Catoctin clarion., 1917-04-05

and the never absent, always present,
hot tea. At the end of Chinese feast
Turkish towel is wrung out in hot water
and passed around for all the guests to
wipe their hands and faces. AT the
theatre there were stationed, at inter-
walls, boys who formed hot towel bri-
gade on the order of bucket brigade.
To every one who wanted one, and as
often as he wanted it, hot towel was
furnished on which he rubbed his face
and hands, and then sent it flying back
over the heads of the people to the towel
brigade tn be redipped. Constantly
throughout the entire evening the air
was thick with these hot towels being
flung around The actors were painted
either CHASTITY white, black and white,
or wore red mask The first little play
was historic. The hero was one OF the
famous Generals of China. and figura-
lively he fought all his battles over again,
and met his defeat. Robed in magnifi-
cent red, gold and silver mandarin coat,
with flaming red, white and black mask,
long gray beard, huge head dress from
which protruded many flags, and armed
with spear and sword, he was a spec
tacle once seen, never forgotten. The
battles consisted of all sorts of air SOM
ersaults and slight-o -of-hand and was won.
derful. One impressive thing was the
absence of any clapping or laughter.
When pleased or disgusted, or sympa-
thetic, there is just one simultaneous !!
(yahD. The feeling expressed is all in
the tone in which it is said.
But to change the subject-speaking
OF experiences, we had one here yester-
day that everybody will remember. Yes
terday morning while seated at the break
fast table we were startled by queer
rumbling, which gradually grew worse.
and sickening, rocking sensation, which
we realized was an earthquake. 1t last
ed about minute and was the longest
sixty seconds ever spent. Now what
do you think of it? Wherever | go, even
to the other side of the globe, something
unusually awful happens.
This has been the coolest winter in
China for twenty-five years, and even
the earth quake is said to have been the
worst for four years. am spending my
extra cash on paper for character writ
ing. Exams take place on Monday.
Have nothing more to tell you except
that have chilblains on my hands and
feet, rheumatism in both shoulders, but
peace at heart. This last because a
Chinese gentleman told me that they do
not understand the foreigners idea of
beauty but that from their viewpoint |
was very good looking. Is it any wonder
my disposition is being ruined when l
must endure back-handed slams like
that? always did feel outraged for
having been blessed (?) with squint eyes
and decided yellow tinge of skin. l
guess it we'll do not possess the pre-
viously coveted black hair, for then they
never would believe was foreigner
unless they heard me speak Chinese.
During the dreadful cold weather the
suffering has been intense, hundreds have
starved and frozen to death, and there
was no way to provide for burial. Beg
gars lived on the streets. You can't help
plying them even though you know
many are members of a guild and paid
for what they do. For two days beg
gar stood by the school with supposed
corpse on a wheelbarrow and begging
for money for burial. To see him thump
that awful looking human figure wrapped
up in an old comfort and to hear his ter
rible walls, certainly was blood curdling.
No one ever knew if it really was a
corpse, but it looked like one, and for
one week he pushed that wheelbarrow
from one street to another If it is was
one imagine he needed the money for
burial at the end of that time.
Time is up, now to character writing.
This time next year I'll be deep into my
work and how glad III be. Love to all
the home folks. Keep on with the letters.
Ever affectionately,
M. F,