Putnam patriot., 1913-08-29
A New England Picnic and Missionary
 Meeting m China

aOId Mother Hubbard went to the
 cupboard"
 To get some baked beans for her New
 Englard neighbors-
 Among those neighbors who ate the beans were the Rev. N. l.. Beard of Putnam and your Thompson cores pondent who met for the first time at Kuliang, China. Therefore the read CTS Of the Putnam Patriot may like 10 listen to my tale. As l have said be- fore we were New Englanders and our hostess was Mrs. C. H. Hubbard. We numbered eighteen and arrived from way down in Maine, from the only street in the Hub that is called straight, from the Old New Hampshire Home and the Land of Steady Habits. Four were from Mt. Holyoke college, one from Smith, one from Amherst, one from the faculty of the Willimantic High school and one from the Hart ford School of Pedagogy. We were methodists, Congregationalists and Baptists, therefore it was union meeting.
 We landed at Plymouth Rock, in fact quite upon it, for on arrival each man was given ball of twine that he wound thru maze, followed by laay, till they came 10 the Rock. Be fore seeing the Rock it was quite neces- gary to s..e fha ruariauu paufa to do which we stood on tip-toe on a draped box. There on high shelf was the eagle on q can of Eagle Brand conden- sed milk. But where was Plymouth Rock? Not in the upper regions with the eagle but under the draped box. We carefully climbed down and peep ed under our pedestal and there il was -a Plymouth Rock hen, pet of the family. It was the first Plymouth Rock 1 have seen in China; Chinese fowls are far inferior to the P. k brand.
 What a supper was spread out! All that ought 10 have been there. The miracle was how Chinaman could cook like a Bostonian. The tables were fairly overfiowing with talked beans, brown bread, rolls, fish balls, apple sauce, cucumber pickles, jelly, apple pie, ginger. bread, suceotash, pumpkin pie, doughnuts and sponge cake That was quite enough but New England hospitality added ice cream and coffee. There were three speeches made by the same man and an original poem by "old Father Hub bard entitled "New England. T Many people at home in l.. S. A. must have burning ears for old times and old neighbors, school days and school mates were the chief topics of eonyer- sation MT Beard and did justice to i the Nutmeg State and the Putnamites, exchanging the latest news from home.
 The other topic Of conversation struck minor chord to the merry making, 1t was the latest news about 1 the Revolution. 1 will not repeat the | ere tais. you cannot share the emotions one feels when war and rumors of wars are so near at hand. Our consul sends up almost daily telegrams and news 1 to be circulated among the Americans here. Today il is lighting in Shang- l hal and all communications between 1 FaaebaAy and there cut of
 We have just held a prayer meeting al 4.50 p m, led by Mr. Beard, which was missionary meeting indeed. Representative of four different re gions told ot their work and many, many prayer, were offered for the Re public at this critical time. The first speaker was a young woman from Ho- nan Province Inland where the famine has been reigning. Their capital city was the last in all China to open to the foreigners The past three years they have been laying the foundations for magnificent work there and winning the confidence Of the people. The sec onu sptahSf NH> | et Nt A sSNiSNo- " from Hong Kong who told of the good the Mott meetings had done there and entrusted the problems .of port with those of an inland station. The Y. NJ. C A. in China is thoroughly awake and having large share in forming the New China.
 Next a single woman who had borne the burden and heat of the day in preearious inland station told of their two nights the past year. Theirs is an i-Christian region and violent death has shadowed them more than once. This spring they were awaken ed one midnight and told to fiee. Their only outlet was by a city from