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Show -2- A couple of months ago I took an Iowa guest to sea the Old Ladies Home and she agreed with me that it was a very interesting place. It is in the Wast Suburb, half a mile from the city wall, in new simple adobe one storey houses. The matron was a former Bible-woman, retired because of age from the mora strenuos rural touring but strong enuf for this oversight. Only woman are received who are past 60 and without husband or son to support them, nor other ran* means. There are now eighteen such woman, many quita feeble, soma who would, without this refuge, certainly bag on the streets or parish from hunger or winter cold. Throe died in the Home the past winter,- one an inmate but a very short time. When this woman came she said she had not known such comfort for years, and was so grateful for this nice pie. place in which to and bar days. Yet this comfort consists merely of tin^T rooms with mud plastered walls, with tha kang bads and almost nothing else, with crude adjoining kitchen where the plainest of food is prepared« , , A few people haee been admitted who are exceptions to rules mentioned above. One is a woman who is half crazed. Sometimes her mind is cleai* enuf to do nice sawing. Her husband contributes to her support, as she cannot be kept in his home, nor would sha stay after the arrival there of the concubine whose coming oausad her mental trouble, Another is a distressing idiot,- a young woman found soma years ago near the Hy station, evidently dropped off there from a train and abandoned. She is not able to wait on herself so sha is under tha special charge of a wiard little hump-backed dwarf, herself not biassed with too much brains, whose support the Gait family has provided for more than a decade- Than there are two man boarders, their support provided by a philanthropic Chinese. They are considered quite harmless companions for the old indies,- one totally blind and the otbar 0. helpless paralytic. They truly act tha parts of the blind and the lama won of Aesop's fablo. The blind man does all the waiting on the paralytic,, . .. who directs him. The morning we were there tha helpless man was lying. in the warm sun in tha middle of tha courtyard, and greeted us with a cheerful "Good morning" in good English,- probably the only one among the 20 who could do that, or could read advanced Chinese books, as be was doing. But tha Industrial School takes much mora of my time than those other organizations. In a light and airy room in the church yard about 20 young women and girls spend much of their time, six months in the year, turning out products such as soma of you have seen. You would especially note attractive Kao Su-cben, whose husband deserted her. Sha now lives again with her parents, where there aro nine mouths to feed, and the father sometimes earning lass than a dollar a week, moving freight on and off the raivar boats. Several others have unusual and moving stories connected with their homes, Wa can conduct this work but half time now because tha problem of marketing our output is sc great, The women make tatting, applique and cross-stitch bedspreads. tabl3 and dresser covers, laundry bags, knitting bags, shoe bags, Hand-kercbijf and card cases, luncheon and tea sets, sofa cushions,- what you will,- out of white or brown grass linen, and white or brown homespun or nankeen. Besides being able to halp family budgets these woman are repaired to spend two hours par day in class learning to read and Wfito and atoxding the period of prayer and religious instruction* And they have constantly bo fore them tha example of wonderful Mrs. Yang, who lives en beautifully bar Christianity, Tho fine principal of our hi.orh sajaool of 800 students is one of bar sons. T also j. could take f you to call in some of the 50 or mora homes in which I have boon this year, Besides the outstanding Yangs there are several families of tha faculty of tha middle school. Also the families of several of our preachers and outstation workers live hero. In our. near neighborhood aro five women who ware school girls before 1900, under lass Morrill bafore her martyrdom. They are all, leaders in church and community. Other homes are those of a carpenter, a mason, an interesting repairer and tinkerer who has his shop in his own home, and a veoy competent dressmaker who comas to our homes to use needle and sewing machines and skilfully turn out dresses of for* eign patterns to delight the hearts of oui young lady daughters who go away to school. Bear together are an innkeeper, two cloth peddlers, two hom.„.s in which several members work at cloth weaving looms, en* one or two riksha pullers. m |