Letter from Hattie to Sarah, April 22, 1878

Letter from Hattie to Sarah, April 22, 1878

Tornado; Natural disasters; School children

Harriet writes to Sarah, asking how she is and remembering how she was there just last spring. She inquires about family members whom she was able to see so often. She informs Sarah about the tornado and hopes that every one home was not too anxious about it since she luckily was not in harm's way. She talks about how she was visiting a school across the river and that they waited to set sail to go back across on account of the wind. She stayed on the boat and saw the whirlwind pass. It left everything in ruins. Many people were buried and drowned, they think about 10,000 people have been killed. They wanted to move the scholars to a place of safety, but taking them out at night could also be a risk if one of them was stolen. In the end, their parents came and took them home

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #2

Unpublished

1878-04-22

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_184

Canton
April 22 '78
My dear Sarah -
It seems a [u]long[/u]
time since we have had
letters from you . There is
a mail coming in tomorrow
perhaps that will bring us
something We are very anxious
to hear that you are all
right at the [?Lust?] and
that Democratic rule is
not going to put everything
out of sorts . I cannot bear
to think of such a possibility
I can think just how
you look there now the
grass is getting so green and
the trees are coming out -
It is just a year ago now

that I made my [u]spring[/u] visit
there . Tell dear Cousin Gilbert
+ Mary that I have thought
of them the past few days.
I always feel so thankful
when I think that I
had so many nice visits
with them . How is Aunt
Fay this summer and the
children if I ever see
them again how much they
will be changed .
You will have heard [?Ere?]
this I presume of "our
tornado" I hope if it is
telegraphed home as I suppose
it will be that it will be
in such a way as not
to give you anxiety about
us. I came very near
being in a dangerous place
but as it was I was out of
the track of the whirlwind

and so as safe as though I
had been in America . I
was coming home from a school
across the river and had
stopped for a little while at
Mr Henry's - Had gone back
to my boat but the boatwomen
said there was going to be a
great wind and were afraid
to go out on the river . So I
sat in the boat tied to the
shore for a few minutes . I
heard the whirlwind pass
and supposed the noice was
that made by the daily
steamer coming in --
After a little we came on
and when we came up to
the place where the whirlwind
had passed it seemed to
me that I [u]could not[/u] believe
my eyes . Everything that came
in its track it left in ruins -

The canal was filled with
the wrecks of boats and
debris of every sort many
boats were floating bottom
upwards. John Happer
was out looking for me and
as the boat could not come
on the canal was so filled
up he helped me on shore
and I came home by land.
Mattie and the women
and girls in the school
had been very anxious -
about me. All the
mission property seemed
providentially preserved The
tornados track came between
our house and those of
the Wesleyan Mission perhaps
as far apart as from the
Pres Church down to the
Corners in Seville - Only one
of our day schools feel that was all
the loss of any mission -

Multitudes were buried under
the ruins and drowned by the
upsetting of boats . Different
estimates have been made
but now it is thought that
the loss of life is probably
fully ten thousand - Nine
thousand houses are in
ruins - It seemed worse
than a typhoon because
it came without any
warning and was all
over in a moment or
two - [--More t--] Several hundred
years ago a Chinaman
predicted that this would
be a year of special
misfortune and it seems
as though the prediction
is being fulfilled --
The night after the
tornado fires burned in
different parts of the city

and some were not extinguished
until the next day - The
streets were so choked with
the debris of the fallen
houses that it was difficult
for the fire companies to
manage their engines
efficiently - Mr Henry
and James Chalmers
came and staid here
all night . We were very
glad indeed to have them
here as it seemed about
midnight that we might
have to take the scholars
to a place of safety and
in that case we would
need help . Fortunately
however we were not
obliged to go it would be
a very great anxiety to
take the girls out in the
night we would be so

much afraid of their being
stolen . One of Lillie's scholars
was near enough in the
whirlwinds track for the
scholars to be very much
frightened. They all staid
in the school building until
their parents came with
a police force and took
them home . Buying and
selling young girls is quite
a traffic here and one of
our girls would probably
sell for Eighty or one
hundred dollars I wrote
the morning after the fire
to Dr Ellinwood [u]"imploring"[/u]
him to let us take the
school to the other end of
the Mission there the
grounds are large enough
so that even if the Mission
buildings should burn the

scholars could stay in the
yard with safety until they
could be taken home . We found
to our dismay the other night that
the native boats would not take
the girls acros to Shamin a
new difficulty which we had
never anticipated - I look for
a favorable answer from the
Board I do not see how
they can feel that it would
be right to decide otherwise.
Mrs Perkins writes that the
ladies are all ready to furnish
whatever amount of money
is needed -and that is
generally the difficult part
to manage - I see I have
begun this sheet in the wrong
place but I hope you will
find how it is without difficulty
Give much love to our
associates Miss Brown Miss Thompson
The [?Matrons?] + others . The little
mats Miss Brown did for me
often bring her to mind . The
pretty thinks I brought are much

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page four]
adored here . They are far more appreciated than at
home I think With much love for you all from
Hattie

[Note: Additional note sideways on page one]
Mattie is not
feeling so well
these hot0 days
yesterday the
thermometer
stood at 90 °
I think she
will go to
Chefoo this
summer



中国广州
1878 年 4 月 22 日
我亲爱的莎拉——
我们似乎很久没有收到你的来信了。
明天有封邮件可能会给我们带来一些东西
我们很急切地想听到你在欲望上一切都很好，
并且民主党的统治不会让一切都搞砸。
我无法忍受想到这样的可能性，
我能想到你现在的样子，
现在草越来越绿，
树木都长出来了——就在一年前，
我春天去那里。
告诉亲爱的表弟吉尔伯特和玛丽，
过去几天我一直在想他们。
当我想到我和他们有这么多美好的访问时，
我总是感到非常感激。
今年夏天费阿姨和孩子们怎么样，
如果我再见到他们，
他们会有多大的改变。
我想你已经听说过“我们的龙卷风”了我差一点就到了一个危险的地方，
但实际上我已经脱离了旋风的踪迹，
所以就好像我在美国一样安全。
我从河对岸的一所学校回家，
在亨利先生家停了一会儿——回到了我的船上，
但船夫说风很大，
不敢在河上出去。
于是我在绑在岸边的小船上坐了几分钟。
我听到旋风经过，
以为是每天开来的轮船发出的声音——过了一会儿，
我们上来了，
当我们到达旋风经过的地方时，
我觉得我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛.一切在其轨道上的东西都变成了废墟 - 运河里满是船只的残骸和各种各样的碎片，
许多船只从底部向上漂浮。
约翰·哈珀在外面找我，
因为船不能驶入运河，
所以运河上已经满了，
他帮我上岸，
然后我就从陆路回家了。
玛蒂和学校里的妇女和女孩一直很担心——关于我。
传教区的所有财产似乎都得到了天赐的保护
龙卷风的踪迹从我们的房子和卫斯理传道会的房子之间传来，
也许从长老会一直到塞维利亚的角落——
只有一所走读学校认为这是任何人的全部损失使命 -
无数人被埋在废墟下，
被船颠簸淹死。
有不同的估计，
但现在认为，
生命损失可能整整一万——
九千栋房屋被毁——
这似乎比台风更可怕，
因为它毫无征兆地来了，
一两分钟就结束了——几百年前，
一个中国人预言今年将是特别不幸的一年，
预言似乎正在应验——龙卷风大火在城市不同地区燃烧的那个晚上，
有些直到第二天才被扑灭- 街道上满是倒塌房屋的残骸，
以至于消防队很难有效地管理他们的引擎 - 亨利先生和詹姆斯查尔默斯先生来到这里，
并在这里呆了一夜。
我们真的很高兴他们在这里，
因为似乎在午夜时分，
我们可能不得不把学者们带到一个安全的地方，
在这种情况下，
我们需要帮助。
幸运的是，
但是我们没有义务去，
晚上带女孩出去会非常焦虑，
我们会非常害怕她们被偷走。
莉莉的一位学者在旋风轨道上的距离足够近，
以至于学者们非常害怕。
他们都呆在教学楼里，
直到他们的父母带着警察来把他们带回家。
在这里买卖年轻女孩是一件很麻烦的事，
我们的一个女孩可能会卖到八十或一百美元，
我在火灾发生后的第二天早上写信给 Ellinwood 医生“恳求”他让我们把学校带到学校的另一端传教图组织那里的场地足够大，
即使Mission建筑物被烧毁，
学者们也可以安全地呆在院子里，
直到他们被带回家。
那天晚上，
我们沮丧地发现，
当地的船不会把女孩们带到沙面，
这是一个我们从未预料到的新困难——我希望董事会给出一个有利的答复我不明白他们怎么会觉得它会做出其他决定是正确的。
珀金斯夫人写道，
女士们都准备好提供所需的任何金额——这通常是难以管理的部分——我知道我在错误的地方开始这张床单，
但我希望你会毫不费力地找到它多多关爱我们的同事布朗小姐、汤普森小姐、护士长和其他人。
布朗小姐为我做的小垫子常常让我想起她。
我带来的漂亮的想法很多[注：信在第四页横着结束]在这里受到崇拜。
他们比我认为的在家更受赞赏。
海蒂非常爱你们
[注：第一页上的附加说明]
昨天这么热，
Mattie感觉不舒服。

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