Letter from Hattie to Edward, February 19, 1883

Letter from Hattie to Edward, February 19, 1883

Footbinding; Christian education of girls; Leg--Fractures; Letters; Accordion

Harriet writes to her brother Edward that she is very happy to receive mail from home. She feels overworked because she is taking the role of an incapacitated teacher. The teacher is one of many women and students who have recently unbound their feet, but for older women, the process can be quite difficult. During last week's vacation, they had a musical party. Harriet is trying to learn the accordion. She hopes Edward is getting along okay with his hurt leg. Harriet asks him to write soon.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Unpublished

1883-02-19

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_307

Canton China
Feb 19th 1883
My dear Edward,
The mail that came
in a few days ago brought the
letters sent from home Jan
6th and Jan 8th. The
preceding mail did not
bring [u] anything [/u] from home
I shall begin to look out for
those postals soon. An ordinary
one cent postal with a two sent
stamp added will come.
I am not much of a friend
to postals but when the
mail comes in and does
not bring anything from
home I feel as though I
would give a great deal for
a postal. Whenever I use
them lately I just write the
date at the top and if I
sign them at all only with
my initials They seem a little

less objectionable that way
and they are certainly a great
saving of time. I am having
extra work now as the
teacher in one of the departments
has unbound her feet and
is not yet able to walk a
step so she has to sit in her
room and I have to take
her place in the schoolroom.
I hope she will soon be able
to get down again.
Several in the school have
unbound their feet lately three
girls and three women besides
this teacher. There are
only left now out of sixty five
girls five who have bound feet.
It is very easy for the
girls to let their feet out
but is quite a different matter
for the women. They are
bound when they are
young and the bones are
soft and they get very

much deformed and
out of place or rather
out of shape and it is
quite painful for them to
try to get them straightened
out again. Last week I
had vacation in the
Boarding School only three
or four of the scholars went
home however and so we
had spend a good part
of the week in trying to
make them happy and
have a good time. Tuesday
evening we had a party
for them and exerted
ourselves to entertain them
Our musical programme
on such occasions is
First Johnny Smucker &
Second A Bad Cold.
They seem to enjoy these
very much. Did I tell

you that I have an accordion
I am making a desperate
effort to learn to play on it
without notes and have succeeded
in getting two tunes Martyr
and Bright Jewels. You
could play everything on it as
soon as you touched it for it
is very simple. I think it
will be nice to carry to the
day schools. I am very
anxious to get the letters every
mail to know how you are
getting on. I am afraid it will
be a long time before your
leg will be strong again but
I know your stock of patience
is immense. You do not
tell me whether it still pains
you or not. You must tell
me more definitely and
more fully. As soon as one
mail comes and is read I
begin to look forward to the
arrival of the next one.
Ever your aff sister Hattie.

中国广东
1883年2月19日
我亲爱的Edward，
最后的邮件带来1月6日和1月8日的信。
/
/
/
之前的邮件没有从家里带来任何东西。
/
我在等待明信片的到来。
一张两美分的邮票足以寄一张明信片到中国。
/
/
我不太喜欢明信片，
但每当我没有收到普通的信时，
我总是希望我至少有一张明信片。
/
/
/
现在每次买明信片的时候，
我都会把日期放在上面，
把我的名字放在下面，
这样可以节省以后的时间。
/

/
/
我最近有很多额外的工作，
因为其中一位老师放开了她的脚，
现在她不能走路了，
所以她坐在一个房间里，
我教她课。
/
/
我希望她很快就能重新走路。
/
/
除了这位老师，
还有三个学生和三个女人都放开了脚。
现在65个女孩中只有5个裹过脚。
/
/
女孩放开脚容易，
女人放开难。
/
/
女孩子年轻时裹脚，
骨头软，
骨头变硬，
脚就畸形变了。

女孩子年纪大了，
伸直脚就更难更痛了。
/
/
/
上周寄宿学校放假了，
但只有三四个学生回家了，
所以我们花了一周时间努力让剩下的学生开心。
/
/
/
/
/
星期二我们为学生们举办了一个聚会，
我们为他们播放了一些音乐，
包括 "Johnny Smucker" 和
“A Bad Cold，”
她们似乎很喜欢这些歌曲
/
/
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/
我有没有告诉你：

我一直在学手风琴，
但我只能弹两首歌：
"Martyr" 和 “Bright Jewels。“
/
/
你手风琴演奏得这么好，
似乎只要你一碰就可以弹奏任何东西。
/
我认为把手风琴带到走读学校会很好。
我迫不及待地想收到你的来信，
我想知道你过得怎么样。
/
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我知道你的腿需要很长时间才能痊愈，
但我知道你很有耐心。
/
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还疼吗？ 
你必须告诉我。
/
/
你的下一封信一到，
我就期待着等下一封。
/
/
你亲爱的妹妹Hattie。

Letter