Letter from Hattie to Em, September 25, 1889

Letter from Hattie to Em, September 25, 1889

Travel; Steamboats; Schools; Married people in missionary work; Birthdays; Mail service; Sickness; Consuls; Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863, in art; Cycloramas; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Harriet writes this letter to Emily aboard a steamer going to Macau. Yesterday, Harriet visited the school that Miss Butler is in charge of since Sophie got married. It was quite cold yesterday so Miss Butler caught a cold and now she is experiencing pleurisy pain. Last night Harriet read a war story, "Between the Lines", which reminds her of how terrible war is. She wishes she had seen the Cyclorama of Gettysburg and visited the actual battlefield of Gettysburg.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

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

Unpublished

1889-09-25

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_440

Pearl River
Sept 25 1889.
My dear Em -
Yesterday we decided
"all of a sudden" to come down
to Macao today so here we are
Martha and Miss Lewis went
down last Friday and left a
very cordial invitation for us to
come down . which we are
accepting . Dr Kerr is also going
down . we thought we would
not tell him and surprise him
by meeting him on the steamer but
Mrs Swan did not know it was
to be a secret and so told him.
We will surprise them however
at Macao perhaps, will keep
out of sight when the steamer
passes Santa Sancha and
they will think only Dr Kerr
has come . Yesterday we went
out to one of the village schools
a school Miss Butler has charge
of since Sophie married . We are
only going to stay down two days
as we cannot very well be away
over the Sabbath and Monday
will be Sophie's birthday and
Nellie Hartwell has planned
a surprise party for her and

they want Miss Butler to make
the bread because her bread is
nice than any one else's and the
cake because she makes [u]such
delicious[/u] cake . and the chicken
salad because her salad is so
good. If anything more is needed
I presume she can make it
better than any one else . I tell her
that she must feel that her
talents in this line are appreciated.
I think there is some desire to get
"surprise parties" started but Miss
Butler told Nellie I did not like
them [u]so[/u] I presume we shall not
be "surprised," I do not know
how Sophie will enjoy it . she
does not care much for large
parties. The wedding which
I have had such a time
in arranging passed off
satisfactorily last Thursday
to our great relief .Now if the
married pair will be happy
together I shall be delighted.
the Consul and a number
of others .The Consul says if
I will only follow suit he
will come down and stand
upon his head at my wedding.
It shows what confidence he

has in my inflexibility of [?purpose?]
to make such a promise .which
might otherwise seem rash for a
man of seventy with enough
dignity to fill the Presidential
choice. We find it quite warm
to-day, on the steamer Yesterday
there was enough breeze to give
Miss Butler a cold and
today she has a pleurisy pain
but I hope it will wear
away after a while .I suppose
Henry is nearly across the
Pacific. It seems such a little
while since he came home.
I wonder if we will ever be
there together again.
If he comes right through they
will be here in about two
weeks . Our next mail is
due on Friday. so it will
surely be there when we get
back on Sat. And I shall
surely get letters this time
for those that were too late
for the last mail would
reach San Francisco in
time for this one - I
am too dull to think of

anything to write and Dr
Kerr has just prescribed a
nap for us so I think we
will obey . We have the two
spring cots that I brought
my own and the one I
gave Dr Kerr so are well
provided. Last night we
were up late and the
night before we sat up till
two-o-clock reading a war
Story - "Between the lines" -
How terrible those days were
it seems to think of it now
almost too dreadful to be
real. And yet after all
these years . it all comes back
so vividly. I wish I had seen
the Cyclorama of Gettysburg.
while I was at home and
I would like sometime to
see the real battle field of
Gettysburg . But when I was
at home I could not bear
to go away for a single
day and I suppose I should
feel just the same again
I often find myself counting
the months as they go by [u]almost[/u]
eight now since I left home
[Note: Written vertically]
with love--- Hattie.

珠江
1889年9月25日
我亲爱的Em，
昨天我们突然决定去澳门，
/
/
上周五Martha和Lewis小姐达到了，
她们请我们陪他们，
所以我们接受了他们的邀请。
/
Kerr医生也去。
我们以为我们不会告诉他，
也不会在轮船上见到他，
给他一个惊喜，
但是Swan太太告诉他了，
她不知道我们去澳门是个秘密。
但也许我们会在澳门给Martha和Lewis小姐一个惊喜，
当轮船经过竹仔室疗养院时，
我们可以躲在轮船的甲板下面。
那样的话，
他们只会认为Kerr医生来了。
昨天我们去了一所乡村学校。
自从Sophie结婚以来，
Butler小姐一直负责这所学校。
因为我们不能在安息日离开 
我们只会在那里呆两天，
还有，
周一是Sophie的生日，
Nellie Hartwell安排了一个惊喜派对。
/
/

Butler小姐想为派对做蛋糕和面包，
/
因为她做的面包和蛋糕比任何人都好。
/
她也会做鸡肉沙拉，
因为她的鸡肉沙拉是最好的。
如果他们需要其他任何东西，
/
我相信Butler小姐可以做得比任何人都好。
我希望她觉得自己的才华受到赞赏。
/
很多人都想开始为对方做惊喜派对，
但Butler小姐告诉Nellie，
/
我不喜欢惊喜。
/
不知道Sophie会不会喜欢，
她不太喜欢大派对。
我策划的婚礼非常成功。 
/
我们在星期四庆祝了婚礼。
/
如果这对新婚夫妇能一直幸福地在一起，
我会很高兴。
/
领事和许多其他人出席了。
/
领事说如果我结婚，
/
他会在我的婚礼上倒立。
/

这表明他相信我永远不会结婚，
/
否则，
以这种方式看待政府官员是相当有失尊严的。
/
今天很暖和，
但昨天在轮船上有足够的风让Butler小姐感冒，
/
今天她肺痛。
/
我希望它会消失，
她会更好。
/
我猜Henry几乎是穿越了太平洋。
好像是很久以前他回家的时候。
/
我想知道我们是否会再次在一起。
如果不停留在日本，
Henry 和他的家人应该会在 2 周内到达。
/
下一封邮件应该在周五到达，
/
所以周六回广州的时候就等着我们了。
这一次，
我会收到上一封邮件来不及的信。 
/
他们一定在足够的时间内到达了旧金山。
/
我太迟钝了，以至于我没有太多话要说。

Kerr医生给我们开了“小睡”的方子
所以我们会服从。
/
我们带了两张弹簧床，一张给Kerr医生，
/
所以我们设备齐全。
/
昨晚我们熬夜到 2:00 读了一篇名为《两线之间》的战争故事。
/
/
/
/
那些日子太可怕了，
/
我甚至不敢相信这是真的。
但是，
即使过了这么多年，
我还是希望我能看到葛底斯堡的天幕
/
总有一天我想看看真正的葛底斯堡战场，
/
但是当我在家的时候，
/
我舍不得离开一天
/
如果我再回来，
我可能也会有同样的感觉。
我发现自己在数月数。 
我8个月前离开了家。
/
爱你，
Hattie

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