Letter from Mattie to Mary, July 30

Letter from Mattie to Mary, July 30

Weather; Infants; Physicians; Hospital patients; Laundry

Mattie says that the rains have finally stopped after about a month and everything is green and beautiful. She and Olivia have been out with the baby who now weighs 21 lbs. Dr. McCandliss would like them to go home but they want to make sure the baby doesn't get sick. Henry misses his family. She talks about hospital patients and some of their doctors. Hattie gives instructions for doing the washing with soap and kerosene oil.

Kerr, Martha Noyes

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #5

Unpublished

07-30

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_514

July 30th


My dear Mary -
I began a letter to
you last even but it does
not seem to be in my
writing desk and I will set
out again .It is bright and
clear to day a change we ap-
preciate after our long rains.
Yesterday the 28th was the
[--last--] first day this month with
out rain . Everything is beau
tifully green and lovely. [?We?]
Olivia and I have just
been out having the baby's
picture taken and think it
will be a success. He is the
best baby boy I ever saw.
Always happy, and good
natured. Weighs 21lbs and
is now very well Olivia also

seems wonderfully well. Dr
McCandliss has written up
saying he wants them to go
home next month but we
would rather they would wait
until the middle of Sept at
least. The baby is well and if he
should get ill again there would
be nothing for it but that he
should be brought right back
again. [--But Henry is not well
and feels lonely without his family--]
Dr Swan is back feeling better
Mr S-- too was benefited by the
change. Miss Patterson is not
very strong but is better now
than when she is first came
and feels she will soon be
as strong as usual. She is study
ing away in her room - and
from what I hear should
think she got the tunes very well
She is a very nice little
missionary - is the only representative

of the "United Brethren" mission
in Canton. There goes a man into
the hospital with a long [?Sham?]
fanning himself. [?Ah Sam?] mis
taken it is a woman - a ha'ka'
woman. they wear long gowns
like the men. Last Sabbath the
eldest daughter of one of our
elders died. A girl of 20 one of
our teachers. A fine scholar and
a Christian. Quick consumption
Her Mother had the same dis
ease was burried last Winter
Her poor father took her to Dr
Wenyon at Fatshan Hospital
hoping he could do something to
prolong her life. but it was of no
avail. The physicians here said
the day she went "No use no use"
Isn't it strange that ^a mortal man
can read disease as he can.
We have a Weslyian brother {Dr.}
out in the operating room this
morning and in 20 minutes

morning. Well I was about to say
in 20 minutes we expected him in
to dinner. And so it proved. He is
about 300 miles away in the country
most of the year comes down to
Canton twice a year. It is a station
which has been in charge of single
gentleman and has been opened
about 12 years. A good line of
out stations with his as a center
have been established, and the work
seems very prospurous. It seems
as though our Mission will be
obliged to take a pattern from
other missions and send single
gentlemen out as pioneers. This
morning have been out to see one
of the patients who is in a dying
Condition an idiot child who was
left at our landing and lay on
the ground all night. Has been
here nearly a year - very troublesome
in some respects did not know
how to care for herself more than
an infant in arms. At times
she would cry loudly for hours .
to the distress of the other patients
We can not mourn for her -
it will be a satisfaction to know

she is out of misery. And she
can be given entrance into
heaven where her powers
will be loosed from this
prison house and we know
[--kno--] not how much she may
be able to enjoy. Last week
a boy who was brought here
to be operated upon [--for stone--]
died. He had been in the
hospital some time but his
system could not be brought
into a proper state for the
operation. His parents were
country people, and after he
died they both left - saying
they had no money [--to--] with
which to bury him. They were
not without "natural affection"
but it shows the poverty and
misery of heathenism. just
work and slave on day after
day for a bare subsistence.
One can scarcely imagine
the narrowness of such lives

My teacher Ayan has had a
sad expurience the past week
has been robbed of nearly
every thing she had. Poor
girl her little child 10[--years--] days
old died here in the hospital
the third she has had die in
this way since I came back
Then her husband is so unkind
to her. [--But as far as that is con
cerned such lives in the last
respect are lived by others as
well as the Chinese.--] We are
going up to the examination
of the boys school this forenoon
and will take dinner with
Mr & Mrs Wisner. The Dr has
an examination in Chemistry
which is to last an hour.
The Wisners are going to the
country expect to start next
Monday and he away two
weeks -go to Ng Chau - in the

Kwong Sai province. They
have invited Dr Kerr to go
with them but I hardly
think he will. He is taking
the charge of the hospital now
and Dr Swan is resting .It is
now the fourth week since
he has done anything there
scarcely. But he is better and
will no doubt soon be on
duty again. [--Hattie has a bad
cold her eyes are all woolen
and she looks miserably
but is going up to the exam-
inations to day. Do not know
whether Henry and his wife will
be there or not. they were yester
day--]. Richard has not been at
all well, but keeps about. Their
house is the best planned one
in the mission and is well
built, and the school building
looks very nicely. Will be ready

to be occupied when the Autumn
term opens. Dr and Mrs
Happer are better - but I have
not seen either of them for some
time. A lady from Shamin
is to leave for home to day
the wife of the gentleman who
came but to take Mr Cunninghams
place. She or her child has been
sick almost ever since she
came 18 months ago. She is a
Boston lady. It is now nearly
breakfast time. I do hope Edward
will not work too hard. It was a
dreadful strain that concert.
The occupants of the home on
the hill have a good store of
energy to carry out such an un
dertaking in the midst of the
spring work. You must all be
careful as possible of health.
Dont go without your dinner
until midnight - dont have
prayers at 1 A.M. now dont -
Tell Clara I have been having
washing done with soap & koresene

[Note: Letter continues sideways on page one]
oil and it works splendidly .2 table spoons of oil to some
thing over a gallon
of water. Take a
small juice of
bar soap .the oil
and some water
let it come to a
boil let the soap
disolve. then
pour it into the
gallon of boiling
water In this
put the soiled
clothes [--in--] at once
having only [illegible]
them out in warm
water. [?scale?]
and then wash
out in two waters
The clothes

[Note: Letter continues sideways on page two]
are very white and nice. Your tablespoons of oil to a gallon
of water is about the proportion

[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page three]
Good bye. Take good care of yourself it will pay in
the end 18 months and we will be about ready
to go home
Lovingly Mattie
love to every one of the dear ones.



7 月 30 日，
我亲爱的玛丽——我最后开始写信给你，
但它似乎不在我的写字台上，
我将再次出发。
今天是明亮而清晰的，
这是我们在漫长的雨季后所感激的变化。
昨天28号是本月第一天没有下雨。
一切都是美丽的绿色和可爱。
我们 Olivia 和我刚刚出去拍了婴儿的照片，
并认为这会成功。
他是我见过的最好的男婴。
一直很开心，
脾气也很好。
重 21 磅，
现在很好 Olivia 看起来也很好。
McCandliss 医生已经写下说他希望他们下个月回家，
但我们希望他们至少等到 9 月中旬。
婴儿很好，
如果他再次生病，
除了他应该马上被带回来之外，
别无他法。
[--但是亨利身体不好，
没有家人感到孤独--] 斯旺医生回来了，
感觉好多了 S 先生-- 也从这种变化中受益。
帕特森小姐不是很强壮，
但现在比她刚来的时候好多了，
感觉她很快就会像往常一样强壮。
她正在她的房间里学习——据我所知，
她应该认为她的曲调很好。
她是一个非常好的小传教士——是广州“联合弟兄会”使命的唯一代表。
有一个人带着一把长扇子进了医院。
啊山姆误以为是女人——哈卡女人。
他们像男人一样穿长袍。
上个安息日，
我们一位长老的长女去世了。
一个20岁的女孩，
我们的一位老师。
一个优秀的学者和一个基督徒。
快速消耗 去年冬天，
她的母亲患了同样的疾病，
她可怜的父亲把她带到了肥山医院的文扬医生那里，
希望他能做点什么来延长她的生命。
但这无济于事。
这里的医生说她去的那天“没用没用” 凡人能读懂疾病，
这难道不奇怪吗？今天早上和早上 20 分钟后，
我们有一个卫斯理兄弟 {Doctor} 在手术室。
好吧，
我正要说 20 分钟后我们预计他会来吃晚饭。
事实证明。
他一年中大部分时间都在大约 300 英里外的乡下，
每年两次到广州。
这是一个由单身绅士负责的车站，
已经开了大约12年。
以他为中心建立了一个很好的出站线，
工作看起来很红火。
似乎我们的使命将不得不从其他使命中汲取模式，
并派遣单身绅士作为先驱。
今天早上出去看一个垂死的病人，
一个白痴的孩子，
他被留在我们的着陆点上，
整夜躺在地上。
在这里已经快一年了——在某些方面很麻烦，
不知道如何照顾自己比怀里的婴儿还多。
有时她会大声哭几个小时。
其他病人的痛苦我们不能为她哀悼——知道她摆脱了痛苦将是一种满足。
她可以进入天堂，
在那里她的力量将从这座监狱中释放出来，
我们不知道她能享受多少。
上周，
一个被带到这里做手术的男孩死了。
他已经在医院住了一段时间，
但他的系统无法进入适合手术的状态。
他的父母是乡下人，
他死后他们都离开了——说他们没有钱埋葬他。
他们并非没有“天然的感情”，
但它显示了异教的贫穷和痛苦。
只是为了维持生计日复一日地工作和奴役。
很难想象这种生活的狭隘性。
过去一周，
我的老师 Ayan 经历了一次悲惨的经历，
她几乎所有的东西都被剥夺了。
可怜的女孩，
她10天大的孩子在医院死了，
自从我回来以来，
她已经第三次这样死了，
她丈夫对她太不友好了。
[--但就这一点而言，
这样的生活归根结底是别人过的，
也是中国人过的。
--] 我们今天下午要去男校考试，
要和 Mr & Mrs 夫人共进晚餐威斯纳。
博士有一个化学考试，
考试持续一个小时。
Wisners 将前往该国，
预计将于下周一开始，
他将离开两周 - 前往广西省的 Ng Chau。
他们已经邀请克尔博士和他们一起去，
但我认为他几乎不会。
他现在负责医院，
斯旺医生正在休息。
现在已经是第四周了，
因为他几乎没有在那儿做任何事情。
但他好多了，
毫无疑问很快就会再次上岗。
【——海蒂得了重感冒，
眼睛全是毛茸茸的，
看上去很凄惨，
但今天要去考试了。
不知道亨利和他的妻子是否会在那里。
他们是昨天——]。
理查德一点都不好，
但一直在走动。
他们的房子是任务中计划最好的房子，
而且建造得很好，
学校的建筑看起来也很漂亮。
秋季学期开始时将准备好被占用。
医生和哈珀夫人好多了——但我已经有一段时间没有见过他们中的任何一个了。
沙面的一位女士今天要离开这位先生的妻子回家，
但这位先生的妻子是来接替坎宁安先生的。
自从她 18 个月前来到这里以来，
她或她的孩子几乎一直生病。
她是一位波士顿女士。
现在快到早餐时间了。
我真希望爱德华不要太努力。
那场音乐会是一个可怕的压力。
山上房子的住户有足够的能量在春季工作中进行这样的事业。
你们都必须尽可能地注意健康。
午夜前不要不吃晚饭——不要在凌晨 1 点祈祷。
现在不要 - 告诉克拉拉，
我一直在用肥皂和煤油洗衣服 [注意：字母在第一页继续横着写] 油，
它的效果非常好，
只需 0.2 汤匙油就可以超过一加仑水。
取一小块肥皂汁。
油和一些水让它沸腾，
让肥皂溶解。
然后将其倒入一加仑开水中，
在此将弄脏的衣服立即放入温水垢中，
仅[无法辨认]它们，
然后在两次水中清洗衣服[注：字母在第二页上继续侧身]非常白很好。
你的汤匙油与一加仑水的比例大约是[注：信在第三页横向结束] 再见。
照顾好自己，
这将在 18 个月内付清，
我们将准备好回家了。

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