The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-06-01

! letter written a short time before
Christmas, and | certainly had no
idea of waiting so long to answer it
but somehow the days have been such
busy ones that | never could get at
it, although / often thought of writ
ing you-I appreciated the message
on your Christmas card. | still have
all of my Christmas cards and greet
ings-There must have been hun
dred or more, but I'm going to give
them to a little primary school in d
village near here. The college boys
The Christians-are running that
school for the poor children who
otherwise would have no opportunity
of getting an education. They rent
the building and pay the teacher the
magnificent sum of $1,000 a month
(S12OO Mexican silver) which is only
$500 American gold.
A fairly wealthy Chineseman has
become interested in the school, al
though he is not a Christian, and
has given the college a piece of land
for a primary school and the money
to put up a good building. They
have As pupils now, 40 boys and 5
little girls. They are just adorable
and have the lovelieSt manners you
ever saw. They will value the Christ
mas caldS and they have already
given me so much pleasure. So III
pass them on.
Pm glad you have read my letters
to my father. You know something
Of my life out here-lt really is de-
lightfuily interesting. Before | came
| had deep-rooted fear that | would
not love the Chinese as individuals
, but some of them are as personally
attractive as any students l have ever
, taught. The same is true of the
Chinese teachers. At the college we
have forty-five teachers, little over
half of whom are foreign. So you
see there are a good many of them
Chinese. Almost half of them are re-
turned students from America, where
they did postgraduate work. They
were A. B. graduates before going.
One of them has Phi. D. A good
proportion of our faculty has Ph. DIS.
They are given much more attention
and consideration in this generally
ignorant country than they are at
home. Rather paradoxical isn't it?
l have twenty-one hours of English
work and two hours physical train
ing with the women students.
I'm teaching them games and
folk dances. Their l am advisor Of
Junior Academy, English Literary
Society and Religious life.
We are working on our spring
Evangelistic campaign now. 1t is re-
freshing and beautiful to see these
boys hard at work, on the Lords
work, and to hear them pray and not
know a word they say! 1t makes
you realize Gods greatness and in
finite goodness, and that He knows
the needs of every human heart
You can feel that after all: there are
real race distinctions, He is Father of
US all, we are all His children, there
fore brothers. Now, it is true most
of them do not know all that. Be-
sides their abiding hatred of Japan,
they are having war-civil war that
is costing dearly.
You cannot imagine how glad l
would be if you would come across
here this summer-you could get some
English teaching work for a school
term and spend the summer before
and after, travelling-and the holi-
days during that year too.
You asked about expenses, and l
asked at the steamship office to see
what they would be. You could go
from Charleston, S. c., to Seattle for
something less than $4,000 and from
Seattle to Shanghai for little less
than $35O.O0-S5O0.OO would be more
than enough to land you at our COL
lege. There are several South Caro-
lima missionaries coming out this sum-
mer and I'm sure there will be the
following summer also.
The largest proportion of the teach
ing in high schools and colleges, gov
eminent as we'll as mission is being
done in English. So it isn't so hard
to get along without knowledge of
the language. Of course Pm going
to learn it as quickly as l can for II
don't expect to be in school work after
this year.
Please write to me again and tell
me about my parents.
Sincerely yours,
Hannah PloWden.