Letter from Hattie to Edward, May 4, 1883

Letter from Hattie to Edward, May 4, 1883

Leg--Wounds and injuries; Agricultural laborers; Rice; Hymns

Harriet writes to her brother Edward and is glad to know that he is slowly recovering from the accident. She advises him to sell Scott (the horse) and buy the services of a hired man to help on the farm. Henry is has come back from the county and Harriet thinks about their age. She wonders what became of Starin Wells and his thought to come to China and pursue agriculture. She talks about the rice paddies. The chapel is being constructed and will probably be finished in September. The SS in Bloomfield NJ sent her money to get her hymn book printed as well.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1883-05-04

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_315

Canton China
May 4th 1883
My dear Edward -
I am afraid that
I have not written to you
for some time. I was so glad
to hear by the last mail that
you seemed to be gaining
strength faster. I suppose
you must "make haste slowly-"
I know it takes a long time
for one to recover from such
a severe injury as yours was
and you must be very
careful not to run any risk
of using your leg before it
is strong enough. I was
glad that you were able to
play for C.C. Case. I suppose
your fingers are in better
order than usual for
playing. I hope you will
be able to get some good
faithful boy to do the farm

work this summer otherwise
I am afraid you might
be tempted to try to do something
you ought not. You can
[u]sell Scott[/u] and buy a hired
man. I am so sorry
Scott behaved so badly but
I suppose almost any horse
would have done the same
under the circumstances.
If you had only had old
Ned or Jennie that day,
you would have had time
to get out before they got ready
to run away. Henry has
come back from the country
so he will be here to write for
this mail. He seems to
keep well and looks just
about the same. I do not
think any of us grow old
very fast in looks - but we
are nevertheless "growing older
every day"-- I wonder
what has become of Starin

Wells. Occasionally I think
of his project to come out with
me and "engage in the pursuit
of agriculture." The farmers
here are the lowest class something
like the rail-road paddies
at home -- and they pad
about in the rice fields with
the water half way up to
their knees. and nothing
on but a pair of loose cotton
trousers rolled up above their
knees. That is an improvement
however on being arrayed
in cocoanut oil as Dr Gulick
described the South Sea Islands.
The workmen are going ahead
with the chapel they have got
it up to the ground now the
first thing they do in laying
the foundations is to dig a deep
trench and drive piles and
fill in with a kind of
concrete or cement which
hardens. Dr Kerr is indefatigable
in his attentions to the

workmen sits and watches
them every minute of time
that he can spare I think
it is very wearing for him
but now that the foundations
are down I hope the rest
will be easier. I am
afraid it will not be
finished until September
and if not we shall have
a long term of school as we
will not want to dismiss the
scholars until after the
dedication as many of them
are from a distance and
could not get back to attend
it. I wrote to [u]my church[/u]
in Philadelphia to ask them
to get a bell Mr Colfelt was
a classmate of Mr Henrys
and I think it would
be very nice if they would
do it. Did I teel you that
the SS in Bloomfield NJ sent
me money to get my hymn
book printed. I am so delighted
I want to have it done in

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
time to use when the new chapel is finished
I hope some
one will be
moved to send
an organ for
the chapel.
I think likely
the ladies in
Newark may
do so ---
With much
love for you
all from
Your aff sister
Hattie
I would like to hear
you play on the new
organ in our home
church hope I
shall before very long -

中国广东
1883年5月4日
我亲爱的Edward，
我好久没给你写信。
/
听到你身体越来越好
就让我很开心。
/
我觉得你应该
慢慢来。
我知道像你这样的重伤需要很长时间才能痊愈，
所以在你足够强壮之前，
你必须小心不要用你的腿。
/
/
/
我很高兴你能为 C.C. Case 弹钢琴，
/
/
我猜你的弹得比平时更好。
/
我希望你今年夏天能找到一个好孩子来帮助你在农场里。
/
/

这样，
你就不会试图自己做任何工作。
/
你可以卖掉你的马，Scott，雇一个人。
/
我很抱歉你的马表现得如此糟糕。 
我想在这种情况下，
任何一匹马都会这样做。
/
/
如果你有我们的一匹老马，
/
比如 Ned 或 Jennie，
/
你就有时间在它们准备逃跑之前离开。
Henry从乡村回来
所以他也能给你们写信。
/
他看起来不错，
和平时一样。
/
虽然我不认为我们中的任何人看起来没有变老，
但我们肯定会变老。
/
/

Starin Wells 怎么了？
有的时候我想到他，
他计划和我一起来中国从事农业。
/
农民是中国最底层的公民，
他们就像家里的铁路稻田。
他们在稻田里涉水到膝盖。
/
/
他们只穿宽松的棉裤，
卷到膝盖以上。
/
尽管他们穿的衣服很少，
/
/
但 Gluick 博士说南海诸岛的情况更糟。
工人们正在建造教堂。
教会现在有了基金会，
教堂现在有地基。
他们挖了很深的壕沟，
/
用混凝土填满，
/
等待它变硬。
Kerr医生不知疲倦地管理工人
/

他每分钟都看他们，
我认为他一定很累。
/
/
/
现在地基已经建好了，
希望他能轻松一些。
恐怕要到九月才能完成。
/
如果我们可以有一个很长的学期，
/
我们不会在教堂开张之前开除学生，
这是因为很多学生住在很远的地方，
不能回来参加教堂的开幕式。
/
/
我给我在费城的教会写了一封信，
/
我让他们捐钱为我们的教堂买钟，
Henry的一个同学说如果他们这样做会很好。
/
/
我告诉过你新泽西州Bloomfield的主日学寄钱印刷我的赞美诗书吗？
/
/
我很高兴。 
我想在新教堂完工之前打印这本书。

/
/
我希望有人会为教会的风琴捐钱。
/
/
/
/
我认为纽瓦克的女士们可能会捐一些钱。
/
/
/
我把我所有的爱都送给你！
/
/
你的姐姐
Hattie
我想听你管风琴弹得怎么样。
/
/
/
/

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