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Show Ventures and Adventures at Lintsing U i ffP^ (g^ffi HE heads of 100 or more Chinese bandits hanging from the wall at Lintsing, China, in the province of Shantung,' ^5|j where Dr. Alma Cooke, graduate of the University of California and the University Medical School is in charge of the Hospital, 'saved the lives of the people in the village during the bandit uprising,' according to a letter from Dr. F. F. Tucker of the Williams Porter Hospital at Tehchow, China. " 'You will have heard of the bandit regime here', he goes on to say, 'but I am wondering if you will have heard what splendid service Dr. Alma Cooke has rendered and is rendering? The most notable part of it; is that she is not the least conscious of her real heroism and efficiency.' "The afternoon I came here, a pitched battle was fought twenty miles northwest, between one thousand or more soldiers and the bandits. For weeks, this had been the base hospital for the wounded soldiers and now some fifty maimed and wounded men crowd the men's wards and overflow the nurses' dining room and the chapel. Dr. Cooke, recently reinforced by Dr. Hsu, has been the general and moving spirit of all the extra demands, though Miss McGwigan has done her part, too, as well as the fine corps of Chinese nurses and other helpers. Dr. Cooke has been on duty all of every day, and much of many nights. Her stature is not great in some ways but in the ways that count, in real service, few there are who have better done their part. Fabiola of old served no more finely than this up-to-date doctor doing her bit, far behind the scenes where no honors or praise can be expected save that 'well done' which is at once the strength and inspiration of the daily task. "On account of the shortage of physicians here, Tehchow has aided a little now and again. Dr. Cooke maintains her poise, and manages the professional work as well as directs nurses, coolies, workmen and others. May the doctors so urgently invited to come here soon decide to do so, for they and added Chinese workers are sadly needed. There is a limit to the life and strength the present force can expend. The future should not be mortgaged too heavily,, for soon comes the spring rush of patients, and the fourth month fair with all of its stress and opportunity. "May friends at the home base ever hold up the hands of their representatives at the 'front'." So runs a column or more in one of our leading newspapers. This is our own Dr. Cooke. Miss McGwigan writes that the wounds of the victims were so awful that it was like being at the front. The bedding gave out under such heavy demands (81 newcomers!), but fortunately the new sewing machine sent out by the Stockton church, which supports Dr. Cooke, arrived in the nick of time and they could get some made more quickly than by the old hand process. The influence of this unsought work cannot be measured. The army has no hospital in this region. As a token of appreciation, the General sent the hospital $500 which, while it does not cover the cost, shows gratitude. The Daily Round The regular work is going on just as usual, too. Here is a little girl with a harelip operated on some days ago. The doctor removes the stitches and the child looks at herself in a glass. Her eyes fill with grateful tears and someone remarks "Now you are like other girls and they can find you a mother-in-law," The woman just coming through the door is ready to be discharged. She was brought in with a great gash in her abdomen over which a chicken skin with feathers still on had been bound. She boasted that she would show her heart to her mother-in-law, but in her ignorance of anatomy, it was her liver she exposed! There is a woman who is the happy mother of twin boys born in the hos- 3 pital two weeks ago. She has come for final directions as to how to care for her babies. Another patient, almost ready to be discharged, represents a large class of obstetrical patients mistreated first by the midwives and brought to the hospital only when given up to die. Miss McGwigan has eye clinics daily at the girls' and boys' schools. She is treating trachoma which nearly half of them have. At the general clinics which have been enormous lately, each patient has paid a few cents for a ticket and is waiting her turn. Mrs. Sung, the faithful Bible woman, is there talking to one group or another or may be explaining to the roomful the pictures illustrating the parable of the prodigal son. Some have come from villages thirty miles away. Some have walked for long distances on their poor bound feet. Some have come on donkeys or in carts or chairs, and others have been carried on beds or in baskets. Some have come by boat. Here we have the preaching and the healing going together and never are hearts so ready for the message, as when healing opens the door. The picture above at the right is of a family bringing as a mark of their extreme gratitude a commemorative tablet to the hospital because the mother who was ill with a carbuncle was cured. In the picture at the left, you will see the new addition to the house for Dr. Cooke and Miss McGwigan (the four windows at the back). How fortunate that these new quarters were done before this stressful time, so that they could have the quiet and rest of their own rooms when they had time to go to them! They found, also, a real bathtub- quite a luxury for a Mission house. Miss McGwigan writes "Our hot water system is being put into the hospital. In the future to get hot water, I won't have to open the front door and call at the top of my voice to the kitchen by the gate 'kai shui' as I am doing now." She adds, "I can see the hospital work growing by leaps and bounds." |