The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1916-06-30
Extracts From Letter From China.

Inc following 01tEaCtS AEOAu q ACe-
ter to the Westminster Guild, writ
ten by Miss Jane c. Balderston. of
Colora, who is enroute to the mis-
sion field in China, will prove Of in
terest to our readers:
Household on the
Yangtse River.
2-11-1916.
Dear Friends of the Westminster
Guild,
have beeen promising myself for
some time that I would write you
q letter and try to tell you of the
things that have been doing up to
date. With the delightfully."- lazy
sort of life we are leading here on
this house boat there surely is an ex-
cellent chance for me to get it done.
1 did SO much enjoy all your little
notes Of greeting which reached me
at Shanghai. It made very pleas
ant little oasis in the long desert OF
no mail whatsoever which / am pas
sing through.
The ocean trip was, for me, very
interesting one, though it was
pretty rough passage. Perhaps
Bertha has told you how we got into
the edge of a cyclone one night and
had a. wave break clear over the
boat smashing in two cabin doors
and completely demo1ishing one OF
the life boats. But most of the time
there was nothing really terrifying
and the old ocean was so vast and
so majestic that you admired and
respected it more every day. / have
more respect for Columbus now than
ever had before.
While / was at the Exposition in
San Francisco the words Beautiful
Japan" over one doorway caught my
eve. After I had seen the island
itself and had been from one end OF
it to the other decided that that
adjective was a very fitting one.
Where there Is as much as a square
foot Of ground in front of house
there is likely to be a queer shaped,
picturesque tree growing in 1t. And
you see everywhere etunted little
cherry, plum, and evergreen trees
growing in large flower-pots in the
houses. Fugi is an inspiration with
its white cone towering above the
clouds like benediction. Often you
cannot see the base at all. 1t looks
very much like its pictures. AS for
the people themselves, they, too, are
very picturesque with their dark
hair and eyes, and pretty kimonas.
The little girls are especially attrac-
tive as they are always dressed IN
bright colors. Though have al
ways heard about the wooden shoes
I was not prepared for the continual
elatter, clatter which they make. II
were set down in the middle OF
Japan with my eyes blindfolded l
am sure I could tell which country
was in by this noise.
And now China is the queerest
place yet. It did seem strange at
first to see women in trousers hob
bling around on little bits Of feet.
have learned to tell men and
women apart, but for the first few
dazed moments I wondered how you
did it. In Shangai we saw queues,
too: but we have only seen one
since we left there. I never saw SO
many patches or so many rags In
my life: but we also see many warm
fur-lined garments, and some very
handsome silk ones.
For the first 1000 miles on the
Yangtse River we travelled in very
comfortable steamers. They were
small, but really more comfortable
than the one on which we crossed
the Pacific. Now we are on the
long part of our journey, at least as
far as time is concerned. And 1t is
surely theemo exciting. There Is
something unexpected coming up
nearly every day, and sometimes 1t
is Of pretty serious nature.
For the first week that we were
on these boats we kept passing
through one deep gorge after
another. In places there would be
sheer walls Of rock rising from the
water to heights of 1000 it. 1t was
MAGNIFICENT, can tell you. But 1
would not like to be shut in by
gorges all the time; there are still
beautiful hills ON either side, and
we are enjoying the broader out
look. We are now in our own prov
ince of Szechwan. and the farther
west we go the more prosperous the
country appears. l wish you could
see the hills which can see right
now from my window; they are
much higher and sleeper than any
around home, and yet they are ter
raced and cultivated all the way to
the-top. There are patches of peas,
hoanu wheat and sugar cane