The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-02-20
THE MISSION MAIL BAG.
WHAT A BLIND GIRL is DOING.

WHAT BLIND dlhL 10 DoAN0'
Few magazine articles in recent years
have attracted more attention than one
in the Worlds Work for December
describing the work of medical mis-
sions all over the world. People who
are Indifferent or even hostile to for.
eign missions have said emphatically
"That's the sort of thing l believe in!'
Among the most pitiable classes to
which they minister are the blind:
Opthalmia is exceedingly common all
through the East. Parents think 1t as
natural for their children to have this
disease Of the eyes as to eat Tugs ana
grapes. The idea of relief for the blind
came first from the missionaries. An
interesting case in Turkey is that of
Mary Haratounian, little Armenian
orphan, who had the partial use OF only
one eye. She had great thirst for
knowledge and attended the Girls
College in Marash, under the care of
the American Board. A year after
her graduation she lost her sight en-
tirely. Then she went to London.
studied in the Royal Normal School
for the Blind. and returned to her own
people and opened school for the
blind in Oorfa. She adapted the
bTdlll0 SYSTEM " AlHOllioA esho PAS
pared several books for beginners,
among them the Psalms and the Cos
pei of Luke. She has good knowledge
of English, plays the baby organ and is
an efficient helper in all lines of Chris
tian work. Quite recently DR.. Altoun-
van of Aleppo, another graduate of a
mission school and now an eminent
surgeon, performed an operation which
has partially restored sight to one of
Miss Haratounian'S eyes, but she can
do nothing which requires close appll-
cation. How different would have
been this girls fate had there been no
American school at MaraSh!
THE SCHOOL TEACHER OF THE ORIENT
This is the role which Japan is now
playing among the nations of the east.
Through the 10000 and more Chinese
students in Toxic and elsewhere Japa-
nese ideas are greatly influencing China,
and even India is being stirred by her
distant neighbor. Last year the presl-
dent of the Doshisha, one OF the fore
most universities of Japan, In company
with the president of government
school in Toxic, made a lecture tour
through the principal cities OF lndla.
Their visit created quite sensation,
especially their claim that Japan's sue
cess lies in Christian education. Their
audiences were Brahmins of high de-
gree, prominent lawyers. merchants,
bankers and other natives OF influence.
They also had large gatherings among
the students in Calcutta, which is a
great educational center, and IN otner
places. President Harada was gradu-
ated from Amherst and Yale, ana MI.
Motada, his companion, from johns
Hopkins. Both are the direct product
of missionary effort in Japan. Ii the
American Board had done nothing else
than to train such leaders as these, who
are helping to shape the educational
policy of great empires like emma ana
India. it would be we'll worth the out
| lay of men and money. vi the intel
lectual life of the japanese themselves
an American tourist writes: "The vlsL
| tor needs not to search for signs of it.
To me it seemed that | ran across
| schoolhouses of every grade about as
often as in America Whether in city
or distant hamlet the sight of children
going to and from school was never
wanting. In higher schools the boys
wore navy blue uniform of European
| cut and a cap bearing the insignia OF
| the school; the girls have adopted q
/ straight pleated skirt which is WORT
over the Japanese costume, the widt
! sash being abandoned. And what a
nation of readers! In waiting rooms
on trains and steamboats, most travel
ers were absorbed with papers, maya
zines or books
| THE TICKER TELLS THE STORY.
In the recent furry over our relations
with Japan one newspaper quietly re
marked that as long as japanese bonds
| remain stable in the American market
! there is no danger OF war. The stocb
quotations constitute a kind of barome
| ter which never fails to indicate the
gathering of war clouds. There Is an
| other kind of ticker which also tells the
story of the true state of affairs III
/ Japan and elsewhere III the Far East
! The wires are not connected with either
Downing or Wall Street, and news is
usually transmitted by mail instead OF
/ by cable But into the offices OF oul
great foreign missionary societies pours
a steady stream of valuable facts con
corning present conditions In foreign
lands To this bureau of Information
men are turning more and more FOR ac
curate aud reliable data. The barome
ter of the American Board, the Oldest
of these societies i'm the United States,
shows a steady rise in the power OF
| Christianity to re-shape ancient clvlll
cations. Prof. E. c. Moore of Harvard
an officer of the Board, has just return
ed from China greatly impressed with
the great awakening now going Oh
there. The report of himself and his
felow-traveler, DR.. J. l.. Barton, which
the Springfield Republican calls
notable" document, has been publish
ed in a handsomely illustrated pam
phlet for the small sum of ten cents
1t would be difficult to find, in so brle1
compass, more Illuminating picture
of the new China.