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Show School of Many Friends, Lintsing, Shantung, China, February 1923. Dear "Many Friends",- How much we do thank all of you who sent boxes and packages with the many gifts which made a bright Christmas and a good supply of thing* for school w^rk. With this gl rious supply of colored post cards and magazine pictures to delight the hearts of the grown-ups as well as the children, you may be sure that Christmas was celebrated in the hearts of many who had not been remembered before. An attempt was made to give several cards to each of the more than eight hundred church members all over the field: some of these Mr. Whitaker took as he went thru the country visiting the outstations and more were taken home by those who came in to the exercises on Christmas morning, for without postoffices in most of the places where there are church members it would be impossible te reach them all even if the amount of postage was no item. If you can picture numbers of little homes with mud walls and tiny paper-covered winds, absolutely bare of ornament, or perhaps with a scroll advertising some patent medicine or cigarettes hanging on the wall covered with dust, then you will get some idea of what a few colored cards off nice stiff paper can mean when displayed to the admiration of the neighbors in the village. And when our school girls went home they carried more cards to use in their wOrk of teaching children in their homes and neighborhood: they tell on their return of how eagerly these children await the home-commg of these pupils who have been away for four months studying in the church for they know that pictures are apt to be forth-ccming, and interesting stories, and tales of the varied life at school. Some of the older girls carried pictures from the large Sunday School scrolls and old calendars with the beautifully co'ored Bible pictures,-for the presence of an out-of-date calendar matters not a whit to those who cannot read or understand it. The girls are preparing books for their Bible lessons in which they are pasting the small colored Sunday School cards which tell in order the stories which they have studied'-the life of Christ in the third grade, Acts in the fourth. Old Testament stories in the fifth grade, and the prophets in the sixth. By the end of the 5ear they will have rather complete books to take home to be a constant reminder of the lessons studied and a srurce of inspiration and help to those in their families who have also studied some, either in echool or in church study classes. Thus do we find use for the pictures that are sent out and many are the fhanks that we receive, which now we pass on to you. Other oft appreciated gifts from the boxes were crochet hooks.shuttles, and knitting needles srch a goodly number of these were received that we could keep a good supply for school use ard also give each of the older girls some, which you may feel sure were most welcome for they love to do handwork and will carry these home and be able to make fanily. The unused sheets from "blue books" for use in Engli-h classes, which we sent to our girls in Peking and pencils in nice little boxes which were much appreciated. Some of these things are unobtainable here ard others are so much better than those that ean be bot. And we have enough tooth paste and brushes to give out to the older girls when school open; and there is nothing nicer than that or more useful. Only very poor tooth brushes and tooth powder can be root ontne streets here so it is especially nice to have these good things to give them. Such a vmed assortment of yarn as we received in the boxes, all of which helped to make the parti-colored mitts and wristlets for the g;rls and also ten pairs of socks on the kntting malhme lhere was enough vain to supply the girls until they had learned how to run the machine and make good socks and we were very glad for that help. The resulting socks would just match Josephs coat, but they are nice and varm and much appreciated. One pair has gone to a boy who came into'the hospital with frozen feet and I send his rhanks to you. It would be such a pleasure to show you the industrial department of the school,-thirty-six girls most of them in the first and second grades, working away in the basement of the school building around the tafres in their little chairs,-the picture of industry ami contentment. Not that they are all as industrious as hey should be. Often 1 find soma of the little ores with their work held idly in their hands as they watch some older girl, or the girl at the knitting machine, or anything else of interest, for they are as curious and inattentive as one would expect children of that age to be. For one child, "Increasing Cold who is little sister to "Increasing Spring", and daughter to the kind preacher in a city about ten miles away life here at school has been one long trail of happiness and she has has nothing but smiles for every one and every thing. She is about nine years old and used to be a most bashful little vougster when her father was living at our street chapel, but she took her turn at leading him" everywhere he went as her sister did before her and now her brother after her: |