Story of China Mary.
One of our teachers relates the following touching story: “But I must tell you about poor Ah Low, or China Mary, as we all called her. She was brought to this country when quite young, and was won by her husband in a raffle. As a prize she was valued at $100. An attempt was made afterwards by some Chinese and Americans to steal her, but she fled to Mr. Otis and was rescued. She wished me to teach her to read, and every morning as I passed her cabin on my way to the school-room I stopped and gave her a lesson. At last she told me her heart troubles. Her husband, she said, was getting big pay in a neighboring town, but was tired of her and would give her no money. Her offence was that her child was a girl and not a boy; and when, by and by, another little girl came, the husband’s injury was more than he could bear. The little baby sickens strangely. Mary tells the secret of it. ‘My husband says if baby doesn’t die he will get another woman.’ But in spite of it all the baby got well, and now poor Mary’s time had come. As I stepped from the steamer to the wharf one morning I saw Mary coming on board, looking clean and even pretty in her blue blouse with her baby strapped upon her back. ‘Where are you going, Mary?’ I asked. ‘To San Francisco for a visit,’ she replied. Soon she returned, but with no baby; and in the evening we learned that the purpose of her enforced journey to the city was accomplished. She had been sold by her husband into a Chinese house of prostitution for $300. And this is the last we have been able to know of China Mary.”
Good Cheer.
I must not close in this minor strain. We have much to be grateful for. The reported enrolment and the aggregate average attendance on our school were larger in May than ever before. Almost 900 pupils are attending the schools, and the average attendance was 433. At Santa Barbara we hear of additions to the Association, and of three or more that seem ready to receive baptism. At Stockton we held last Sunday evening, June 18, our anniversary, which was well-attended and exceedingly interesting. Here are two, and perhaps three, Chinese who have given for many months delightful evidence of Christian character and who desire to be baptized. The Oakland school is growing fast and with promise of greater usefulness than ever it has given hitherto. I conclude with an extract from a recent letter from Wong Ock, our helper in the Petaluma school, “We have had a good school the past month; but for one thing I feel sorry—that the scholars change all time. It seems too bad; they don’t have but little time to learn. We can’t help that, of course. They are all working boys, moving from place to place. Some learn very fast and love to come to school, only some of the hard words are difficult for them to pronounce, but they do not fail to try. Every evening we have some words to spell, writing them on the black-board and spelling alone and in concert. I gave astronomy lessons to them, explaining by my own globe. They were very much astonished because they never heard such a thing as that the world was round, etc. The Bible lessons we have every Saturday and Sunday evenings. I hope you will pray for the school here and the teachers. Mr. Pond, I am hateful to myself ever since I have known the truth, because of the earthly thoughts and fleshly desires which lead me to go ways against my conscience, making me heavy in heart. I feel as if I was two men then fighting all the time. Oh, how great temptations in the spiritual life! Because of them I often get discouraged and cold in my heart. Pray for me, dear brother. Your humble brother,
Wong Ock.”