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Show School of Many Friends, Lintsing, Shantung, China October 1, 1925. Dear Friends, We have just had the great pleasure of entertaining our new appointee for women's work here in Lintsing, Miss Alice Murphy. She had barely arrived in China and we were so glad, that she could take time before the opening of the Language School in Peking to make us a visit. With her came Dr. Robinson, who is to work in our hospital, so we had the joy of showing our city and the work here to t them both and will wait more or less patiently for their return to us after their year of study. Our schools opened the middle of September and we are well started in our work. We have fifty-seven girls boarding here and twelve day pupils, while one day school has thirty-six pupils and the other twenty-one. We have three new teachers arid two have returned from study at other schools, while only one is left of those we. had last year. The others have gone on to study, three in Peking and one in Tientsin, and are enjoying their work very much. One of our teachers, who was graduated from Bridgman Academy last June, is assistant principal and is such a help in evert way. We have more boarders than last term and so are finding it hard to mike a place for them all, but by having a few new board beds made and changing things around in some of the rooms, we are managing very well. The dining room and kitchen are too small, so we are moving the kitchen into an adjoining room, now used for storing things, and then can tear out the partition between it and the dining room and add some few feet onto the dining room,,which will make the tables fit in better. It is very fortunate for us that Chinese buildings can be changed in size and arrangement so easily for we have had to do so much of it to make room for the grow€h of" the ""school. 'We feel We are-reaching the limit of expansion in that way now however. All but one of our pupils of last term have returned and there are a number of new ones. These new ones are learning the ways of the school under the supervision of the older girls. The swings are fearful pleasures at first and the difficulties of arriving at school on time are many, and there is always the unbinding of feet for those who have had theirs bound. These are fewer and fewer as the years go by, and very few of these have broken bones now, so with the use of hot water it is possible to get them pretty well straightened out again. On the playgrounds the advantages of large feet are plainly to be seen and it is an incentive to those who are unbinding. The girls brot back very good reports of their evangelistic work during the summer. Some of them had schools and were able to teach many who had never been in school before. The simple gospel songs set to Chinese tunes were as popular as ever and the picture cards used as rewards for learning something were in as much demand as usual. I was in the home of one of our school girls here in the city and tne walls around the lower part were covered with colored pictures, and brown pictures, and post cards, as well as with the copies of songs, etc. The mother is an enthusiastic Christian and tries to help those with whom she comes in contact, and the Bible pictures make the stories more real. Just at present we have no post cards or magazine pictures on hand so will be very glad if there are Sunday Schools that can send us some for use this year. We surely do appreciate the kindness of those who have sent us so many of these pictures. Sincerely yours, Ethel M. Long. |
