New Britain herald., 1919-04-22
DR. TRAVIS DOING
 WORK IN CHINA NOW
Former Local Physician Writes
 Interestingly of Country There

lllleltSllngly u COunIy lllcft
 A letter has been received from
 pr. Catherine Travis. who was well
 known for her work in this city, as q woman physician. to Miss Marion Sheldon, of Roberts street. Dr. Ira
 wis is now in kweitchtu. Hanan, China, where she is doing missionary work. and will later haNc charge of a hospital for women and children She writes as follows:
 We are looking for signs of spring to show themselves soon. Our south windows arc full of lilies in bloom. They are wonderfully sweet and pretty: we planted the bulbs at four or five different times so they will he blossomirg for two or three weeks vet, and we have had them bloom in 2 since the new year. l enclose a blos- som which I have pressed; | think a little of the perfume, still clin gs to it, so you can sec how pretty it must have been. Each spike has eight or more HOWerS each bulb from two to four spikes, and we have sometimes four bulbs to a bowl You can fancy what q show they make.
 We have violets in bloom, too, with perfume like the English Violets. Later we hope to have hol1yhocks, and roses in tho flower beds of our little court.
 You have seen some of my let ters, have you not, and know some- thing of how we are regulated here :? l have a house companion,-a little lady, Miss Peters. whose home is a few miles from mine in New Bruns- wick. We hardly knew one another however. before coming out here. She is a very splendid little person. d horoush-G oing little saint, but not of the obnoxious type, and we get along very we'll.
 we are extremely comfortable in our living, and indeed. I am many times 2 week ashamed of our lack of privations, especially in respect of foods in this great emergency, when all the world except China, or the foreigners in China, are starving
 We have every kind of vegetable the year around and abundant fruits, chicken, eggs meat, and everything except dairy produce.
 We use peanut butter (nutter ia miliarly) and get our milk out of a can, though many foreigners have herds of goats. We are a little afraid of that as tho Chinese are not very particular in their habits. and even boiling wouldn't render the milk ac- captable to me.
 ''Wc have splendid cook, and a yarN attractive second boy. Labor, hc~ is cheap, and the more servants one can afford to keep the more one helps to relieve poverty. Housek eep-- ing is not very arduOus: the most one has to do is to prod tho second boy to keep him up to dusting. CThe Chinese sec little use in that, they own so few things themselves that constant using keeps them clear from dust) This, and taking accounts three times a week with the cook, constitutes a housek eepers duties.
 Our cook is very efficient, he can do everything. He makes preserves, jelly and pickles; he can wash 5annels~ or any special things (which we, ': are afraid to give the less experienced boy: presses dresses, mends anything from q work box to the kitchen stove. H e buys everything, and is a very use ! full person in general
 we put five hours a day into lan- cuagc study. I am treasurer for our station here and the district about us, disbursnG about a thousand dollars Q quarter: that makes quite a bit of work for ne.
 Our recrea tiOns arc simple. There arc only four or five other foreigners here, and they arc not especially com panionablc, we do not sec a great deal of them. In our own compound are two families with three kiddieS and another soon to come, and between them they arc a great delight to LIS, these babies. Then we go walking, and our fayorite promenade is on the top Of tho city wall. It takes about an hour to walk around it. In spots it is very difficult t0 traverse, as it is not kept in good repair and the entire em~ bankment has slipped down in laces, leaving only tho outer brick shell. We have to cling on like goats and in mudd> and icy going VIC simply can not negotiate these passes.
 We get a great view Of the wide fiat plain (get out your map and you will see that Kaifcne and <Wcitch are l situated in the great central pla tn.) X 1 rise of few feet, d little mound that | we'd never notice at home is an object | of remark here. China is almost tree l less. though he cem meteries usually | have a few trees among the graves, i and wC see these graves dotted over | the plain. But such thing for ! est I've not seen here, nor arc there 1 any.
 '"Chc mOunta inS have all been strip 1 ped long ago and even the graS Ss is 1 scraped off by rakes and used as fuel. 1 Tho consequence of this deforesta ton 1 is that China is visited almost yearly | bv eastrous floods. TherC arc one ! thousand things the Chinese must be 1 taught before ever they begin to be efficient or clean or honest. It seems 1 a]m ost hopeless. so steeped are they in the spirit of the past; they rejoice to do things as did their fathers and 1 great grandfathers, to a thousand gen. era tions back. Of course there is tho progressive elem ent in China. but hero in the interior we zee nothing of it.