The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-05
WoMAN's BOARD F. Nj.
Thirtieth Annual Meeting at New Lon
don, Conn.

HRelief Work Among Armenian Refugees
in Bulgaria. Miss Katherine B. Fraser,
Van, Turkey; "Island Girls, ''.Miss Annie
E. Abell Ruk, Micronesia; Touring
among Homes in North China" Miss
Mary S. Morrill,, Pao-ting-fu, China;
Mrs. Alice Gordon GuIick, San Sebastian,
Spain; "Bitlis, Retrospective and Pros
pective," Mrs. George P. Kapp, Bitlis,
Turkey Mrs. Marcellus Bowen, Con
stantinople, Turkey.
Miss Mary S. Merrill, of Pao-ting-fu,
China, and a member of the Payson Me.
mortal church, Portland, Me-, spoke Oh
Touring Among Homes in North Chi
na." She said:
In thinking of China one always sees
visions of walls or war. Perhaps our
thoughts are largely shaped by the pic
lures in the old Biographies. From east
the Great Wall. All around the large
cities are high walls, with heavy iron
gates. On taking up our homes in this
celestial kingdom, we find our mission
premises are also surrounded by walls
seoIuding us from the gaze of the natives.
We take up the study of the language,
and in 1T find another barrier, and as we
dices of the people are also Ugh walls to
be overcome. I had been in China about !
two years when one afternoon my ride
to a neighboring village took me long
way outside the city walls. l was busily
thinking about my message to the wom-
en-, and paid small heed to what was 60
ing on around me. Suddenly l was
aroused from my thoughts by hearing my
carter speak some sighting words con-
corning the doctrine. Suddenly the Bible
woman said "Look up there!" point
ing to the wall, where we saw only the
common sight of large limb and branches
growing out of the solid masonry. She
said long ago tiny SEED Tell IN the crew
ice of those rocks, and now you can see
how large these branches are. No one
would dare pull those branches out of
those walls; to do SO would be to draw
down the structure upon himself, and
yet the limbs are surely splitting the wall.
So it is with the Gospel seed. 1t Is grad
ually rending the walls of pride and
prejudice in the hearts of the Chinese
people. 1t is even as the Bible woman
said, that there are sigDs of falling in the
insurmountable barriers of pride and
prejudice. Eight years ago there were
only ten villages where l could go and
visit the women. Today we number sthir
ty. We have adherents in over sixty viii
lagos. This growth is largely due TO the
two waiting rooms, one for the men and
one for the women, where day after day
the patients hear of the truth and learn
of the healing of the souls diseases while
waiting to see the physician for the body.
The happiest days of my life in China
have been spent in some of these village
homes. A year ago this month / went
to the village of Oh g-liang -cheng.
Several women wished to study, but none
of them felt able to leave home, SO took
up my abode among them. In the little
adobe chapel where there was no furni-
ture except Chinese Bang, one table
and few benches, made my home. /
carried with me bowls, chopsticks, jars
for meal and other small things used by
the Chinese in the preparation of food.
For personal use l had my agate travel
ing ware dishes, few tins of canned
goods, some cereals and small charcoal
stove. The weather was bitter cold, but
we had no means Of heating the building,
aud SO depended for warmth upon our
clothing. / wore a native dress and
planned as far as | could to use native
food. About twenty women
gathered to the class, some of these sleep
ing in the chapel others returning to
their homes for the night. 1 was so for
tunate as to have for my own use one
small room, about 10 by 6. This con-
tanned Bang large enough for one per-
son, and no other furniture. In one cor
ner l had heap of charcoal, in the op-
posite a pile of cabbages, and heap OF
sweet potatoes, and two or three punches
of onions. The Chinese are passionateIy
fond of onions, but l selfishly proposed
to give them only moderate allowance
and save myself the odor of garlics. We
had five large jars in the room, one for
white flour, millet meal, rice and millet.
Beside these / had few shelves on which
placed my books and a small store of
home remedies. Among my women were
two with small children. Those babies
slept in the day time, SO that their moth
ers made real progress, but my rest at
night was often interrupted by their
walls. The women called them ''the
little watchmen," and although the chap
Ell was in lonely place on the outskirts
OF the village, we never felt afraid of
thieves as long as those children cried SO
much at night. l had some amusing pa
tients. One old woman wanted RENE
dy for two Jumps of sickness, one above
the stomach and the other below. which
she said met and quarreled Rhubarb
and SODA drove away the Jumps and made
her most grateful listener to the truth.
An old man sent in word that he would
like TO perspire, and two spoonfuis of
ground ginger. with directions for its
use, produced the desired effect. A great
interest was created among the village
OASN1Sr
thought it was so strange that anyone
could voluntarily leave home at the cold
season and undergo the discomforts of
native house. One woman came to the
class one evening just as they were about
to eat supper. had gone out to help the
women in blessing the food. 1t is not
always easy for the Chinese woman to
pray, especially in the beginning of her
Christian life, and Mrs. Lee said the grace
so low that few could hear her. A woman
followed me back into my room and
said: ~ do SO want to know how to
thank God. 1 believe it Is the God OF
heaven who cares for US and watches
over us. but do not know how to thank
Him, and want to ask you to let me
sit down here and hear you bless your
food" My supper was waiting for Inc
on the table, and was hungry, cold and
tired did not feel like being . mission
airy, just wanted to be alone for little
while, but something in the woman's
wistful face arrested my selfish thought,
and instead of the silent English grace I
said an audible one in Chinese. Her
face lighted up and she said, "Why, l
can learn that" So l spent few mo-
ments regardless of the fact that my sup
per was getting cold in teaching her. just