Letter from Hattie to Mother, June 17, 1880

Letter from Hattie to Mother, June 17, 1880

Sick; Typhoid fever; Rheumatism; Ophthalmia

Harriet tells her mother about diseases going around "Kukfan", the Chinese name of the locality where they live. Mattie fell ill first, then Mrs. Kerr, and then Hattie Kerr caught typhoid fever. Mr. Henry returned from the country with an attack of rheumatism. Yesterday morning he was diagnosed with ophthalmia, which is common in Egypt and can be fatal. Mattie's lungs seem to be better, but she has been nervous lately.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1880-06-17

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_216

Canton China
June 17th 1880
My dear Mother,
I hope you have
had as lovely a day in
the dear old "home on the
hill" to-day as we had
all together three years
ago. I remember the
day so well it hardly seems
as though three years have
come and gone since
then. We have had
such cool weather this
year not any really hot
weather yet and June
is almost gone. I have
never known such a year
in China. Such weather
is comfortable but so unseasonable
I expect it will prove
unhealthy. We have had

some sickness here at "Kukfan."
That is the Chinese name of
this locality where we now live.
Mattie commenced, then
Mrs Kerr was poorly now little
Hattie Kerr has typhoid
fever. It has run for
nearly two weeks, and she
seems to be getting better now.
She has not seemed well
all the spring, is a delicate
child. She has not had
a high fever, but I think they
have felt somewhat anxious
about her. And Mr Henry
after his return from
the country, a few days
since had an attack of
something like rheumatism.
And yesterday morning
he was taken with a
severe pain in the eyes
and it has proved to be

[u]ophthalmia[/u]. I have never
known of any one having
it here it is very common
in Egypt and sometimes
proves fatal. His eyes
pain him very much
to-day. I do hope he
will be better soon.
Dr Kerr seems to have
his hands more than
full. He has been
quite unwell himself
this spring but seems
better now. Mr Cunningham
calls it Hospital Row down
here now and it does
seem as though we have
a good many on the
invalid list. Mattie
is very much better.
I think she is quite
convinced now that her
lungs are in pretty good

order now. I presume
that a vist home would
make her as strong as
she ever was. I think
her chief trouble lately
has been nervousness.
Mrs Henry has just
brought Julia over to
sleep with me tonight.
They have a guest in the
home a Mr Grave from
Hongkong. He has been
there more than a week
and I think that now
that Mr Henry is so ill
he might go home. I
know it would be a great
relief to them. He expects
to go day after tomorrow.
Now I will say goodnight,
it will be nearly two weeks
before the mail leaves and
I hope before that time Mr Henry
& Hattie Kerr will be quite well

[Note: Written vertically on the first page]
With
much
love for
all from
Yr aff daughter
[u]Hattie[/u].



中国广州
1880 年 6 月 17 日
我亲爱的母亲，
我希望你今天在亲爱的老“山上的家”里度过了和三年前我们在一起一样美好的一天。
我清楚地记得那一天，
从那以后似乎三年过去了又过去了。
今年我们有这么凉爽的天气，
还没有任何真正炎热的天气，
六月快过去了。
我在中国从来没有过这样的一年。
这样的天气很舒服，
但太不合时宜了，
我希望它会被证明是不健康的。
我们在“Kukfan”这里有些病痛。
那是我们现在居住的这个地方的中文名称。
Mattie 开始了，
然后 Kerr 夫人身体不好，
现在小 Hattie Kerr 得了伤寒。
它已经运行了将近两个星期，
现在她似乎正在好转。
她整个春天都显得不太好，
是个娇嫩的孩子。
她没有发高烧，
但我想他们对她有些担心。
亨利先生从乡下回来后，
几天后患上了风湿病。
昨天早上，
他的眼睛剧烈疼痛，
证明是眼炎。
我从来不知道有人在这里拥有它，
这在埃及很常见，
有时甚至是致命的。
他的眼睛今天很痛。
我真希望他会很快好起来。
克尔医生似乎忙得不可开交。
今年春天他自己身体一直很不舒服，
但现在看起来好多了。
坎宁安先生现在在这里称它为医院街，
看起来我们在无效名单上有很多。
马蒂好多了。
我认为她现在非常确信她的肺部现在状况良好。
我想，
回家探亲会让她像以前一样坚强。
我认为她最近的主要问题是紧张。
今晚亨利太太刚刚带朱莉娅过来陪我睡觉。
他们家中有一位来自香港的格雷夫先生。
他已经在那里一个多星期了，
我想现在亨利先生病得很重，
他可能会回家。
我知道这对他们来说是一个很大的解脱。
他预计后天去。
现在我要说晚安，
离邮件离开还有将近两个星期，
我希望在此之前亨利和海蒂克尔先生会很好[注：第一页垂直写]对所有人的爱。
你深情的女儿，
海蒂。

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