Letter from Hattie to Clara, March 12, 1889

Letter from Hattie to Clara, March 12, 1889

Steamboats; Travel; Ship captains; Marriage

Harriet writes this letter on the S. S. Oceanic about 300 miles from Hong Kong. The captain believes that they will arrive in Hong Kong today by midnight. Harriet thinks it must be hard to work as an officer on steamboats because they are at home only for 35 days in the entire year. A stewardess used to have $20,000 and lost them when she married "a worthless man". Harriet will try to send her to Canton.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4

Unpublished

1889-03-12

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_406

[Note: A large 12 is written in different handwriting in pencil in the right hand corner]
S.S. Oceanic
Near China
March 12th 1889
My dear Clara
I have rised earlier than
usual this morning so as to
write a little before breakfast.
You would not call it early
for it is now half past six but
everything is comparative . I
have not usually been up
and dressed much before
breakfast time [u]half past eight[/u].
When the ship is rolling as it
has some of the time it requires
a great deal of exertion and
a great deal of time to get
dressed . I usually came
up on deck for a little while
before breakfast . This morning
we have a smooth sea and
I presume are within about

three hundred miles of HongKong
That seems very little left of
a journey of over nine thousand
miles. I should think the
officers on these ships would get
very tired of the sea and I imagine
they do. The Captain and
Chief Engineer were talking at
the table yesterday of how hard
it is to be away from their
families so much. they can be
at home only thirty five days in
the year , they say their little
children hardly know them .
They told of one man whose little
boy called him "that man that
comes here Sunday and whips me."
I suppose the boy needed to be
punished and his father felt
that must do it. but it would
not be very pleasant to be
remembered in that way.

Capt Mitcalfe said "If any man
was such a blooming idiot as to
go to sea when he was young of course
there was no help for it." I suppose
when they are younger and it is
word they enjoy it better but after
they have families of their own it is
very hard and of course then it is
next to impossible I imagine to
change their occupation . The
Chief Engineer said he would be
perfectly satisfied with enough
money to enable him to live on
shore. Capt Mitcalfe's wife
was not at all well when he left
home and he is very anxious about
her. The stewardess says they
are very happy together . It seems
a pity that those who are happy
[u]together[/u] must live [u]apart[/u] and
those who are [u]unhappy[/u] together
[u]must[/u] live together .but so it often is.

I must write to my missionary
"compagnons du voyage" today.
The Captain said yesterday if
it should continue clear we
may perhaps get into HongKong
by midnight tonight. The
stewardess was telling me yesterday
her troubles Four years ago she
had $ 20,000 of her own an
abundance to make her comfortable
but she married for her second
husband a worthless man and
I suppose he got hold of it. She
would not live with him but she
says a few years since she did
not dream that she would
ever be a stewardess I am
very sorry for her .Next trip if
I can I have promised to send
for her to come up to Canton.
I hope Miss Lewis and Miss
Butler are getting ready to welcome me

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
I imagine
when they
know that I
am really on
the way their
bad feelings
will vanish
but I think
their patience
might have
held out a
little
longer -
With love
Hattie -

Oceanic轮船
中国海岸附近
1889年3月12日
我亲爱的Clara
我比平时起得早，
所以早饭前我可以给你写一点。
/
现在才 6:30，
所以你不会认为现在还早，
但是你不能一概而论，
通常，
我不会在早餐时间之前醒来，
我们在 8:30 吃早餐。
当船在波浪中摇晃时，
穿衣服非常困难，
需要大量的时间和精力。
/
我通常在早餐前上船甲板。
/
今天早上，
海面很平静，
/

我猜我们在香港 300 英里以内。
我们的 9000 英里旅程即将结束。
/
如果我是其中一艘轮船上的水手，
/
我会厌倦大海。
昨天，
船长和轮机长坐在桌旁，
/
讨论一直远离家人有多难，
水手一年只有35天在家
他们说他们的小孩几乎不认识他们。
/
/
一位水手说，
他的儿子称他为
“那个星期天来这里鞭打我的人”。
我想这个男孩需要受到惩罚，
而他的父亲是唯一能做到这一点的人，
尽管如此，
我认为以这种方式被人们记住不会很愉快。
/

Mitcalfe队长说
如果有人愚蠢到年轻时成为一名水手，
没有人可以帮助他。
我想他们年轻的时候会更喜欢它，
/
但是当他们长大并有了家庭时，
/
这非常困难，
/
我预计那时很难改变职业。
/
轮机长说，她会对他的钱足以支撑他在海岸生活而想到满意。
/
当Mitcalfe队长离家时，
他的妻子身体不好，
他对她很焦虑。
女服务员说船长和他的妻子在一起很开心。
根据我所看到的，
似乎幸福的夫妻必须分开生活，
而不幸的夫妻必须住在一起。
/
经常是这样。

我今天应该给我的传教士同胞写信。
/
船长说如果天气晴朗，
/
我们应该在今晚午夜前抵达香港。
/
女服务员告诉我她的烦恼。
四年前，
她存了两万美元。
/
但后来她嫁给了她的第二任丈夫，
/
他是一个不值钱的男人，
他拿走了她的钱。
她说在那之后她拒绝和他住在一起，
/
但她做梦也没想到自己会成为轮船上的女服务员。
我很对不起她。
下次她横渡太平洋时，
我答应邀请她来广州。
我希望Lewis小姐和Butler小姐
准备好欢迎我。

我敢肯定，
/
一旦他们意识到我终于要回家了，
/
他们就会停止生气。
/
我认为他们本可以再耐心一点。
/
/
/
/
/
/
爱你
Hattie -

Letter