The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-08
CHINESE BECOME
 !. SOCIAL PIONEERS
Men and Women Form Good Fe!-
 loWshiD Club Together Under Y. ". c. A. Leadership.

The Good Fellowship Club has made It's appearance in society In Hangellow, China
 It began with the desire -of a pro grcssive young Chinese doctor to give his coInpatrlots, especially the Chris tians, some healthful form of social in tercourse
 Channels for a good, clean, social fife among Chinese people are very
 limited. Until recently becoming Christian often meant cutting oneself off from ones friends md relatives, also from feast days and festivals. As for joint meetings of men and won- en-well. such thing was never heard
 of in decent society.
 The young doctors plan of having club where men and their wives
 might come together to enjoy a good time with each other was discouraged
 and sniffed at. However, a few people agreed to be pioneers In the cause of
 social intercourse, and T. ". o. 4. geo. retaries agreed to help make the club a success
 At first the meetings of the club
 were laughed at by outsiders and the whole affair considered joke. How ever, the members kept on meeting, first at one house and then at another Soon the men got over tIe feeling of strangeness at starting out with their wives on Tuesday evening for a friends home. The women began to enjoy the outing and to take part in the dIscussions-an intelligent part, too-much to the surprise of their hus- | bands.
 The membership grew. The clubs fame began to spread. At first the dis | cussions Of the club were conducted in l English. Soon 1t became necessary for them to be carried on in Chinese so that more of the women could un- derstand and take part. Many of the
 scoffers began to apply for admission. | The members began indulging in much i friendly chafFing and occa sional1y for | got their dignity to play jokes on one | another. Finally 1t became so large l that it had to be divided into two sec
 tions, which met separately three ! Tuesday evenings in the month and on
 the fourth Tuesday met together for g
 joint session, with a special program. 1 Students just returned from Ameri- !
 dhist scholar who Is particularly inter-
 ested in the discussion on Buddhism and Christianity, merchants, railroad
 and government officials compose the
 mems side of the room. The women
 are still a bit shy about talking in front of so many people, but many of | them show signs of great executive
 ability and power of leadership. They l are all well poised, clear thinking fndt- l viduaIs, who will have a great fnf1u- ] ence on China's future. They discuss
 among themselves group meetings in 1 their various churches, the lack of i amusements for Chinese women, social 1 service work, subscription lists for the i orphapage, cake making, types of stoves, baby diets, the latest engage l ment and other topics such as one
 would hear discussed by group of
 women gathered together any place in l America.
 The social part of the evening is giv- 1 en over to games, which at first i astound the sober Chinese gentlemen,
 but which they take up with great zest
 after the first evening. And their
 wives enjoy 1t just as greatly.
 1 Real American picnics are the latest thing which the club has tried, and
 they are a great success. A Christmas
 play is being planned now.