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Show con- The former, a tonic, we furnished, and the next day they brought five hundred cash with which to buy a can of densed milk. J The improvement of the patient's foot was rapid, and we could see an almost daily gain in strength, a thing for which we were most thankful, for often a lack of this speedy change for the better makes a patient become discouraged and stop coming to the dispensary. In spite of her gain physically, she still remained listless and unresponsive. ml!6 472 21 y M r s - C h i a o ' t h e woman assistant, was with them, the story of their poverty and want was told Ihe husband by trade is a horse shoe-er, but now, because of the hard times, is out of work. Having no relative who could help him bring his wife to the dispensary, he had to hire a man. That took eighty cash a day, and the dispensary ticket was thirty cash more. This more than exhausted their resources. The milk, if another can was bought would be five hundred cash. While this, at the present rate of exchange, would amount only to about ten cents, it is more than an average working man would earn in two days. They had pawned their bedding for money to buy the first can of milk, and there was left only the old comfort used to cover her in the basket. Their little daughter had been sent to her maternal grandmother because at home they could not give her enough to eat. It is not surprising that the husband had said they could no longer afford to come to the dispensary. The wife knew what he said was true, and the night before, she had started to crawl to the river to drown herself. She had been stopped just outside the gate Mr. W en, the assistant, went to the home and found the conditions as stated. Since then, no dispensary charges have been made, as we have no wish to ask even the usual three-fifths of a cent of the really poor A little part of the Christina; offering of the local church found its way to them, and also a can of milk, paid for by money given by the Berkeley Juniors. Today at the service, held at the opening of the dispensary, Mrs. Chow closed her prayer with the little rhyme prayer that she had been teaching to the patients and their friends in which all were asked to join It mij?ht be translated something like this: I thank Thee, Father, for Thy grace, For love the same each day and place. I humbly now beseech of Thee, Forgive my sins and set me free. Make my least deeds to prove my love, Take me at death to Heaven above. For all my friends, I ask the same, Making my prayer in Jesus' name. No sound came from the woman in the basket, but her husband repeated nearly every word. How much did he understand? We do not know. Did he think it a necessary part of the treatment, and his part? Peihaps so For each heart that comes to know Christ, there must be a beginning, and we trust that into these hearts some truth has found its way, and that the truth will grow._ We are thankful that thus opportunities are given to us to tell God's love for the world to those who have never known. Girls* School* In making our plans for the school, it seemed best to limit the number to twenty. To be sure three new rooms had been built for dormitories but we thought that seven in one room was sufficient for the long brick k'ang(bed). Even that number suggested confusion when we remembered that there was to be only one comb and one small mirror for each room. Sixteen girls cams as boarders, and three as day pupils. Some of the little girls came long distances and had walked all the way. One child with bound feet had walked thirty miles. Same came on wheelbarrows, some on donkeys, and some by boat. But they were all here on time and happy. The bound feet were soon unbound in accordance with the requirements of the school, and clothed in the big shoes and stockings, one pair of which is furnished by the school. The pupils bring their own clothes and bedding, and one thousand cash, about twenty cents, for tuition. We want them to enter at ten or eleven and finish the three years' course here, and then we hope to send the more promising ones to P'ang Chwang for three years more of training, then to the Union Woman's College 4t Peking. Parents promise to consult the foreigners in charge before they betroth their daughters who have been in JjSSol. We have two or three stupid ones whom we are willing to have married at any time but we hope that many may go on through college first. In teaching we give prominence to the Bible and teach also arithmetic, geography and the classics. An aged Confucian scholar explains the classics for an hour each day. Dr. Tallmon gives them daily practice in calisthenics. Mrs. Ellis has the more advanced arithmetic and geography, and Miss Ellis the beginning classes in arithmetic A former P'ang Chwang school girl has general oversight of the little girls' work. The matron is an elderly woman who received her three months' salary this fall only to turn it over to the work. She has been a real help to us all. Every Saturday afternoon we have sewing classes for all our girls ought to be learning this art at which Chinese women are so skillfnl. Miss Ellis with a seamstress to help, superintends the work, while she sits cross-legged on the k'an g with the girls, praising their work and trying to answer their questions about America. Those who made neatly a handkerchief from old cloth, were then furnished with new cloth to make another. They made a small quilt of patchwork for their teacher and one for the matron, and they did some sewing for us to earn their Christmas money. In the fall we wondered if the little girls ever would learn to sing, but by Christmas time we had no doubt as to their ability. In the fall we wondered if they ever would learn to courtesy without giving the impression that they were in physical agony, but when they trooped in by two and threes to say their goodbyes, it was very evident that the awkward little girls had been exchanged for real little ladies. It is ever delightful to watch childern grow and the development that we have seen in these girls has filled us with pride and joy. We would like to tell you of them individually, of the little girl of thirteen who is the only Christian in her family, of the child with the dislocated arm whose mother does not love her even with the love commonly given to Chinese girls |