Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-01

June 2-Christian Progress. ......2 Pet: Ill
June 2s-Review: Service Of Song, Missionary,
Temperance or other Lessons selected by
the school.
! WRETcHED WOMEN.
mrs. Lucy s. cambridge Tells Of the
Lives They Lead In Heather Countries
Twenty-Five Thousand Child Widows
Living in India.
A glimpse into the miserable, de-
graded lives of the women in the heath
81 countries of the Old World was given
those who attended the services at the
Second Presbyterian Church last even
ing. Mrs. Lucy S. cambridge, of
Brooklyn, N. Y, the daughter of the
late John Seaman, of the firm of Sea-
man & Smith, addressed there a union
meeting of persons interested in mis-
sionary work. Mrs. cambridge has
had extraordinary facilities for
thoroughly inspecting the entire mis-
sionary field of the old world, and her
address last evening was very interest
ing. After q few Introductory state
ments, Mrs. cambridge said, in easy,
conversational style:
DIR. Jessa has said that if only the
men and boys of Syria were converted
to Christianity, the country would
again become Mohammedan within a
few generations. This has been the
| trouble in most of the heather nations
of the East. The women have been un-
| ~approachable by the missionaries, and
the founta;n-head was not reached. l
want to tell you how dark are the lives
of these women, and how they can be
helped. In Japan the mother teaches
her infant as soon as it can understand
anything to obey the rules of Buddhism.
The little one is given the picture of a
god, and he is required to daily sacri-
flee to it something which he will feel
the loss of. / was in Toxic at the an
nual airing of 'a,god. The image was
taken through the streets, men rushing
while the women lined the roadways
encouraging their husbands and BROTH
ers. On the road connecting the great
religious and commercial cities of Japan
scores Of women are seen daily on pill
grimagcs to the shrine of some god.
The woman missionaries work among
these women, at the tea houses, where
girls are employed, at the temples, and
in other places.
When we went into Northern China
at every house we reached the women
| would ascertain whether or not a gen.
tleman was in the party before ventur-
ing out. To be seen talking with a man
in the street ean a ruined reputation
to a heather China woman. Hence it
is necessary, to reach them, to use only
woman missionaries. We went into a
house, surrounded by great white walls.
First we came to the, tablet room. Little
tablets engraved with the names of dead
relatives stood on little stands, and be-
fore them burned candles and incense.
The Chinese believe that a man has
three souls and that one of them re-
sides, after death, in his tablet. We saw
tho kitchen god and other gods. A
| little girl lay in bed suffering severely.
Her feet were bound, and the work Of
preventing their growth had proceeded
only two weeks. An infant had just
died, and we learned that the body had
been wrapped in a mat taken to some
far off place and thrown away. Then
sharp knife had been drawn across the
threshold, to sever all ties that might
| connect the house with the little one,
for they believed the soul of the baby was
an evil spirit. We saw a coffin in an
unused room. The chickens were run
ming over it. The priests, receiving
salaries from the family, We're search
ing for q lucky spot and moment for
the burial. The body was that of the
father Of eight sons who lived in the
house, and the priests had been en-
gagged in their search for two years. AS
the family were rich there was every
prospect chat the burial would not take
place Immediately. The widow and
mother-in-law of the sons wives was
absolute monarch of the house. She
had been born and reared, like the
other women, in drudgery and slavery,
yet she was now the absolute ruler of
the household. She was in the kitchen
making spirit money, for the benefit of
the soul of her dead husband. The
priests had probably notified her that
his heavenly account was getting low.
Daughter-in-law No. 5 was dying of
consumption. He went to her, and saw
her counting her beads, and saying,
ooh Buddha, Buddha, we take refuge
in thee A bag of incense ashes hung
about her neck. She vas looking for
ward to TRANSPORTATION, and she told us
that she wa in fear lest she should
next appear on earth as a cat or dog.
She hadn't her passport ready. The
passport is a piece of paper which has
been prayed over by the priests, and
which is supposed to insure her happi-
ness after death. I asked her, through
the interpreter, how the future looked
SIS she neared eternity. Turning her
large eyes on me with a troubled look
in them, she answered.: Dark, dark,
dark This is the Buddhist religion.