Evening star., 1929-11-15
RECEPTION SALE
IN AID OF CHARITY.
Nine. WI Heads PatroneSSeS
for Benefit. of Needy
Women in Peiping.
BY GRETCHEN SMITH.

Nine. WI, wife of the Minister from
China, heads a distinguished group of
patronesseS for the reception SALE"
which, it is claimed, will be one of the
most colorful charity events of the Fall
season. The benefit will be held on the
2lst and 22d of this month in the
Florentine room Of the Wardman Park
Hotel.
The purpose of the sale is to assist
the Peiping Exchange, an industrial in
Stitution. established four years ago by
a group of international women to help
needy Chinese women of the old Chi
neSe capital to make living. With the
removal of the seat of government from
the northern city there was an exodus
of many high-ranking officials and
others whose presence in the city had
given employment to hundreds of ear
nest, hardworking men and women OF
the middle class.
Mrs. Dwight Edwards Founder.
1t was about this time that Mrs.
Dwight Edwards, with the cooperation
of few foreign women, conceived the
idea that help might be given entire
Chinese families by assisting the women
to help themselves. A small number OF
Chinese women we're gathered together
in a wing of a house and given sewing
and embroidery to do. for which they
were paid a living salary. From this
small beginning there has developed the
Peiping Exchange, which gives steady
employment to about 200 women.
The exchange not only supplies en-
ployment to women in need. but 1t has
been established upon the philanthropic
and communal principles. In addition
to the department of needlework, COM
prising cross-stitch, embroidery and ap-
pliuue done on Chinese linen, interna-
tionally famous for its beauty and its
endurance, the woman workers are
given medical and dental care free OF
charge and full-time wages are paid in
times of illness and loans extended In
needy cases. In addition to this de-
partment of training is conducted,
where women are taught to be able to
fill positions outside of the exchange.
Day Nursery Established.
A popular department is day nursery
in charge of a trained "amah," where
woman workers are able to leave their
babies during the day.
At the benefit sale next week will be
seen some of the finest pieces of en-
broidery ever to have come from the
Far East. Table linens, bed linens,
tapestries. both old and new, and hand
some fur-lined Mandarin coats have
been sent from far-of Peiping to help
the Chinese women to carry on Tor
their families in these days of difficult
living. In addition to the handwork,
made by women of the Peiping eX-
change, Chinese articles of other manu-
facture have been sent to add to the
beauty of the benefit sale. Some OF the
most exquisite Jade trees are promised
to be sent for the occasion, also finely
woven rugs and lacquer boxes from the
south of China.
rr1t,,, nf no
sale, Nine. WI, assisted by her daugh-
ters, will be the hostess of the day.
Among the patronesses for the occasion
will be Mrs Robert Lansing, Mrs. Hugh
Cumming, Miss Grace Dunham Guest,
assistant curator of the Freer Gallery
of Art, and Miss Genevieve Wimsatt,
author of many interesting Chinese
books, the latest of which, THE Bright
Concubine," has aroused great interest
among lovers of Chinese work.
The group directly sponsoring the sale
is composed of a number of women
who, through years of residence in
China, have been aroused to keen in
tereSt in the present movement. Mrs.
Arthur w. Hummell wife of the chief
of the Chinese division of the Library
of Congress, has been untiring in her
efforts in behalf of the exchange. Mrs.
Hummell lived in China for is years,
cational and research work there.
Other Prominent Sponsors.
In addition to Mrs. Hummell, Mrs.
Paul Josselyn, whose husband was sta
toned in China for number of years
as a representative of the State De-
partment, also is sponsoring the benefit
sale Other sponsors are DR.. Edith
Jackson of st. Elizabeth'S Hospital and
Mrs. Byron Andrews of this city.
One Chinese lady, Nine. Ying Lu-
Kiang, whose educational activities in
her own country have already been re-
viewed in The Star, is assisting her
American friends to further the sue
cess of the reception sale. Nine. Kiang
is the wife of DR.. Kiang Kang-hu, once
president of the Southern University of
Shanghai and Peiping.
Many members of the Chinese lega-
ton circles will attend the benefit, the
ladies attired in Chinese costume.