Letter from Hattie to Clara, February 15, 1872

Letter from Hattie to Clara, February 15, 1872

Weather; Letters; Postal service; Steamboats

Harriet writes to Clara about how cold it is, and how she believes the intense heat of summer is what makes winter feel so cold. She then requests that the family start writing every two weeks instead of every month, because mail has started coming more often and Harriet wants a letter with every mail shipment. She mentions addressing "the Deacon" on another page and that she agrees with Clara's senitments on the matter, before inquiring after Thanksgiving and noting that she and Henry spent theirs on a small steam boat the "Peng On". Lastly, she discusses a steamboat (the Suwonada) that struck a rock in "the Haitan Sts" near the "Eastern Isles" and was almost set upon by pirates before being rescued. She remarks on being glad that railroads are coming to Seville and asks Clara to pass the photos she enclosed onto Emily and Sarah.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1

Unpublished

1872-2-15

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_073

Canton China
Feby 15th - 1872
My dear Clara,
I would go to bed and
leave letter writing till morning only
it is [u]such[/u] hard work to get up these
cold mornings, We have had such
a long cold winter for Canton
You will laugh at me for suffering
from cold with the thermometer
between 40° + 50° but I do nevertheless
and look forward with some degree
of satisfaction in the thought that
if I live till next summer
I shall be [u]plenty warm Enough.[/u]
I do really think I dread the
winters here more than the summers
although I suppose it is the
long hot summers that make
us feel the cold so much.
Now I want to impress on your
minds that when you receive
this letter it will be time to turn

over a new leaf and write to
us every fortnight for by that
time the fortnightly mail will
[u]surely[/u] be started and we are so
used to having a letter by [u]every[/u]
mail that we cant [u]possibly[/u] do
without. I know how hard it is
to get time to write letters at home
and I am afraid you will be
appalled at the idea of writing
twice as often but I dont believe
you will find it any hard than
writing once a month. so do write
if it is only a word or two for we
shall be [u]dreadfully[/u] disappointed
if the mail comes and dont
bring us anything from home.
Our English friends most of them
get letters from their "folks at home"
every two weeks and I dont
believe anybody has got any

better "folks at home" than we have
You can take turns in writing
or adopt some plan to make
it come easy can you not? [u]do[/u].
Well I discussed the Deacon on another
piece of paper so I will only say to you
that I reciprocate all your sentiments
fully agree with you all in every particular
and endorse [u]anything + everything[/u]
that any of you have said or thought
of saying or intend to say. Well I
am glad you had a nice time
Thanksgiving. We spent it on board
the "Peng On" the little steamer that
brought us down to Foochow and
it was cold + rainy and we did
not have any fire , and the sea
was very rough + I was half sea
sick but we were happy nevertheless
and just as [u]thankful[/u] as we
[u]could[/u] be that we had go an
opportunity of going to
Foochow for we had nearly given it up.

We have just heard of the loss of the
Suwonada one of the first steamers
on the coast here. She struck on a rock
in the Haitan Sts near if not the same
one of which the Eastern Isles grounded.
She was a fine large steamer but so
badly damaged that she filled + went
down in a very short time The pirates
who abound there attacked her but fortunately
they guns they fired at them attracted the
attention of the Ashuelot one of our gunboats
which was within hearing distance + she
came up + took off the passengers + valuables.
I am really glad to hear that the
"Railroad cars are coming coming"
Coming at last to Seville and it
is nice that you can see them
so well, We miss the steamer cannot
see it pass where we now live.
You will be writing to Em + Sarah [u]Do[/u]
send them the photos I enclose for them
with whole car loads of love. I did not
mean this mail should go without a letter
for each of them but tell them never mind
and write to me all the same. Give my
love to Edward + Frank + Believe me
Your loving sister [--Cla--] Hattie.



中国广州
1872 年 2 月 15 日 -
亲爱的克拉拉，
我会去睡觉，
写信直到早上，
只是这些寒冷的早晨起床太辛苦了，
我们在广州度过了如此漫长的寒冷冬天，
你会嘲笑我的因温度计在 40° 和 50° 之间而感到寒冷，
但我仍然感到寒冷，
并怀着某种程度的满足感期待着，
如果我能活到明年夏天，
我将足够温暖。
我真的认为我比夏天更害怕这里的冬天，
尽管我想正是漫长炎热的夏天让我们感到如此寒冷。
现在我想在你们心中留下深刻印象，
当你们收到这封信时，
是时候改头换面，
每两周给我们写信，
因为到那时，
每两周一次的邮件肯定会开始，
我们已经习惯了收到一封信通过我们不可能没有的每封邮件。
我知道在家里抽出时间写信是多么的困难，
我担心你会因为写两次的想法而感到震惊，
但我相信你会发现这比每月写一次更难。
所以如果只有一两个字就写吧，
因为如果邮件来了，
但没有从家里给我们带来任何东西，
我们会非常失望。
我们的英国朋友中的大多数人每两周都会收到他们的“家里人”的来信，
我相信没有人比我们有更好的“家里人”你可以轮流写信或采取一些计划来使它变得容易你能不？做。
好吧，
我在另一张纸上讨论了执事，
所以我只会对你说，
我回应你所有的观点，
在每一个细节上都完全同意你的观点，
并支持你们中任何人所说或想说或打算说的任何事情.好吧，
我很高兴你在感恩节过得愉快。
我们在带我们下到福州的小轮船“鹏安”上度过，
天气寒冷多雨，
我们没有生火，
海面非常波涛汹涌，
我有一半晕船，
但我们还是很开心我们也很庆幸我们有机会去福州，
因为我们几乎放弃了。
我们刚刚听说这里海岸上第一艘轮船 Suwonada 的损失。
她击中了海坦街的一块岩石，
即使不是东岛搁浅的那块石头。
她是一艘漂亮的大轮船，
但严重损坏，
以至于她在很短的时间内装满并沉没那里的海盗袭击了她，
但幸运的是他们向他们开枪引起了我们的一艘炮艇Ashuelot的注意，
这在我们的听觉范围内远处，
她走上前来，
取走了乘客和贵重物品。
我真的很高兴听到“火车来了”终于来到了塞维利亚，
很高兴你能很好地看到它们，
我们想念汽船，
看不到它经过我们现在住的地方。
你会写信给 Em 和 Sarah，
一定要把我随信附上的照片寄给他们，
满载爱意。
我并不是说这封邮件应该没有给他们每个人的一封信，
而是告诉他们别介意，
照样写信给我。
把我的爱献给爱德华和弗兰克。
你的妹妹，
海蒂。

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