on [u] yellow [/u] [u] stockings [/u] rather suddenly as
you can imagine. You should have seen their looks
of dismay, surprise, and consternation, I think they
concluded I was some sort of a magician while I would
but stand and laugh heartily at their expense. They looked
at their bare discolored feet, and then at me, seemed just
about struck dumb with amase. I told them to fi ti {in a hurry}
wash them which they did of course to no purpose. I
assured them [--not--] they need not be frightened it would not
hurt them, but would not come off for a good many
days. Although I have been to this same school twice since
have not seen even the shadow of one of my boisterous
friends. I could hardly keep my gravity even after begin-
ning to hear the lessons but the poor teacher did not
enjoy the joke as well as myself for she was in sad need
of the medicine. I told Dr Kerr of my original plan of
[Continued vertically on the first page]
Our instruments are all out of [--ord--] order from the wet
weather except the one in the parlor, the other
morning while playing
at prayers for the
school my fingers
fairly slipped off the
keys they were so
moist. Good for the
instrument isn't it?
It seemed nice to
hear from Mr Leslie
again I shall never
forget just how you
both looked the night
I came from Cleve-
land as I saw you
from the broad
stair Well good
bye again. Can it
be when this reaches
you the other brother
and sister will be at
home Mattie
中国广州
1876 年 3 月 27 日
我亲爱的爱德华 好久没有给你写信了，
我知道我欠你的债，
但你知道每封信都意味着一切。
3 月 30 日 你看，
前几天晚上我没有好好开始，
但我很确定今天早上不会被打扰，
因为时间很早，
中国人很少在早餐前进来。
邮件到明天早上，
所以我们只剩下一天的时间来写信了。
我在母亲的信中提到的那个男孩昨天早上离开了我们。
他去了加利福尼亚，
让自己在这里欠下了 100 美元的债务，
对于像他这样的年轻人来说是一笔巨款去做来养活自己。
一个已经开始讲道的当地助手，
大约一年后就这样离开了我们，
不得不学习教师交易以换取更好的东西，
我想仍然在那个工作我想当然那里的使命不能提供工作对所有从广州移民的教会成员来说，
这是结果。
我想我必须告诉你一个小经历，
前几天我去我的一所走读学校，
我一只手拿着一些书，
一个小包和一瓶碘酒，
最后一位老师已经等了好几天了。
就在到达校舍之前，
很多很小的男孩都挤在我周围，
大声要求我给他们书。
我说你不会读可以吗？他们向我保证，
他们可以一直拉扯我的书，
直到我认为他们会把其中一些书放在一起。
我说等一下，
你不能这样，
同时从一堆中取出一个打开它，
开始问他们这个角色是什么，
这个和这个。
他们当然不知道此时已经有很多人加入了公司，
并在嘲笑男孩们的失败。
当然，
我完全忘记了可怜的无辜瓶子，
[竖着写]男孩们根本不知道有一个，
当它突然倒下时，
它撞到石头路面上，
瞬间把瓶子洒了下来，
而里面的东西却完全盖住了那些男孩的脚，
几乎没有人逃跑 好吧，
他们穿上黄色长袜，
就像你想象的那样突然。
你应该看到他们沮丧、惊讶和惊愕的表情，
我想他们认为我是某种魔术师，
而我只会站着，
对他们的牺牲发自内心地大笑。
他们看着他们光秃秃的变色脚，
然后看着我，
似乎被惊得目瞪口呆。
我告诉他们要{匆忙}洗他们，
他们这样做当然是没有目的的。
我向他们保证，
他们不必害怕它不会伤害他们，
但很多天都不会脱落。
虽然我去过同一所学校两次，
但我什至没有看到我一个喧闹的朋友的影子。
即使开始听课，
我也很难保持严肃，
但可怜的老师并不像我一样喜欢这个笑话，
因为她非常需要药物。
我告诉克尔医生我最初的计划 [在第一页垂直继续] 我们的乐器都因为潮湿的天气而坏了，
除了客厅里的那个，
那天早上在为学校祈祷时，
我的手指几乎滑落了钥匙太湿了。
对乐器有好处不是吗？很高兴再次收到莱斯利先生的来信，
我永远不会忘记我从克利夫兰回来的那个晚上，
当我从宽阔的楼梯上看到你们时，
你们俩的样子，
再见了。
会不会是当这件事传到你手上时，
另一个兄弟姐妹会在家呢？
March 27th /76
My dear Edward
It seems a long time
since I have written to you
and I know I am in your
debt but you know every letter
home means all.
March 30th You see I did not
make much of a beginning the
other evening but I am quite
sure of not being interrupted
this morning as it is quite early
and the Chinese seldom come
in before breakfast. The mail
goes to morrow morning so we
have only one day more for
writing. The boy of whom I
spoke in Mother's letter left us
yesterday morning. He goes to
California leaving himself in debt
here to the amount of $100, a
large sum for a youth like him
It does seem a pity so many
leave China when they might do
so much good here and settle down
in California doing anything they
can find to to do to support
themselves. One of the native
assistants who had already begun
to preach, left us in this way
about a year since and was
obliged to learn the teachers trade
for want of something better is
still in that employment I suppose
Of course the mission there can
not give employment to to
all the church members who
emmigrate from Canton this the
result. I think I must tell you
a little experience I had the other
day going to one of my day schools
I was carrying in one hand
some books, a little bag and
a bottle of [u] Iodine [/u] which the last teach-
er had been waiting for some
days. Just before reaching the
school house a lot of boys very
small most of them crowded
about me in loudest tones de-
manding I would give them
books. I said you can not
read can you? They assured
me they could all the time
pulling at my books until I
thought they would have some
of them in [u] twain [/u]. I said [u] stop [/u]
[u] wait [/u] you must not act so at the
same time taking one from the
pile opened it and began asking
them what is this character,
and this and this. Of course they
did not know By this time a
good number of men had joined
the company and were laughing
at the failure of the boys. Of
course I had forgotten all about
the poor innocent bottle and the
[Written vertically]
boys did not so much as know there was one when all of
a sudden down it went striking the stone pavement
[?showering?] the bottle in an instant while the contents
fairly covered the feet of those boys, scarcely one escaping
Well they got on [u] yellow [/u] [u] stockings [/u] rather suddenly as
you can imagine. You should have seen their looks
of dismay, surprise, and consternation, I think they
concluded I was some sort of a magician while I would
but stand and laugh heartily at their expense. They looked
at their bare discolored feet, and then at me, seemed just
about struck dumb with amase. I told them to fi ti {in a hurry}
wash them which they did of course to no purpose. I
assured them [--not--] they need not be frightened it would not
hurt them, but would not come off for a good many
days. Although I have been to this same school twice since
have not seen even the shadow of one of my boisterous
friends. I could hardly keep my gravity even after begin-
ning to hear the lessons but the poor teacher did not
enjoy the joke as well as myself for she was in sad need
of the medicine. I told Dr Kerr of my original plan of
[Continued vertically on the first page]
Our instruments are all out of [--ord--] order from the wet
weather except the one in the parlor, the other
morning while playing
at prayers for the
school my fingers
fairly slipped off the
keys they were so
moist. Good for the
instrument isn't it?
It seemed nice to
hear from Mr Leslie
again I shall never
forget just how you
both looked the night
I came from Cleve-
land as I saw you
from the broad
stair Well good
bye again. Can it
be when this reaches
you the other brother
and sister will be at
home Mattie
中国广州
1876 年 3 月 27 日
我亲爱的爱德华 好久没有给你写信了，
我知道我欠你的债，
但你知道每封信都意味着一切。
3 月 30 日 你看，
前几天晚上我没有好好开始，
但我很确定今天早上不会被打扰，
因为时间很早，
中国人很少在早餐前进来。
邮件到明天早上，
所以我们只剩下一天的时间来写信了。
我在母亲的信中提到的那个男孩昨天早上离开了我们。
他去了加利福尼亚，
让自己在这里欠下了 100 美元的债务，
对于像他这样的年轻人来说是一笔巨款去做来养活自己。
一个已经开始讲道的当地助手，
大约一年后就这样离开了我们，
不得不学习教师交易以换取更好的东西，
我想仍然在那个工作我想当然那里的使命不能提供工作对所有从广州移民的教会成员来说，
这是结果。
我想我必须告诉你一个小经历，
前几天我去我的一所走读学校，
我一只手拿着一些书，
一个小包和一瓶碘酒，
最后一位老师已经等了好几天了。
就在到达校舍之前，
很多很小的男孩都挤在我周围，
大声要求我给他们书。
我说你不会读可以吗？他们向我保证，
他们可以一直拉扯我的书，
直到我认为他们会把其中一些书放在一起。
我说等一下，
你不能这样，
同时从一堆中取出一个打开它，
开始问他们这个角色是什么，
这个和这个。
他们当然不知道此时已经有很多人加入了公司，
并在嘲笑男孩们的失败。
当然，
我完全忘记了可怜的无辜瓶子，
[竖着写]男孩们根本不知道有一个，
当它突然倒下时，
它撞到石头路面上，
瞬间把瓶子洒了下来，
而里面的东西却完全盖住了那些男孩的脚，
几乎没有人逃跑 好吧，
他们穿上黄色长袜，
就像你想象的那样突然。
你应该看到他们沮丧、惊讶和惊愕的表情，
我想他们认为我是某种魔术师，
而我只会站着，
对他们的牺牲发自内心地大笑。
他们看着他们光秃秃的变色脚，
然后看着我，
似乎被惊得目瞪口呆。
我告诉他们要{匆忙}洗他们，
他们这样做当然是没有目的的。
我向他们保证，
他们不必害怕它不会伤害他们，
但很多天都不会脱落。
虽然我去过同一所学校两次，
但我什至没有看到我一个喧闹的朋友的影子。
即使开始听课，
我也很难保持严肃，
但可怜的老师并不像我一样喜欢这个笑话，
因为她非常需要药物。
我告诉克尔医生我最初的计划 [在第一页垂直继续] 我们的乐器都因为潮湿的天气而坏了，
除了客厅里的那个，
那天早上在为学校祈祷时，
我的手指几乎滑落了钥匙太湿了。
对乐器有好处不是吗？很高兴再次收到莱斯利先生的来信，
我永远不会忘记我从克利夫兰回来的那个晚上，
当我从宽阔的楼梯上看到你们时，
你们俩的样子，
再见了。
会不会是当这件事传到你手上时，
另一个兄弟姐妹会在家呢？
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Kerr, Martha Noyes, “Letter from Mattie to Edward, March 27, 1876,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 20, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/549.