St. Paul daily globe., 1888-12-24
Cinnamon Who Are Anxious
to Read and Write
English.
Noise Marks Progress Accord
ing to Hum Bang and His
Comp anions.
Christian Men and Women
Performing an Arduous
but Laudable Mission.
Every Scholar Requires a
Teacher to Accomplish
His Instruction.

Quietly and unostentatiously for five
years Chinese mission school has been
conducted at the Y. NJ. G. A. building.
Sunday by Sunday band of Christian
women have devoted themselves to this
phianthropic work and the success
attending their efforts has been decid-
edly pronounced. Twenty-Five Celes-
tials are now weekly in attendance, and
the spiritual as well as the intellectual
growth they display is most encourag-
ing. Truly, one phase of that all-ab-
SOrbing question, us Christianity a
faiIure?" may be solved by a visit to
this humble mission school.
The recent banquet at the Hotel Ryan,
given by the Chinese pupils to their
teachers, has had the effect of concen-
trating public opinion towards this
mission school, and yesterday afternoon
there were many citizens who attended
to personally investigate the work. L.
E. Bryant, the superintendent of the
school. is spending the Christmas yaca-
tion in the East. and the duty Of con-
ducting the lessons deyolved upon Mrs.
Tanning, who has been a teacher up
wards of four years. School opened at
O'Clock. The Cinnamon were not
very punctual yesterday, and for yarl-
Gus reasons some were delayed. They
dropped in singly or by tWos. Each
one knew his seat, and went straight
for it, smilingly and n0ddng recognl-
ton to the teachers around. The
teachers are all ladies, each being i'm
bued with the desire to successfully
Z hn 4batr haX-p ntaHlF-
taken. An ordinary room, filed up
with number of chairs. an organ. some
books and a blackboard constitute the
school.
Mrs. Tanning waited until few min
utes after O'Clock, then announced the
first hymn, Come to Jesus" The
teachers had seated themselves at the
side of the pupils,
ONE TEACHER TO EACH PUPIL,
and the singing of the hymn was in
English. 1t cannot be said that the
singing was sweet; it did not fall upon
the ear in soft and ripping cadences,
but was earnest. The Cele5tlalS put
their very souls into it. and the more
noise they made the more serene dld
their countenances become. They love
to sing. and accordingly the policy of
the teachers is to introduce as much
singing as possible. Singing is con-
Quoted in the English and Chinese Ian
guages. Charts were hung against the
wall giving the hymns in their own
language, and from which the Monguls
sang with nice effect. Let L Gather"
was the first hymn sung i'll Chinese,
but the initial verse was but half-heart-
edly rendered. drawing from the super
intendent the remark: What is the
matter to-day, the boys dom half sing"'
1.-The BOYS" needed no further hint, the
remaining verses being given with set
determination and re-echOed through
out the building. The superintendent
followed the singing with a short, in
tercsting address. 1t was upon Christ
mas and the birth of Christ. The Chi
namen were all attention, clinging as it
were upon the words as they fell from
the lips of their inStructresS. "Hum
Bang" interpolated the superintend-
ent, "how long ago is it since Jesus
Christ was born?"
Hum Bang is an elderly Chinaman
and the most intelligent of the group
who attend the school. He promptly
replied: lone touSand eightee bundled
and eightee-eightee."
The superintendent requested teach
ers and pupils to read with her the story
of the birth of Christ as recorded by st.
Matthew. With avidity
EACH CHINAMAN SECURED A BIBLE
and opened it at that portion of the
Scriptures named. Mrs. Tanning read
verse, which was repeated by the
others until the whole story was told.
Explanations and questions lnterSpersed
the reading.
"What is meant by exceeding great
.-l-n,I +l,n ipt
'Glate deallee ioy," was the prompt
response from Hum Bang.
PRAYER was offered. the Celestials
reverently bowling their heads, and
thereupon each teacher took her pupil
in hand for personal instruction. AT
the request of the Superintendent the
lesson for the day was the birth of
Christ. There was plenty of noise dur
ing the lesson, it being the belief of the
Chinese that the more noise they make
the more work will they perform. While
some read fairly and fiuently, others
laboriously spelt each word, while an
other section listened intentiy to the
talking teacher. The neatnesS of the
Cinnamon was particularly noticeable.
They were spotlesSly clean and half of
! those present appeared in American
garb. There was one budding Celestial
who even Ventured to the extent
of a mustache. He possessed
| an intelligent cast of features
and spoke English pretty we'll.
The whole of them displayed great in
terest in the subject Ill hand, and their
teachers reported them patient and
plodding in the extreme. They are
noticeably obliging, continually run
ming TO and fro to secure books or chairs
for the teachers. 1t was Singularly
| instructive scene, though
1T HAD 4 CoMICAL ASPECT.
A simple. chjld-like Chinaman, his
face beaming with smiles, seated at the
side of a well-dreSsed good-looking
young lady was a sight to remember.
| 1t was pleasing sight to witness the
! glow of satisfaction upon the face of
/ the celestial as he graSped the meaning
| of the lesson taught by his teacher. To
| the teacher the work is of a most eX-
| hauStmg nature, and requires consider
| able zeal and energy. The most rudi-
mentary principles have to be adopted
to get before the pupil the truths pre-
| sented to them, while nothing but pa
! tient toll can get them TO sufficiently in
! terpret the meaning of words. Good
work has been done in this respect. as the
! major portion of those attending school
yesterday could read from the Bible.
| They are also becoming smart as to the
meaning of words.
What is the difference between
prophet and profit?" asked teacher.
.Plofit, to makee money!" was the