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Show Tidings From Sinim Williams-Porter Hospitals Tehchow, Shantung, China. Dear Friends at Home : That certainly is a daring heading for one to use, who when on furlough, scored as heavily as did the writer, those who ventured to talk on "China," posing as authorities on all things Sinimese after having a bird's-eye view of a few of the port cities under the guidance of Mr. Cook ! My tidings, rest assured, will be of things whereof I know and am known, in our little world here at Tehchow. Those of you who know me best will not expect a review of the present political situation m China. My talents do not rum in those lines, and really your newspapers can give you much more interesting (if less truthful) details! With the exception of the times, as last year, wfhen war was really going on at our doors, we are in a relatively peaceful state of mind, for Shantung. The bandits are ever with us, but they will be so long as there exists the lawless element of unpaid soldiery. Their victims, however, serve to give the men nurses experience in first aid treatment of fractures, gunshot wounds, and other midnight emergency work. The women's hospital, as ail over the world, specializes in night obstetrics, varied with the not infrequent unhappy daughter-in-law's attempt at suicide and so each gets his turn- You doubtless are wondering as to the famine aftermath. In our immediate region there were very good crops this summer, the first in four years. This means a reasonable amount of food, for the common people this winter, but in. countless instances there will be no surplus to replace the farm animals sold during the famine yeans, or rebuild the houses torn down for fuel, or to replenish scanty threadbare wardrobes. In the hospitals we see the fruits of the famine in, the train of malnutrition, tuberculosis, and other physical ills that inevitably follow. So, all through our district, we still feel and see the pinch of the famine, though infinitely less than last year. Our servants antd institutional employees are asking for higher wages to meet their increased cost of living, and we shall be fortunate if we can meet their demands in sufficient measure to prevent a strike. A place where no-one ever "struck" for this or some other reason would be heaven indeed, would it njot? But such a place is not to be found in America or China certainly! I sincerely hope we are past "striking" days here in the trainingochool, but the memory of the time when we were in the throes is too vivid for enjoyment. Our hospitals have been running along at about their accustomed gait, unhampered by any of the succession of unusual exigencies of flood, famine, plague, etc., with which we have had to contend for the past few1 years. As this is but October, I can not give complete yearly statistics, and they are dry reading at best. In general, however, for these nine months of 1922, we have seen about 3,000 new patients in the outpatient clinics (this "Tfi'e'a'rrs several times that number of treatments of course), and we have admitted 700 inpatients. In addition, in the hostels connected with the hospitals, and in our seven branch dispensaries at the outstationis, we have treated 2,458 more It is orsr hope that in the not distant future it will be made possible for us to open a branch dispensary and preaching chapel in Tehchow city. (Our hospitals are outside the city, a short mile into the country, praise be ! where the air is fresher.) We cannot add this expense, however, unless the city people help us with funds, a site, and promise of help toward its upkeep. We are making cautious advances along this line, for we must first open hearts, before purse strings unloosen, ever remembering that only two tens of years ago there was strong anti-foreign feeling in this city. There is now no antagonism to church, schools, or hospitals. |