Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-12
STRANGE THINGS
HAPPEN IN CHINA
How an English Boy, Reared by
a Native Woman, Preferred
Oriental Customs

Apart from the exploitation Of an init.
mate knowledge of Chinese lore and of the
mysticism which from time immemorial
has pervaded that portion of the globe first
maze known to European civilization In
medieval days by Marco Polo under the
designation of "Cathay," Edith Wherry in
her story of THE Wanderer on a Thousand
HllIS mas woven romance OF more than
common interest one that is virtually as
sured OF a welcome from the reading pub
lie not inferior to the same clever authors
Red Lantern" From the very beginning
OF the tale. which shows Kung. the school.
master of tho Village Of Benevolence and
Virtue, troubled in mind because he can
find no one willing to take care of his three
year.old daughter. Winter Almond while he
goes TO answer a summons from the great
Lu. rich but illiterate mogu of the com.
munity and compelled TO take her with him
on what proves to he n fruitless and exas-
peratng errand. through all the extraordi.
nary sequence of events that ensues, the
story grips attention even though II leads
to a conclusion hardly convincing to COM
mon sense Of the Western Hemisphere. II
is borne in upon the readers understanding
almost in the opening paragraph of the
narrative that girl children in China are
unpopular indeed. and the oriental practice
of destroying them at birth, or very soon
thereafter. is vividly set forth. Wherefore
1t Is not r. little surprising to learn that lit
tie Winter Almonds scholarly and widowed
parent is so far removed from the national
antipathy to female progeny as TO be really
fond of his motherless child.
The visit of the schoolmaster to the local
tyrant Lu. while disappointing alike to the
dignity and the anticipation of the former,
nevertheless paves the way some years after
that event TO love match between the little
girl and the son of the wealthy Lu, greatly
to the rage of Mrs Lu and the less active
disapprobation of the village potentate. SO
they are married Winter Almond and Jung
kuang, who Is not dismayed by the parental
displeasure, and he takes her to the Lu
homestead. The brides troubles are many
I'm the home of the village Head Man, to
which she is a most unwelcome addition
Notwithstanding the undoubted affection Of
her spouse. Suddenly. year or so after
the marriage. by series Of uncanny and
tragic occurrences. she Is deprived of her
husband. as well as Of her baby girl, her
father-in-law and mother-n-law.
Distraught by her affiiction. the young
widow wanders on the mountains near her
home. and she comes upon the still living
body of little English boy, who, like her
self. has been lost in a storm In her hys-
terical frame of mind, which is nothing less
than insanity. the unhappy woman per-
suades herself that she has been diviney
guided to the rescue of the child. and she
takes it to the home Of her father the old
schoolma ster kung. There she discovers
that the boy Is the son of an English family
in Pekir 70 whom she had become greatly
attached while serving in the capacity of
nurse girl before her marriage to the rich
Jung kuang. Nevertheless. she clings to
the child. and brings him up as her own
son. educating him by means of the vast
wealth she has inherited from her husband.
The boy who develops into learned
Chinese scholar, believes Tung Mel Win-
ter Almond) is his real mother, and not
l, 10, to tnls "a o
possible to Chinese scholarship does he
discover his identity as the son of a gal
liant English gentleman. prominent in the
foreign colony of the capital city OF Pekin.
He upbradS the hapess Tung Mel for 50
long deceivng him as to his origin. goes
to his fathers home, where he is received
with the most lavish display of affection
by his own flesh and blood. But-and
here comes the strain on the credence of
the reader who has followed his artiticaN
life-ths young man. to whom have come
back recollections of his childhood with
his own parents. a youth of pure Anglo
Saxon stock, is unable TO reconcile himself
to European civilization and manners. He
becomes obsessed by what cannot be de-
scribed otherwise than as religious
frenzy and fees back to his adopted
mother the unfortunate Tung Mel, who,
it is due to say. is over come by remorse
over the deception she has played through
all the years of the young mans childhood
and adolescence, but is all the same de-
lighted by the return of her darling The
story ends with Hse Chin. which is the
| Oriental name of the young Englishman,
passing up and down the land as the
''wanderer OF thousand hills in search
of the legendary lost epistle OF st. Paul
| to the Laodceans. and warranty regarded
| as a sage. seer or plain ordinary crank,
depending on whether he is viewed by
| oriental occidental eyes.
In contemplating this bizarre tale one
can hardly refrain from recalling the gos-
| pei admoniton against putting new wine
| into old bottles. lest the bottle be burst,
| the wine be spilled and the bottles perish,
| This latter fate seems to have overtaken
| the central figure of the book.
THE wANDERER on 4 THOUSAND HILLS.
| by Edith Wherry. New York: John Lane
Company. $40.