Letter from Harriet to Mother, July 10, 1884

Letter from Harriet to Mother, July 10, 1884

Travel; Canal-boats; Rental housing--Finance; Economics--Religious aspects--Wesleyan Church

Hattie writes to her mother about their time in Macau. They are staying in a house usually rented by the Wesleyan Mission, however, no one is living there this month which is why they are visiting. Harriet thinks it is a little strange that the Wesleyan Mission still wants them to pay $20.00. She mentions how Henry will take his family there next month and that Mr. and Mrs. White are there now. She recounts the canal boat incident where the Kerrs, Hattie, and Mrs. Johnstone all fell in the canal. Luckily, everyone seems to be doing all right. She slept quite well with a large bed to herself but woke up to hear that the Thomsons had a terrible night sleeping on lumpy children's beds.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1884-07-10

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_348

Macau China
July 10th 1884
My dear Mother,
I have written my
first letter from Macau to
Father and my second
shall be to you. I wish
you could see how nicely we
are treated here in Macau
and what a beautiful view
we have to look out upon
The house is one which the
Wesleyan Mission have rented
for a year, and as none of
their mission care to occupy
it this month they have let
us have. We do not feel that
we have reason for very much
gratitude as they only pay
$20.00 and ask us [u] $20.00 [/u]
a month rent. It seems rather
strange for them to do this
it is not the way missionaries
usually deal in such matters.
We hear that there is another

house we could have for $25.00
a month and another for 18.00
I wish our mission would get
a home for a year as the
Wesleyan Mission has.
Henry wants to come down
and bring his family next
month. Mr & Mrs White
are down here now.
I wonder if I ever wrote
to you about Dr and Mrs
Kerr getting into the canal
a few days before they left
Canton. They had gone
up to take tea at Henry's
and were getting out of the
boat. Dr Kerr had
helped Miss Johnstone who
was with them out and
Mrs Kerr and Hattie tried
to get out themselves But
Mrs Kerr stepped on the
side of the boat and her
weight upset it and down
she went into the water and
carried Hattie. The tide
was in so that the water

was deep over their heads
but fortunately their clothing
kept them up. Dr Kerr
ran at once to their assistance
and got hold of Mrs Kerr's
hand but as he had nothing
to hold by and had to
stretch his hand out so far
to reach her he soon lost
his balance and fell in too.
Henry and his wife heard
the confusion and Henry
ran out and found that
Dr Kerr had got back to
the steps of the landing and
was helping Mrs Kerr up.
They were drenched of course
and went in to Henry's
home. Mrs Kerr went to bed
The prayer meeting was
there that evening and
she did not get up until
after the meeting. Then she
was dressed in some borrowed
clothing, Henry's study gown
&c &c and we took them

down with us. We were very
much afraid that it would
do Dr Kerr a great deal of harm
but the next morning they
all seemed as well as usual.
It must have seemed dreadful
to Henry to see them in the
water and it really did
seem quite a narrow escape,
for if they had sunk they
would have been most likely
to have been carried under
some of the boats with which
the canal is filled and the
tide was running so strong
that it would have been
impossible to have rescued
them. We could not help
thinking how very sad it
would have been to have lost
dear Dr Kerr in that way.
We are so anxious to hear how
Dr Kerr is and how Josie is
carrying [?sent?]. I do hope he
will not worry them. Henry
is away in the country
now so that I suppose you
will not hear from him this time.

[Continued vertically on the first page]
Last night when we
came into this house
which is furnished
[?in?] each family
took on half. We
went to bed and
slept most comfortably
and this morning
found that the
Thomsons had not
slept very well &
upon investigation
found that we had
[u] all [/u] the sleeping apparatus
on our side I had
an immense bed at
least six feet wide
all to myself while
Dr & Mrs Thomson
had nothing but a [u] little [/u]
[u] childs [/u] bed with a
mattress that was all
in lumps & bunches.
I do not suppose they
slept at all I should
not think it possible on
such a bed. I think
Mrs Kerr would have made some
stir before she would have used such a bed.
(See above)

[Continued vertically on the first page further down the page]
We had also all the washstands wardrobes hangers
& everything their room was furnished for a parlor
We made all right this morning however
With much love Your aff daughter
Hattie



中国澳门
1884 年 7 月 10 日
亲爱的母亲，
我已经从澳门写了第一封信给父亲，
第二封将写给您。
我希望你能看到我们在澳门受到了多么好的待遇，
我们必须看到多么美丽的景色 这房子是卫斯理传道会租了一年的房子，
因为他们的传教士本月没有人愿意占用它他们让我们拥有。
我们觉得我们没有理由非常感谢，
因为他们只支付 20.00 美元并要求我们每月支付 20.00 美元的租金。
他们这样做似乎很奇怪，
这不是传教士通常处理此类事情的方式。
我们听说我们可以花 25.00 美元一个月和 18.00 美元买另一所房子。
亨利想下个月来带他的家人。
怀特先生和夫人现在在这里。
我想知道我有没有写信告诉你科尔医生和夫人在离开广州前几天进入运河的事。
他们上去在亨利家喝茶，
正要下船。
克尔医生帮助约翰斯通小姐和他们一起出去，
克尔夫人和海蒂试图自己出去，
但克尔夫人踩到了船的一边，
她的体重把船弄翻了，
她下水把海蒂抱了起来。
潮水涨到了他们头顶，
幸好他们的衣服撑得住。
克尔医生立即跑去帮助他们，
抓住了克尔夫人的手，
但由于他没有什么可以抓住的，
不得不把手伸得太远才能够到她，
他很快就失去了平衡，
也摔倒了。
亨利和他的妻子听到了混乱，
亨利跑了出来，
发现克尔医生已经回到了楼梯平台的台阶上，
正在帮助克尔夫人站起来。
他们当然浑身湿透，
然后进了亨利的家。
克尔太太上床睡觉 那天晚上有祷告会，
她直到会后才起床。
然后她穿着一些借来的衣服，
亨利的书房和c &c，
我们把它们拿下来了。
我们非常害怕这会对 Kerr 医生造成很大的伤害，
但第二天早上他们看起来都和往常一样。
亨利看到他们在水里一定觉得很可怕，
而且这确实看起来是一次险情，
因为如果他们沉没了，
他们很可能会被运到运河里的一些小船下面，
潮水势汹汹，
根本不可能救他们。
我们不禁想，
如果以这种方式失去亲爱的克尔医生，
那将是多么令人难过。
我们很想知道克尔医生的情况以及乔西的情况如何。
我真希望他不会让他们担心。
亨利现在不在乡下，
所以我想这次你不会听到他的消息了。
[第一页垂直续] 昨晚我们走进这所房子的时候，
每户人家都装了一半。
我们上床睡觉，
睡得最舒服，
今天早上发现汤姆森一家睡得不好，
经过调查发现我们所有的睡眠设备都在我们身边，
我有一张至少六英尺宽的大床，
而 Dr &汤姆森夫人只有一张小孩子的床，
上面铺着一团团的床垫。
我不认为他们根本睡不着，
我不认为在这样的床上是可能的。
我想克尔夫人在她使用这样的床之前会引起一些轰动。
（见上） [在第一页垂直继续向下页]
我们还拥有所有的盥洗台衣架衣架以及他们房间为客厅布置的所有东西我们今天早上做得很好但是非常爱你的女儿，
海蒂

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