The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-22
AMONG THE BOXERS
Albert Loosly a Wichita Boy,
Missionary in China.
WRITES LETTER HOME
To His Parents From Present
Seat of Warfare.

Rev Albert o. Lcosly, who Is at p-es-
emit a missionary in China, has watta1 q
letter TO his parents. Mn and Mrs. r. o,
Loosely, WHO reside at Col South Law
renee avenue. Rev. Loosly left here last
Christmas for China, and his letter is
written from Ngankin and dated May /
Ngank4n is in the Nganhmui province,
and is about 300 miles from Shang Hal.
With the exception Of the American con-
sui and his wife, there is only one other
American there. He formerly lived in
Hutchinson and his name is A V. Gray.
Rev. Loosely was operator several years
ago In the Santa Fe offices and was well
known in the city. In 1894 he gradu-
ated from the Wichita Commercial Col
lege. and later graduated from the
Moody Theological School. During the
years 1898 and 1888 Rev. Loosely was do
ing religious work in Virginia, and while
there he decided to go to China, and as
a result commenced his labors under the
direction of the China Inland Mission
society. This organization has at the
present time about 400 missionaries in
China Rev. Loosly's people here do not
seem to be alarmed over the situation in
China in regard to the welfare Of the
missionaries and seem to think that Mr.
Loosely would enlist in the army if it was
not possible TO carry on the mission
work His parents have several curios
which he has sent them, and one is what
is supposed to be a Chinese New Tesla
ment Some of the wall mattoes have
peculiar characters on them and are
quite interesting to Americans. One end
is weighted with a reed filed with sand
which is to keep it from rolling up. Rev.
Loosely has sent some of his Chinese call
ing cards, which have his name on them
IN Chinese. 1t is necessary to present
one to gain entrance to the walled cities
His letter is as follows:
Ngankin, China, May l. 1900
Dear Friends-Truly I am in the Hand
of kite-hying On pleasant days you can
see kites in all directions. They are Of
many shapes and sizes. Some look ike
green birds Tapping their wings n quite
n lifeLke manner. The, ag0n-kite is
sometimes as long as twenty feat, ard
reminds one Of a great thousand-ieggeG
worm or centipede crawling through the
air; at other times it looks like a great
serpent winding its way through the
heavens.
One day heard distinctly what 7 took
to be the buzz of a circular saw. Upon
inquiry 1 was told that it was a 'buz-
ger" made Of thin strips of bamboo
fastened to q kite. the wind blowing
through it producing the sound 7 heard
We often can hear them all night The
Chinese believe the sound to be a pro-
lection against evil spirits
When at home ] was usually told that
in China old men flew kites and the boys
We're as sober as judges. Thus far in nv
experience I have not found it so The
boys and girls seem to be as fun Of fun
and mischief as those at home
What strange looking little people the
boys and girls are who come to our Sun
day school. Their bright. happy faces at
once remind us Of the little ones at home
yet how different from them they are
Some Of the smaller boys have the head
entirely shaved. Others have small cir
cular patches Of hair left. some directly
on top Of the head. others to the right
or to the left or below the center StlH
others have a circular. or triangular, or
crescent shaped shaved patch with the
hair left growing on the outer edges.
The older boys and men wear their hair
braided in a long queue at the back.
The little girls wear their hair done Up
in a neat roll at the back. or on either
side. or on top, of the head. Most Of
them powder their little faces and paint
Their cheeks bright pink
How I wish l could talk to these little
folks. hut since I am only a three-m onths
old Chinaman I am unable to do so.
Ngankin Is a city of about CG0oo inhab-
itants. situated on the Yang-tsi river
about 500 miles from itMmouth Unlike
our cities at home. it Sss a wall sur
rounding it which is about four miles
long and twenty to thirty feet high. It Is
reported that General Gordon was once
here and from his gunbcats shot down a
part Of the wall.
Our home is located near the north
safe Of the city. Most of the houses in
our Part of the city are quite substan-
tial, being built 'of brick and rooted with
tiles The poorer class of houses are
made Of thatch daubed with mud
Several heather temples are within a
short distance Of our premises 1t is Gus
tomaTy in this part Of China for some to
have walled enclosures about their prem
ises These enclosures are called COM
pounds In our compound are grouned
tho chapel. the missionary's home. the
superintendent's home and the training
school
In my last letter I forgot 10 tell you
that few days after my arrival we had
= l5-inch snow on the level This was an
unusually heavy fall OF snow.
The Chinese have no stoves like those
AZ home. They use small earthenware
vessel in which they put a handful Of
charcoal Goals. With these they warm
their hands and feet. These little fires. I
presume, are similar to those referred 10
In Scripture. Having no fire in our rooms
we put on plenty Of wadded clothing
Chinese fashion. permitting US 70 look as
broad and stuffed as We please. sud are
thus enabled to keep warm. Even a
skeleton would look rat at such times.
You ought 10 see our nice. new sn~inr
hats. They are beauties. Am sure thar
81 We wore them at horne almost every
one would feel like calling out - Us.
Where did you get that hat?" They arc
made of straw and have n crown about
as large as ones hand. The hat Is clrcu-
lar in form and IS twenty-five inches
from tip t. tip II has two sets or strings
an inch wide These We tie in nice
bow knot under our chins. One set ~
strings Is 70 keep The hat on. while the
other Is % bend the brim a the sides
ans make * look Ike a suR-bounet with
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