The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-13
FROM CHINESE MISSIONS.
A Franciscan Priest Arrives
From the Parkway Hoo
nan Province.
Interesting Account Of the Back
ward Region Where There
Is No Telegraph.

Father Edmund, member of the Fran
ciscan order, who has been Catholic mis-
sionary in China for eleven years, is stay
ing at st. Boniface Church, on Golden
Gate avenue. He arrived here from the
Orient quite recently, having made the
ocean voyage solely for MS health, and is
waiting news from the Flowery Kingdom
before he returns to the distant mission.
Where he was stationed, in the province
of Hoo-nan, is not more than $50 miles
from the scene of the recent massacres.
1t lies beyond the border in an adjoining
province, but there are still grave fears
that the contagion of riot and enmity may
travel through the formerly peaceful prov
ince of Hoo-nan and so involve some of
the most emiuently successful missions in
China. Still, Father Edmund says he is
ready to go back at any moment should
the order come to him, and there to take
his chances with brother Francisc ans
among the Chinese.
He chatted pleasantly about the Chinese
missions last night, though he knew
nothing definite through personal observa-
ton of the instruction and massacre. He
was clad in the brown robe of the Fran
ciscan, but instead of the customary close
cut hair there was queue partly hidden
by his cowl.
In the benighted provice of Hoo-nan, he
explained, it was utterly impossible for a
European to live without adopting Chinese
customs and costumes, which has COM
PEELED foreigners to cultivate ''pigtail."
In their missionary field the Franciscans
doff their historic garb for conventional
Chinese dress.
'0ur mission" said he, sis 600 miles up
the river from Hankou, which is six days
sail by steamer on the Yang-tse- kiang
from Shanghai. From Hoo-nan, the prov
ince in which it is situated, to the scene of
the prosecutions of missionaries is about
$50 miles.
"There are three large rivers in this prov
ince, the most easterly one being the
Da-ho. The Catholic missions are on the
Da-ho, in the center of that province. We
are on one side of the Tongting Lake,
while the missions reported to have been
devastated are beyond in the opposite
direction.
The statistics of our mission give about
6000 Catholics, fifty native priests, five
European priests and Bishop Fantosati,
whose residence is at Hen-chow-fou. We
have one seminary, or college, with twenty
students, very large orphanage with 200
pupils ranging from eight to Is years of age;
also the Institute of the Sacred Infancy of
Jesus, where We care for about 800 deserted
children All of them, the children, are
girls. Every day we have from five to ten
girls left at our door by their parents. We
take them in and keep nurses to rear them,
as these little castaways are always infants.
when the children reach the age of
eight years we move them to the orphan
age, where they are kept until they are
able to make a living for themselves. This
varies all the way from fourteen to eighteen
years of age. In Hoo-nan the people never
give up their boys; it is ever the little girls
that are cast aside by parents as useless or
dispieasing.
eve have had trouble on many occa-
sions in Hoo-nan, but it is thirty years
since a priest was killed. However we
have to be exceedingly careful when going
out, as we can never be sure of our lives
when abroad among the natives. There
have been Catholics in Hoo-nan for 200
years, so it is probably the Oldest mission
in all China.
'1n all the other provinces of China
there is a telegraph SYSTEM but not In
Hoo-nan. There are no other missionaries
there except the Catholics. When l was
coming down the river | met the first
steamer going inside its borders.
'It is without doubt the most ignorant
and backward region of China, peopled by
distinctive type of Monaghan. The
tribes in the mountains are not subdued.
They wear their hair hanging over their
shoulders, and have the ancient dress of
China, in all of which they resemble tribes
in the interior of Japan.
"The people of Hoo-nan told me they did
not wish to fight the Japanese. They are
our own people, and we should not fight
them they said. I've seen their soldiers
without food, with but single shirt for
uniform, and weapons that were ancient
and as useless as toys.
Gully 1000 men were drafted from Hoo
nan to fight the Japanese. Half of them
died of starvation and exposure on the
march and the detachment was unavail-
able for war purposes.
"As to our missions, as have said, there
is no telegraph in Hoo-nan and am wait.
ing anxiously for news from that prov
ince."
When slave was manumitted among
the Romans part of the ceremony was