Letter from Hattie to Mother, May 31, 1883

Letter from Hattie to Mother, May 31, 1883

Letter writing; Missions--Study and teaching; Leprosy; Cancer; Litter

Harriet writes to her mother about the mail and steamers. She and Miss Butler went out to the village school, they were each carried by three men. There are 31 scholars, all of whom are doing very well. She admires the beauty of the countryside. There are a couple of girls at the old school who are not doing well health-wise. Harriet is afraid that one of them might have leprosy (she mentions the leper village) and another one or two of them have cancer of some sort. Dr. Kerr is afraid that it caused their death.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1883-05-31

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_319

Canton China
May 31st 1883
My dear Mother -
Your letter written
April 7th came a few days
since. Mrs Kerr received one
by the same mail from
Clara in which she said
she would write to me later
news about Josie but I suppose
she did not get it off in time
for that mail. We look for
letters again however three or
four days hence so we shall
not have long to wait. The
next steamer is the one that
took Mrs Happer over. It
does not seem long since
she went away but I suppose
she has been at home nearly
a month now. I have been
out to my village school to-day

Miss Butler went with me
and we had a very pleasant
time although it was rather
warm. We each had three
men to carry us and the
poor fellows felt the heat
very much. My school there
is very nice this year there
are thirty-one scholars and
they all had perfect lessons.
One little girl repeated
two hundred verses in the
Testament without stopping
or missing a single character
The country is looking beautifully
now the field of rice are
such a beautiful green
and the wind blew over
them to-day something as
it does over the wheat fields.
The rice looks like wheat
when it is only a foot or
two high. My day schools
in the city are not as large

as they were last year
at least three of them are
not the other two are about the
same ---- Several of the
scholars in the Boarding
School have been having
the measles. One poor little
girl we are so afraid is going
to have the leprosy. She is just
getting over the measles now but
she has had two spots on
her cheeks for two or three
weeks and they seem to be
growing worse and Dr Kerr
is afraid that it will prove
to be leprosy. She is a very
pretty little girl and such
a nice little scholar it will
be too sad if she has such
a dreadful fate before her.
I am afraid that we
shall be obliged to send her
away if she does not get

better soon. The Chinese do not
seem as afraid of it as I
should think they would be.
I used to suppose that it was
very contagious but it does not
seem to be. It is a terrible
disease. there is a leper village
about two miles out from the
city. and we frequently see
people who are suffering from
the disease sometimes in quite
an advanced stage. Another
little girl in school has a cancer
on her back which just begun
to develop a few weeks since.
and still another a little
humpbacked girl Mattie will
remember her (AKit) has a
tumor or abscess which Dr Kerr
is afraid will be the cause
of her death. She has been in
school a long time and now
assists the teacher. She
has been a Christian for
many years. I have given

[Note: Letter concludes vertically on page one]
you a health report of the school but it is not complete there
are several others
with lesser ailments.
I think however
they are wonderfully
well for such a
number. Mrs
Kerr has not
been at all
well lately.
She was so [u]very[/u]
grateful to
Clara for writing
to her about
Josie. I hope
he is well
long ere this.
Your loving daughter
Hattie.

中国广东
1883年5月31日，
我亲爱的母亲
你4月7日写的信刚刚来了。
/
Kerr 太太还收到一封Clara的来信，
在信中，
Clara说她会给我写一封信，
告诉我关于Josie的事，
但没有到，
也许她没有时间写它。
我们应该会在三四天后再次收到邮件，
所以希望它届时会到达。
/
下一艘轮船是 Happer 太太回美国时的那艘，
看起来轮船回来的很快，
但实际上她已经在美国一个月了。
/
/
/
今天，我去村里参观学校，
/

她和我一起去，
尽管天气很热
我们玩得很开心。
三个男人把我们抬到学校，
那些可怜的男人一定很热。
/
今年，
那所学校很不错。 
有31名学生，
他们都学习得很好。
一个小女孩不停地重复了两百多节经文，
一切都是正确的。
/
/
乡村风景很美，
稻田是绿色的，
风在美丽的波浪中吹过它们，
看起来有点像麦田。
/
/
/
/
我在城里的走读学校没有去年那么大
/

/
至少有两个与去年相同，
/
寄宿学校的几个学生得了麻疹。
/
/
我们担心一个可怜的小女孩会得麻风病，
/
她现在正在从麻疹中康复，
但她的脸颊上有两个越来越严重的斑点，
Kerr 医生怕是麻风病。
/
/
/
/
真是个漂亮可爱的小学生，
要是得了麻风病就太可惜了。
/
/
/
如果她不能很快好起来，
我们就得把她送走。
/

中国人似乎并不像我认为的那样害怕麻风病，
/
/
以前我以为传染性很强，
现在好像没有，
然而，
这是一种可怕的疾病。
离城市两英里有一个麻风病村，
有时我们会看到患有非常严重的麻风病的人。
/
/
学校里的另一个小女孩背上有一个刚刚开始发育的肿瘤。
/
/
还有一个驼背女孩
(他叫A Kit，Mattie应该记得她）
她有一个Kerr 医生担心会导致她死亡的肿瘤，
/
/
/
她已经在学校很久了，
并协助老师。
她成为基督徒多年。
/
/

【纵向书写】
我给你一份关于学生健康的报告，
还有其他学生病情较轻。
/
然而，
我们有很多学生，
只有少数人生病了。
最近Kerr 太太
身体不健康。
/
/
她很感动
收到
Clara关于Josie来的信。
/
我希望他很好。
/
/
你亲爱的女儿，
Hattie。

Letter