Editorial by William Warren Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 30, 1907

Editorial

By William Warren Prescott

Editorial Letter

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book

It was decided at the conference at Shanghai that Dr. H. W. Miller, one of the members of the General Mission Committee from Honan, should accompany us in our visit to the stations in South China, and he accordingly left Shanghai with Brethren J. N. Anderson, W. C. Hankins, B. L. Anderson, and myself Thursday evening, February 21. After a very comfortable run we reached Amoy, our first stopping-place, Sunday forenoon, and were soon at the house jointly occupied by Brethren W. C. Hankins and B. L. Anderson. Their home is on the island of Kulangsu, where the most of the foreigners of that section live, separated by a passage about a quarter of a mile wide from the larger island on which Amoy is located. Although there are many Chinese who live on Kulangsu, yet a considerable portion of it presents the appearance of a foreign settlement. Our brethren have a pleasant and comfortable home directly on the shore of the bay, with a beautiful outlook to the south. The house was built as a home by a foreigner, but a change in circumstances put it in the market for rent, and our workers secured it.

The native helpers employed in Amoy and its vicinity had been called together, and we began meetings with them at once in the place regularly occupied by the Amoy church. I was especially pleased to meet here Brother Keh and family, a picture of whom appeared in a recent REVIEW. I found them well settled and happy in the truth, but with an earnest interest to hear more. At this meeting Brethren Anderson and Miller did their share of the speaking, but were compelled to use an interpreter, just as I was, as neither of them spoke the Amoy dialect.

One circumstance at this gathering is worth mentioning as illustrating the language problem in China. One afternoon Dr. Miller spoke in Chinese to Brother Keh, who in turn translated his talk into Chinese for the benefit of a Chinese audience, while Brother J. N. Anderson, who had studied Chinese for about five years, could not understand what either of them said. Dr. Miller speaks the Mandarin, Brother Keh understands Mandarin and translated into the Amoy, while Brother Anderson speaks only the Cantonese. This will incidentally explain the difficulty of moving workers from one part of China to another.

In our councils at Amoy the local work was considered, and a committee was appointed to have direct charge of it, in co-operation with the general committee: W. C. Hankins (Chairman), B. L. Anderson (Secretary), and Brother Keh. Under their supervision will come the work at Swatow, Tsoan Chiu, and other places in the vicinity where the message has obtained a foothold. The story of the opening of the work in the province of Fukien seems much like that of the work in Korea, and the message is still spreading in the same way. While I was at Amoy, Brother Keh received a letter from the vicinity of Swatow, from which he judged that a whole church of Christians there had begun to keep the Sabbath, and they desired a visit from him for further instruction. Of course it was decided to respond to their request. ‘We would that the light might break forth in every province in China in the same way.’

The whole country around Amoy is intersected by waterways, and all traveling in that section is done on boats. Steam launches ply between Amoy and many neighboring places, and on one of these Brethren Miller, Hankins, and I took a day’s trip into the country to a village where a native evangelist is laboring. This gave an opportunity to see something of the surrounding country and to get a little experience in the local method of travel. The article by Brother Hankins in the REVIEW of April 4 may be taken as a typical chapter in the story of the work in that part of China.

I also improved the opportunity to make one visit in the native city of Amoy. I learned that this city had the reputation of being the dirtiest one in China, and after I had walked through it and back, I had no disposition to contradict the claim. I became fully satisfied that the germ theory breaks down in China, as otherwise there ought to be a plague or a pestilence in every city. The filthy streets sometimes almost blocked with débris of all kinds, the ponds of standing water generally covered with green slime, the shocking condition of the public conveniences, and the dark and ill-ventilated and ill-smelling homes would call loudly in the West for the organization of a sanitary commission with plenary powers, but in China all these things have existed century after century, in bold defiance of all the well-established theories and laws of hygiene, and there are no outward indications of any intended reforms. “The Chinese know nothing either of ventilation or privacy, and they do not seem to appreciate these conditions when they are realized. Every little Chinese village is built on the plan of a city without a plan. . . . Hence narrow courts, cramped accommodations, unhealthful crowding, even where there is abundant space to be had close at hand and at a moderate rate.” Dr. Selmon told me that he and Dr. Miller saw two Chinese on a boat one rainy night get into a box just large enough to contain them, and then draw the lid down tight over themselves for a comfortable night’s sleep. The brethren fully expected that the two Chinese would be dead in the morning, but on the contrary they were as sprightly as ever. Dr. Arthur Smith, a faithful observer of the habits of the Chinese, maintains that it is optional with them whether they breathe or not! While walking through their cities, I sometimes wished that I had the same option, and Amoy certainly was no exception.

We left for Hongkong and Canton on the afternoon of February 28. The following day we had a few hours on shore at Swatow, where the ship called. We visited the native city, including one or two mission stations, and found a cleaner city than Amoy, but otherwise nothing especially distinctive. We anchored in the harbor of Hongkong about noon of the next day, which was the Sabbath; but according to an arrangement made

before taking passage, we were permitted to remain quietly on board until the next morning. As there was no boat to Canton until Sunday night, of necessity we spent Sunday in Hongkong.

Strictly speaking, it is the island upon which the city is located that is named Hongkong, while the name of the city is Victoria; but common usage has applied the name of the island to the city. Hongkong is the most like a Western city of any of the ports of the East. There are many large and imposing buildings, and there is a Western atmosphere about the whole place. We attended service at the English cathedral, and I could easily have imagined myself in one of the churches of London. As for the service itself, it seemed to be but little removed from the intoning of the liturgy which I had heard in the temples of Japan and China. How can the heathen ever be reached by such means! The view from the lofty hill back of Hongkong is a beautiful one, and as the day was a clear one, we had the full benefit of it. The harbor below where scores of steamships and other craft too many to count are lying at anchor, the city far down at the foot of the steep bank, and the many hills on three sides of the observer, make a picture long to be remembered.

We left Hongkong at 9:30 that night on the steamers of the French line for Canton, where we arrived safely the next morning. A ride of half an hour or more in a sampan brought us to the home of Brother J. N. Anderson, where we were welcomed by Sister Anderson and others. Of our experiences in Canton I will speak in my next letter.

W. W. P.