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Show (3) Except for the inconvenience of disturbed mails (and none at all for twelve days) telegraph lines cut, delayed freight, and a sense of isolation for a time, we have suffered no personal hardships from the war. Few if any of the soldiers from this region are Christians. The real meaning of the war has been brought home to us by the sight of carload after carload of men, to say nothing of farm ponies and mules and good old farm-wagons that have been impressed for war service with little or no compensation. We have realized that all this meant added suffering to a region already visited in parts by flood, and poor enough at all times. When we have seen women carrying winter clothing to their men folk who have been impressed, weeping as they hobbled into the city on their bound feet, for the hard winter before them with no man to earn the living, it has deepened our feeling that there is no glory in war. Add to this the word of the slain and the wounded lying on the battle field until they died or dragged themselves off, and your tender hearts can imagine how we pray that the war may soon be over. Very soon after Feng Yu Hsiang's revolt, the governor of Shantung declared his independence of the central government, and took the arsenal here at Tehchow from the Chihli troops, without any fighting however, for his men far out-numbered the others. Then he ordered a trench to be dug just to the northeast of the city - which happens to be very close to us. The Tehchow Protection Society sent in a telegram to the Shantung governor asking that this order might be changed, and it was, which made us breathe more freely for our own safety, but still concerned, because it was not moved to the open place we suggested. Wu P'ei Fu went south and we saw some of his wounded, defeated troops carried past on the train, disarmed and disbanded and sent to their homes, or as near as the railroad would take them, without pay or loot - the same troops we had seen going north two months before. It is not safe to predict the future though it seems to the Chinese morally certain that Wu P'ei Fu will find help and start another ruction. Did Feng Yu Hsiang do right? Who knows! Time alone can tell. If his coup succeeds, he will be a hero. If it does not, he will probably lose his head. That he had provocation, anyone who knows even a little about affairs out here will admit. God help China! Our tatting schools are in a sad way at present because there seems to be so little demand for the article. If friends think that they could sell some, or luncheon or teasets, they would be helping poor people who are trying to be self-supporting in doing so. If you do not wish to wait until you hear from here, you might write to Mrs. F. G. Stephens 601-13th Ave. So., Nampa, Ida., and see what she has on hand. Our little Buddhist nun is still in the hospital. She is always cheerful and happy. She has skillful fingers and sews constantly for the nurses or patients. There has been a large number of children in the wards this fall, and very often she gathers them together and teaches them songs. She picks up tunes almost at the first hearing, and, as she can read some, she has made not a little progress. She has learned to pray, and expresses her simple faith in many ways. We have kept her in the hospital, and expect to do so until she is well. We must plan for her after that too, for she will be a cripple which means that to send her back to the temple, |
