The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1892-01-13
LETTER FROM LYDIA LORD
DAVIS

LII MAU. SHANCI. CHINA,
SEPT. is. 1891.
Dear Ladies of the Missionary Society.
RaUennG. Ohio:
A beautiful morning the last of August found
some of US on donkeys. some in carts, prepared
for short ride to en- Tsung. village where the
mission has recently rented property.
The country, in this plentitude of Summer
time is rich in cultivation of CORN. Eheat. millet.
beans, squash and melons. Sometimes we were
riding through a corn field. the grain growing up
to the roadside. there being no fences.
We crossed two river beds from which the wa
ter was all gone, this being very dry Summer.
All the prayers from the people to their rain god
have failed to cloud the orb of day and bring re-
freshing showers.
The place in Jen Tsieng was one OF the first
ones which. as beheld. wished my parents
could see. Yves so much dirt and filth that is
repuIsive to our American eyes. that this place
| was great relief and delight to us. though now
its roofs are beginning to fall in, and much mon
ey would be needed to again put it in good re-
pair. 1t was just such a place you would imagine
| belonged to the luxuriant Eastern man of olden
days. before the opium came and laid the axe at
the root of this Oriental life 1t was formerly a
Summer residence of an official. and the houses
are mostly lattice or open work. Large rooms
where in times gone by we could seem to see him
seated with his friends about him. drinking their
wine from tiny cups which hold no more than a
tablespoonful. and smoking from their long brass
pipes. while servants run hither and thither.
supplying the wants of these gentlemen, to whom
idleness is but badge of their wealth.
In another court can you see the women-Chi-
nese beauties, whose feet are so dainiIy and
painfully small. enclosed in tiny shoes of silk.
richly embroidered. How do they walk? you
ask. O. these wealthy ones gently lay their long
nailed fingers upon the shoulders of a servant or
slave. and so trip or hobble about the courts.
Their true complexion is concealed by the
white.red. pink and black paint with which their
faces are covered. Their garments are of silk.
and their fingers ornamented with rings, making
up in size what they lack in beauty, Their ear
rings are usually of silver. are their hair or
naments. which are all very large and clumsy.
But these wealthy people are here no longer.
The place Is vacant. No water fills the aquarium.
The theater COURTS vacant-gone are the family
and their guests-the polite magistrate. the wives
with their silken garbs. and the unwashed chill
dren. The place is quiet and still. Where are
they. one can but wonder. and grow silent as we
mediate. Are they still spending their lives in
frivolity, or have their bodies returned into the
bosom of mother EARTH their spirits gone again
to the Creator. there to be judged by tho deeds
done in the body?
From this place we hope now to have the Cos
pei OF Jesus preached. When the gate is open.
and the court is full where once the theater ac-
tors played their foolish parts from here will be
preached the good news of salvation VIII you
who hear. not pray that those who listen may be
touched, and repent and be saved?
Could the people of America see these queer
people. wonder if they would see in them some
American ways. which, when carried to an ex-
treme. look so repusive? Their small feet are
but ours pinched few more inches The paint
on their faces is only an additional coat The
rings in their are only larger and more heavy
The pipe has only thirty six inches added to i1-
and serves also as a cane. Could the polished
men and anltQred women but see the cards which
they envelope in leathern cases and play with
jeweled fingers. handled by these ignorant hea-
then women. whose minds are utterly void of
knowledge; and the dirty. lousy, low men, as
they set by the wayside. playing with almost the
same cards. me thinks could the Americans once
see the cards in such surroundings. they would
lay them aside forever.
But this was not the end of our journey. From
here we went to Mr.. I1u (lool the teacher of the
boys school in Tai ku. I wish you could see him
Ia fine looking man Many an American would
be proud of his stature. fine physique. and noble
face. He is man raised up by the Lord to do
much good in Shansi, We believe.