The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1894-07-18
Rev. Croker Writes Another In
teresting Letter to His
IrvingtOn Brethren
And vividly Describes His Expert
ences in Oriental Homes
and Inns.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL.

My dear brethren and sisters, again
greet you. Time has swiftly sped away
and many things have happened ] try
in this to tell you some things about my
first trip on preaching tour in China.
Your messages and remembrances have
been a constant source OF help to me
here in this land where sympathy is so
scarce. / want your love, your prayers,
your sympathy as much as / want your
money, or more. | feel always that |
am not alone in my work here, for !
have you and our common Master with
me.
am glad you are going to study China
and send you small paper. May the
Lord guide you to learn so as to really
love these poor people. When we do
for them all we can then God will do the
rest. My health continues good and all
my wants are abundantly supplied. l
have heard from your quarters payment
but it has not yet reached Inc 10Th OF
April.) / have received some from other
churches and have receipted the church
for the face value of the check, that is,
the same amount they forwarded from
the church treasury. God has been
good to me and all of us all the time and
everything has moved smoothly and
pleasantly. But now must tell you of
my trip.
NIGHT WITH A RICH cHINAMAN.
A wealthy chinaman was visiting in
Pingtu Just before we started on our
preaching tour and as he lived in a town
about thirty miles on the way we intend
ed to go, he invited us to visit him. We
the evening and of course first drove
into an inn. | noticed just by the side
OF the inn door, as we were going in,
two fellows working with big black
hog which had just been killed. The
hogs here are all black, have long flap
ping ears, long coarse hair and bristles
and have a general lank, lean, flabby
appearance. Pork is not so good as is to
be found on your tables. was curiour
to know what they were doing with this
hog. They had him up on bench and
one fellow had hold of one of his hind
legs blowing in slit in the skin, the
other was beating the back and sides
with stick. The hog seemed to be
boated. found they were blowing
him up. They fill his veins with water
and then sell him by weight. Water is
cheaper than meat. EEsN-f
In the court yard of the inn crowd
at once gathered around us. Presently
our friend came with his servant and
our goods was conveyed into his house.
A chinaman's house has some differences
from yours. 1t is always enclosed by
wall, the buildings are only one story
high and are built of brick and mud, the
finer ones covered with tiles, the less
fine by straw. Inside the walls which
enclose the buildings, frequently there
trees grow and sometimes flowers. We
entered one OF these little courts and
from it entered the guests room, low,
long room with various articles of furni-
ture in it. The floor was OF stone and
the roof was the ceiling. The chairs
were Of large size and always set by the
side of table. The chairs by the side
of the table opposite the door are the
seats OF honor. We were made to sit in
these as honored guests, presently a din
ner was brought in and served in native
style on bare table polished clean and
bright and we ate with chop sticks out
OF bowls which sat in the center OF the
table. Our fare was a bowl of fish, a
bowl OF pigs feet, eggs and some pork
with bread and millet soup. II was
good. We brought our own bedding as
was expected by the host. We spent
the night very pleasantly, our host doing
all he could to make us comfortable.
We did not eat with the family, and did
not see any ladies OF the house. A little
girl peeped in at the window a little
while. Mother, vile, sister, daughter are
not honored names like they are at
home. The poor woman has to endure
and suffer. Nothing can save the poor
women of China but the gospel Of Jesus
We left next morning for city about
Is miles away. There we stopped about
four days preaching to the crowds that
came. We stopped ina l 3ifI
CHINESE INN.
This is an establishment SO unique l
wish TO try to describe il to you. The
travel and transportation in China is ali
done by either pack mules, two wheeled
carts, wheelbarrows and sometimes cam
els. The products are carried from one
section, city or province TO another, and
often the muleteeis are gone for weeks
Sometimes there are many in one cara
van. These have TO have some means
Of spending the night in the towns and
cites, hence the inns, They want
place for their animals, a safe place TO
have their load Of goods and some place
to sleep themselves The inn Is an open
court about 20 by thirty yards with
low building ON each side thus shutting