The Leon reporter., 1902-12-25
LETTER FROM INDIA.
Miss Carrie j. Sampson, a Decatur
County Girl, tells OF Exnerience
as Missionary in India.

| tAJ leslS5tUNday y III EkkGid.
/ Rev. S. Samson, of Van Vert, has re-
ceived the following letter from his
daughter Miss Carrie who went to India
three years sago as a missionary,
which is taken from the Record:
Coonoor, Neil Cherry Hills, Southern
India, Oct. so, 1902.
| DEAR PA:-This is homo mail day,
and it is now too late to get letter Off
today, but will write so it will 60 next
week without fail.
| Last week | wrote to Mary about my
having been i'll and in the hospital.
| Going to the hospital seems to be part
OF my yearly program, and no doubt
you will hear about it from her. But
when l left the hospital was not able
| TO go to work at once, so the powers
that be (the doctors and our mission
| people) sent me away for rest in these
hills.
| left Calcutta by boat, Friday, Oc-
toher "a, exactly three years from the
day first arrived there. Miss Henkle,
Miss Maxey, Miss Blair and DR.. Rcbin-
son helped me Off and there came with
me Miss Gilbert, an Australian young
woman, who is nurse. / could hardly
have managed without her at first.
Alter she got me nicely settled here she
returned to Calcutta. The steamship
on which We sailed from Calcutta was a
French vessel 1t was small ship, but
as neat and clean as new pin. at the
IsdinniDg table at which I sat there was
one English woman, with whom / got
acquainted, but the others were French,
and spoke only French. They were the
captain and officers of the vessel, and
the wife of one of them. They all drank
wine or brandy or whisky at their meals
as commonly as we drink milk or water
but no one seemed to get drunk. They
were typical French people just as we
have seen described in books and
papers. They were very courteous. The
captain and the head steward seemed to
be concerned about my meals, tor took
no wine and refused some of their pecul.
lar dishes, and they did not know
whether or not l would be satisfied.
But the food was nice and | was we'll
supplied. The English woman took
wine as freely as did the French people.
AS | said, we left Calcutta Friday
morning and we reached Madras at
about 10 o'clock Sunday night and
were stationed outside the harbor or
break water until morning, Our DR..
! Robinson of Calcutta, had sent tele-
gram to DR.. Rudisetf of our Methodist
Publishing House in Madras, that we
were coming, so he sent young man
out to the boat to meet us. We were
glad to have his help through the ordeal
OF luggage, row boats, coolies, plague
I inspection end gharry wallahs (hack
drlvers.) We spent the day, Monday
Oct. 27, With DR.. and Mrs. RudiseT and
left Madras the same evening by 6:l5
train Tor Coonoor. If you have the man
OF India which sent you you will see
that Coonoor is southwest of Madras,
and we'll toward the western coast,
j This is 4 hill station in the Neil Cherry
1 Hills. 1t is cool but the climate is
mllder than is at Darjielng.
The next morning at about ten
O'Clock we reached the station at the
] foot OF the hills, where we changed to a
marrow guage road going up to Coonoor.
The hills are not as steep and the road
mot as wonderful as the one going to
Darjleling. At Mettupalanyam. the
station ct the foot of the hills, Sounds
I like metropolitan when pronouaeedl
We learned that there had been two
landslides on the road, and therefore
J delay. Finally the little train started
to make the ascent. The distance from
Coonoor from the foot is % miles.
When weshad gone more than half the
distance We were delayed four hours
: while one CT the brakes was repaired
and after proceeding perhaps two miles
farther we had to walk about n quarter
I. Of a mile, across the second slide and
trans-shiP to another train. Well, bv
the time all the baggage was transferred
it was 6 O'Clock in the evening. The
clouds had come over, it was raining a
.I,iitflp and tho xyh nlo tra;n ,yoe -, ,,At..