Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-08-26
-chAPrER I'M.

Z
Gates that Opened.
Ten years ago. when Mr.. Gait first
visited the place. not an inn within
the four walls of the city would give
him a nights lodging for love or
money A citizen of Precious island,
TO be sure, had grayely given his life
to save the foreigner. and thereby
10 save China, In the Boxer year.
When the yacillating Empress Dow
ager issued at last decree 10 ex-
terminate foreigners. three officials.
of whom one came from Precious ISL
and, altered the decree into an in
junction to protect the foreigner in
every way When the fraud was dis
covered. they paid the penalty of their
patriotism And Precious Island was
proud of her son, who died under a;
fierce. ancient torture, revived for the
occasion But their interest was in
China, not in the foreigner. A for.
eigner in himself was bad enough.
But the foreign leaning was an insult
and foreign religion an abomination
So they shut their gates the tighter.
However, up in Manchuria was a.
pastry-cook who, by dint Of unrelax-
ing industry, was saving few dollars
year. He heard the gospel and gave
up his business for q twelvemonth
to study It. There seemed to him TO
be in the gospel that which il would
be worth the while of his neighbors
back in the old home. ten miles from
the city of Precious Island, to know,
He counted his hoard OK dollars, some
hundred in all. calculated how many
months he and his family could live
on it, and FASTENED back to Precious
Island county to preach.
The pastry cook had also acquired
a taste for geographical science, in
mild way. So be made himself a ter
restrial globe of sorghum pith and
paper. and to whoever would listen he
inpsrted both the teachings of Jesus
and miscellaneous information about
geography and astronomy
A Social Gospel.
His native county suffered peren-
nially from floods. The floods have
grown worse since then. At that
time it was not yet impracticable for
the people of the county to control
them by concerted effort. The pastry
cook believed in a social gospel. So
he composed tract on how to stop
floods in Precious Island, printed It at
his own expense, and dispensed it
along with the New Testament and
his geography lessons.
Half-starved. he preached the ne
cessity of education for women.
Against food-binding and opium-smok-
ing he was unrelenting. With the
courage of his convictions, he I'M
bound his own daughters feet. For
this breach of etiquette his neighbors
hated him and plotted to drive him
from the village. But their plots
came to nothing
He was reading books, too: He
made habit of lending volume to
man, and calling on him a week or
two later to discover whether it had
been read and understood. In the
postoffice of the market.town nearest |
his village was youthful Confucian |
of fine education, excellent native |
ability. and a poetic temperament. |
Largely for the sake OF argument, in |
those days, he was defending Christ |
fanity against able attacks by his |
elder brother The pastry-cook sup
piled the postmaster with ammuni-
ton for their debates. The post |
master was man of far greater |
ability than his teacher. He is a |
preacher today, in the
county seat. His elder brother is a |
Christian official in Manchuria.
The Church Gets FoothoId.
The pastry-cook is dead But he |
did not die until he had preached for I
some years in little. inconspicuous
room on East street in Precious ISL |
and. aided now by the church in Tung-
chou and by his weaving. 1t wasn't
easy to get that place. The town al
fermen were against the deal. A
church in the town would bring bad 1
uck to the whole town, and especially /
% the neighbors of the church. But
IN opium sot had squandered his sub
stance on the drug and feared In
ability to satisfy his appetite more