Evangelizing in China in Revolutionary Times
R ECENT letters received by the Editor o f T he K ing ' s B usiness from his son and his son’s wife in China, give a rather vivid impression o f the condition o f affairs in that country at the present time. The first letter was written by Mrs. R. A. Tor- rey, Jr., to Dr. Torrey’s wife in Los Angeles. The second letter was written by Dr. Torrey’s son to his wife, after receiv ing a letter by messenger from her. The letters need no comment: “Yesterday afternoon we had the most’ horrible dust storm I ever hope to see. Dr. Merwin says since she has been in China she has only seen one like it. It came sud denly and with almost the force o f a tor nado. It was late but the dust in the atmosphere made it seem almost like night, only with a reddish-yellow lurid glare. It continued I suppose for a half-hour, but the wind did not die down for some hours. And our houses! Dust literally covered everything. The counterpanes were per fectly yellow, the dresser scarfs were almost brown, and it fairly made me sick to look at the rugs., “ There seems to be a state o f unrest throughout Shantung and for the past few days there have been some disturbances, and the inevitable excitement following. Last night I heard nothing but for the three nights preceding, bombs were thrown, the explosion from some sounded like a cannon, but not many were that loud. A few empty houses were burned but nobody hurt. It seems to be all done with a view to getting the governor to secede. Some people think a good rain would settle the people. Others think it may be the begin ning o f revolution here. All agree that the foreigners are perfectly safe. In fact the women’s hospital is overflowing with refu
gees from the city. W e do fear for the women and young girls o f the city in case o f trouble. People are flying to the coun try as fast as possible for they consider that safe. I have not been the least alarmed and have slept alone in the house at night with only the servants in the yard. This house being low and enclosed by walls is almost unnoticeable and I feel very secure. ' “The trouble Reuben speaks o f in his letter, whichT enclose, resulted night before last in a battle between the revolutionists and governor’s soldiers, in the settlement, about three miles away from our compound. The shooting began about 12 and continued till about 4 A.M. The University people who are much nearer the Settlement than we are said the noise was deafening, almost as if they ,were being fired upon. Some o f the people in our compound got up and dressed, not knowing what to expect. I was entirely alone except for the servants. What do you suppose I did? Slept right through it all and knew nothing about it until breakfast time. There was a shower o f rain in the night, that woke me for a minute but I went back to sleep. ' “One o f the Chinese in telling about the battle said, ‘No people were killed, only four soldiers and revolutionists.’ The latter are composed almost entirely o f the riffraff and join in for the sake o f the looting they hope to do. There were not many killed, but at least a hundred taken prisoners. I am afraid they will be rather summarily dealt with. . Several o f the bodies were cut in pieces not far from us early this morning. I suppose as a warning. My Amah’s little six-year-old boy went out to see it. I won dered at the time how Blanche would have liked Linwood following such a procession.
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