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Tunghsien, Chihli, China, October 14, 1919. Dear Friends:-
According to my accounts, the last letter I wrote you was in February, so it is about time I gave an account of myself. I do not remember anything that happened between February and May, tho I suppose I must have been at the same old routine of studying the language and teaching English. In May I finished my second year of Chinese except for the history, which was in English, and which I had been dreading ever since I arrived in China. You know I do not like history. So I made up my mind that should be my summer's work. May was quite memorable because for the first time in my life I was a bridesmaid. The wedding was that of two our American Board missionaries in Peking, Mr. Cross and Miss Tenney, and we had a great time, with several people up from Techow and even one out from Shansi. Before and after the wedding, of course, there were a number of other good times when the group of young people who have been together a great deal tried to see as much of each other as possible before a number of them went home to America. With June came the closing of schools. The boarding school closed about thirteen days early because of scarlet fever and measles, both of which broke out on the same day. We isolated the cases and hoped to continue, but the rest of the girls kept imagining themselves sick and kept the doctor on his way here most of the time until we had no peace and decided that we might as well give up for good. When school was out and the girls had gone home it was about time to go to Wo Fo Ssu to the Y.W.C.A. summer conference and I enjoyed it very much. There was a much larger number of foreigners present than the year before and more Chines girls, in spite of the fact that people had that on account of the student uprising there would be a small attendance. I was recreation chairman. This is my second Y.W.C.A. summer conference. There was not a great deal made of patriotism as a them, but we all felt that the girls had been affected by the student movement. They are more independent and ready to push ahead. I noticed it particularly in the matter of recreation. The year before we had to keep making them do things, and this year they wanted to do things themselves and even went ahead of our plans for them. Miss T'ao, who is studying in the Y.W.C.A. physical training school in Shanghai, had charge of calisthenics and I had charge of taking them on trips, arranging Stunt Day and such things. We had some very good times. On Stunt Day the foreign leaders acted out a Chinese primary school with Mrs. Jewell of the Methodist Mission as teacher, and what roars of laughter when we foreigners appeared in Chinese clothes with out hair in pigtails!
After the conference I went straight to Peitaiho, where I spent six weeks, being housekeeper for the family. Through July there was a small family, only about six most of the time, at Gould Cottage, but the servants were hard to manage, so it was not an easy job. Every day I buckled down to Chinese history and at the end of July had the satisfaction of finishing it, with about ten days or two weeks left of vacation. Then I had sick headaches all that time and didn't have any fun. I had planned to have a number of trips, but did not get outside of Peitaiho. Mable was there for three of the weeks I was, so we managed to get a good visit. The beginning of August there was a three days meeting of the Chihli-Shanzi Christian Educational Association, which happened to strike town just as the hottest wave that Peitaiho has known for several years arrived. as the educators, great and