The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 6, 1898, Page 21

21 HAVE been a San Francisco halle- lujah lassie for a week, and I pro- you some of my experi- ence ong the human wrecks with whom we labor. In dispensing ration one comes upon many marvelous revelations of human life—of depravity on the one eide and self-sacrificing trust in the Lord on the other. Looking over the work it seems to me that the most unique, most uncan- ny service performed is the rescue of dying Chinese from the undertaking establishments of Chinatown. Sickness to the Chinese is the posses- pose to te ters, and showed him the red Salva- tion Army ribbon on her bonnet. A light broke over the ivory face; he knew the army, and was l-8s afraid, but theirs is an ignorance which makes them fear every unfamiliar sight and sound with superstitious terror. *“Velly silk, velly silk! ‘We gtirred upon the ashes, and with some ®ticks out of the captain’s basket cooked a bit of rice. Hercules might have cleaned out the place if he had the River Alpheus handy. The smell of the rice musthave gotten into the second bundle, for it opened, and when 1 offered a plate of food the shrunken sick face prettynear- ly smiled, and throwing caution to the WE F-OUND HIM IN AN UNDERTAKER'S SHOP, LEFT WITH OTHER POOR FELLOWS, TO DIE sion by dev en incantations, charms and medicines of dried snakes, worms or what not fail to cure the poor wretch is put out of the house the il one would be put out. fck a few punks into a block them to drive away the imps just as he: s which sickness has W they app e the good with tea or choice food. Be- tween death by starvation or life d by d :t out for the a sick Chinaman would not e to choose death. Y rd of a sick Chinese, Chang Foo, who had just been put out on the street with his bed clothing be- did not have the money to agon to the undertaker” a v quest to locate him, for his tong, or company, had later had taken to an undertaking es- tablishment, but no one for a long while would tell us where it was. Every Chinaman who comes to America contracts with his “tong,” or to send his bones back to company China. The tong in turn employs the undertakers, who wait till the man dies, heiping him occasionally if he is long about it. After the body has been buried the length of time required by the law bones are exhumed, packed in carefully marked boxes, and these are stored till it is convenient to ship them back to China. In our quest we had come along an alley off Pacific street, opening in turn the doors. At the fifth we heard a groan from the darkn Our captain called out “Chang Foc There was no answer, but our ey g accus- tomed to the twilig room, I saw the whites of a pair of eyes, so we went in, leaving the door open behind us. The room was small, inconceivably dirty, without a window; and oh! the vile smell, the Chinese smell of it. Along one side of the room were piled quite to the ceiling boxes of bones of dead Chinamen. At the end a sort of brick table, with two small bars of iron, on which to set a small vessel, served for the usual Chinese cooking-stove, but the ashes looked as if it were some time now since they had been wood. A shelf half the width of the room di- vided the space not occupied by boxes into an upper and a lower floor. On the upper floor a man was fixing what looked li an Indian tepee, but he paid no attention to us. Life was but one jdea to him—to smoke the opium he had obtained and begin the dreams of bliss. I wonder what those dreams could be. He has known little but labor, being of peasant birth, and can, of course, dream only of what he has known. Two other tents were on the shelf, one open and empty. A blue- stockinged foot proclaimed that some one was in bliss in the other. A bundle of ve dirty bed clothes wiggled on a board covered with matting, and the 3 we had seen peered at us out of a drawn, yellow face. Another bundle had no visible head, for it was very cold in the place. “You Chay Foo?" No answer. “You sick?” No answer. You have rice?” No answer, but the eyes seemed a bit keener. The captain showed him her red badge, painted with Chinese charac- winds, rather.to the smokes, he ate it. It was just what he had been thinking of. We left a little food. Some white people lived directly in the rear, who were in the habit of stealing the food left for the dying men. We have wanted so long to start a hospital in Chinatown, but the Board of Health will not allow it. A China- man would never go to a hospital in any other part of the city except by force. Over one hall we have a few rooms fixed for the accommodation of the sick ones we find, and hither the man and and made as clean was comfortable as we could manage. e brought n who some time be- aved” had sent a po- the captain she wanted to see her as soon as possible. The girl was about 17 years of age, and always so glad to see us lass: An old man had paid her father $500 for her, and having married her, now owned her body and soul. He watched her con- stantly, not allowing us to visit her till she had fallen jll. Then the husband was but too glad to have us care for her and for her bab: He had become very friendly, asking us even to pray for him and giving us money to help us in our work. L We found the woman, she looked a child of 12, holding the baby on her knee, looking down at him with utterly hopeless misery. The little one was ill. We said God bless you, and knelt for a short prayer, but the poor mother seemed not to know we were there. On the table the punk sticks were burn- ing, and & tray of delicate food stood near. I took the tiny creature in my arms, it was indeed very ill, but I was afraid to examine its mouth or throat lest the mother should think I meant it harm. Taking off the clothing I found the characteristic rash of measles, and while 1 arranged a hot bath to bring out the rash better, our captain went to get some medicine. The mother understanding that we did not think the illnes of the little one serious, her hope and faith in us were more pitiful than her woe had been. Next day we found the youngster like a good-sized lobster just boiled, but Jaughing as much as a Chinese baby can laugh, and so evidently better that the mother told us she had thrown away her idols and punk sticks and wouild only pray to Jesus, and her hus- band would go to meeting and bring her maybe and be saved. % Sure enough a few nights after in meeting our captain asked those who wanted to be prayed for to come and kneel at the drum, and while we were singing a little old man came forward and got on top of the drum. It was well for the drum that he was small. Others came forward and knelt on the dloor. He saw his mistake, got down_off the drum onto the floor angd was saved. Hallelujah! One morning we started to find a woman whose child had not recovered so fortunately. She had a little girl 8 years old—a dear, bright little thing, whom we had once coaxed to our chil- dren’s meeting. The next time she had hung back, looking in wistfully at the other children, but refusing the oranges we gave to our pupils. I suppose her parents had punished her and forbidden her to visit us again. Word had come to us that the child A Chinese wor fore had been * liceman to was ill, and we started to hunt for her. The Chinese doctor had used his charms and blessed the burning punks to drive away the evil spirits. The mother, in her trouble, had gone to her gods, believing they were punishing her child for worshiping white devils. She wanted us to go away before any more harm came. Three days after we returned, and found the mother alone and weeping. Her little one had grown worse. The father, who loved his child just as dearly as you may love your own little girl, had followed his nation’s customs and taken the child away to dle. They would not allow her to die in the house, for then it would be unsafe for any one a home, and after much knocking was admitted to what is a fine home in Chinatown. It Is in the basement and is rather light when the sun shines. There were nine children, but only five of them could go. The eidest, a girl of perhaps 13 years, was too old to go on the street. It would have been con- sidered very indecent for her to do so. \s she was not old enough to marry she spent her time making men’s cus- tom-made clothes. I had often wondered at the cheap- ness -of ready-made clothing, but in the awful dens of Chinatown I found out how it was done. The children were not ready, so I sat down, and the girl made me a cup of the policeman, seeing her, arrested her. The Judge at the trial was very glad to give her to us. She stayed a few days, glad to do anything to escape the life she had so nearly entered. A sister near San Jose was glad to have her, and there she still is earning a good living. It is too heartbreaking to tell you of the girls who come to us there, I shall not try. No one is refused. Those who can pay 5 or 10 cents a night, but many have no money, and it is one of the lassies’ duties to sell meal or bed tickets of this shelter, and to the men's shelter as well. Many business men buy them and give them In place of money to those who may wish help. to live there any more. He had plenty of money, sb he could ord to take her to the r in Chinatown and let he mother was young, so her hu: not allow her to go out. She had to re- main at home alone, not knowing how or when or where her only child was dying. It is a custom of the race even here in civilization. The captain and I went at once to find the child. The mother could not tell us where to go, but we knew the places well, and found her easily. She was in a place like all the rest of the kind. The fever had been kinder than her parents, and in delirium the little one caressed the bed clothes, thinking them her mother’s face. We had brought some milk, for the Chinese undertaker is not expected to care for those brought to him to die. He only notices them after they are dead. I lifted the child and put the cup to her lips. She clutched it with her hot brown hands and drank it thirstily. Then she held the cup up for more. A plate of rice and cup of tea were untouched near her. She had not been conscious that the drink she had called for and longed for was within reach. Captain went at once to the doctor, who gives his se s free to such cases, while I hurried away to get a drayman to move the child. Permis- sion it was useless to ask, and in this case possession would be the whole point of the law. Our fear was that they would smuggle away the child before we could rescue her. 1 was away maybe twenty minutes. When I returned sure enough the little girl had disappeared. No one of the silent Chinese seemed to know anything about her. At least, they stolidly refused to tell us anything. We knew, every undertaker's place in the guarter and asked some of the Christian Chinese to help us, but it was nearly night before we found her and we were too late. She lay in a stupor. While Captain tried to revive her with water I ran for some coffee and ammonia. There was a suspicious smell of laudanum about the little, suffering mouth. We could not get her to swallow enough to be of any use, and soon we found the little heart had stopped beating. ‘We laid her decently on the bed and drew the clothes over the small yellow face. The sun was shining on the wet walk when we went outside; the rain had ceased. When we told the mother our story she said never a word, but going to the table she took the idol and threw 1t into the fire; the burning punk fol- lowed. Then she sat down again and covered her head. She would not speak. She only sat as if she did not hear us. Captain put her arms around her, kneeling on the floor. The sweet sym- pathy of the Captain's tears seemed to touch her, for she mournfully shook her head and was lost again in her hopeless woe. Every day now she would be alone in that room which she might never leave, and the bright face would never blot it out. It was long past the dinner hour at headquarters, so I persuaded the cap- tain to go to a restaurant and get something to eat. It was a dreary looking place. When the proprietor had brought in the soup I tried to order dinner, but somehow the proprietor got sadly mixed up in his thoughts and was saucy. He evidently did not ad- mire hallelujah bonnets, so we paid for the soup and went out. 1 was right- eously indignant, but the dear captain spoke never a word till we had walked a block. Then she said: “The Lord has taken away my tem- per so I cannot get angry. I shall go back and see that man and talk to him about his soul, for he is in a bad way.” She did it, too, and besides helping his soul got some soup for an old woman to whom we carried food. So our hasty dinner yielded a triple blessing. Being Saturday it was time for us to go and gather up the children for the children’s meeting at the hall. We teach the little ones English. Hence a great many of the parents are glad to have the children go, even though they are not Christians themselves. Sunshine and Louie Toy, two Chi- nese, were there to help us. I went to OF THE HOUSE tea, which it would have been a great offense in me to refuse. It was Y good, though, and we are not so accu tomed to luxury in the life we lead as to disdain a cup of tea. Two little girls, whose father would not allow _them to go with us, chatted quite frankly, and one child came up closer to see me, and said: “Hello, Jesus!” Such a washing as those youngsters got and scoldings thrown in! One small girl’s headgear was not to be found, though they looked. everywhere, and she got a real orthodox spanking and howled with a fine pair of lungs. Before she became quiet a small boy came out of the next room swinging over his head in triumph a gem and gold satin affair, which the mother put on little Nankey Moe head, and we were ready to go. There were already collected in the hall a troop of thirty shouting brown children under 10 y s of age, and a fine time were they having. Little Nom Git was making a boiler factory noise on the big drum, and Chang Toy had the captain’s tamborine, and it was rving to drown all other noises. Sun- shine, who was a well-named Chris- tian Chinaman, came in with a tiny girl, who refused to be left, so he sat down and gathered the children arouna, and we began the afternoon services. No white child is half so cute to a stranger as those stolid brown babies in their bright short blouses and trous- ers, for trousers they all wear, giris as well as boys. The devotion in the attitudes of some of them when we knelt was more than edifying, but two small boys in yellow lowers gat plump down, and began a social of their own. One small girl sang in English “‘Jesus Loves Me.” She was so small Sunshine had to take her in his arms and hold her up so we could se er. Poor little tot! A young woman who had come in, attracted by the music, and had never seen what to us is so common, wiped her eyes, remembering L\'hm the baby’'s probable life would e. The captain showed them a picture of Jesus with the little children about him, and they told us the story, chat- tering off in Chinese to those who could not understand English. They love to sing and some of the little ones are very apt indeed, but the older ones cannot get away from the sing-song monotone of the tom-tom. We had a march, singing “Bless the Lord. I'm Happy on the Way,” tiil they were rested from sitting and then we had some oranges, that is, all but Sunshine’s little one, who had gone fast to sleep. The lady I spoke of before had a camera and wanted to get some photos of the children. One little fel- low had heard of pictures before, I think, and sat down and screamed. Captain tried to appease him, but the door was open and he was off. He would take no chances of being charmed by the black box of a camera. Ten or fifteen Chinamen had congre- gated at the open door, cutting off some good light, €0 I pointed the cam- era that way and began to adjust it. They vanished. ‘After the meeting was over we went {0 see an old woman at our ‘“‘women’s shelter,” at 603 Washington street. A policeman had brought her to us late at night some days before, wet and cold and half dazed. She had attempted to go from near Sacramento, after the death of her husband, to the home of a son in Ven- tura, and while waiting at the depot for her train had gone out to get a bite to eat. Confused, she had lost her way, wandering up and down the streets until the officer had asked her of her- self. She had left her valise with her ticket and money at the depot, but when we looked for them they could not be found. & In reply to the captain’s letter to the son, he had sent enough for his mother to go to him. Poor old soul; how thankful she was when the captain gave her that letter! Then we inquired after a girl who had been given into our charge by the police a few nights before. She had been dis- charged from her employment, and wishing to be very economical until an- other place could be found had gone to a lodging-house where innocent girls do not go. She had become acquaainted with others in the house, and was in a fair way to become one of them when / SHE ATTACKED THE JOSS AND THREW IT AND THE BURNING PUNKS OUT At Beulah we have a rescue home, where these girls may rest and learn to be stronger. Then when we think them prepared for service wefind homes for them in families. Only one absolute condition to enter- 3 S made—a bath. Very often it stands a bar to entrance, as it did with the one who rung us up last night. It was raining hard, and the captain got out some clean underclothing and a night gown, and told the applicant to take a bath; it would be nice and warm. The woman held up her hands in horrer. “My God!" she said, “T have not done that in years,” and she vanished into the dark night outside. There are a great many orphans here, and we have our share of them in our lum. The State giv aid to whole or half orphans, but most of ours are blessed with parents, who abandon so we are obliged to furnish support ourselv A dear sister at Beulah has founded a home, and cares for about eighty children, and soon we hope she may be enabled to rry out her intention of starting a abies’ Home,” for we need it so very much. After leaving the shelter we hurried home; there was so much to be fin- ished before General Booth, our leader, was due. On Saturday night we ex- pected to have a lot of visiting lassies for the meeting, and everything must be ready for their reception, beds, food and work. The captain had been wanting a new dress for a long time, but expenses have been too. heavy for her to take anything from our contributions. You may not know it, but every Sal- vation Army corps is self-supporting, and we are compelled by the rules to live on what we collect. Sometimes it is not easy to make both ends meet. There is so much to be provided: hall and home, rent, food, fuel, charities, and squeeze in an occasional new dress. We had been paying a good deal, and her dress was real shabby to wear when the general came. We all want- ed her to look nice. Well, the new dress didn’t come, but we never lost faith, but kept right on praying. One night we were coming home from midnight meeting, and we were all tired to death. A man came up to the captain and asked her If he gave her some money personally would it help her any. “Yes,” she said, “I need a new dress badly. “A dress, eh? do it?” “Oh, yes, and more,” she answered. The man gave captain a $10 gold piece, and we all shouted “God bless you” with all our might. Another thing, captain has no time to sew. We do our own work, wash- ing, cooking and all, and she detests the sight of a needle, anyhow. Well, she does not bother much, and the Lord always sends some one along when she needs some sewing done. This time I was the one, and the dress was to be finished to wear when thegeneralcame. And right smart and bright and heart- lifting our captain looked in 1t, too, I tell you. To-morrow I am to go to the gar- rison. I hate so to leave here, but Well! Well! Will $10 orders are orders and I may be sent to- Alaska or Mexico or China or South America to-morrow, and have to fur- nish my own fare, for the army does not pay us expenses. We have half fare rates, but the rest we are obliged to raise personally, but somehow it always comes. Sometimes we have to live pretty closely, but we always have enough. Our lassies were stationed in a town in the southern part of the State and it was very hard to get any money for people were very poor and not too friendly to us or anxious to help us in the work. The lassies lived for weeks on beans and bread, their faith grow- ing stronger the while under the trial. ‘We rarely take cold, though we must be out In all weather, often quite un- protected. More often we are very, very tired in the work, but never of it. ‘We have such constant examples of the workings of the Lord, how can we doubt? When we see people changed completely in their tastes and wants, in their whole character and life, thers is no room for doubts. After finishing the errands that were necessary Captain and 1 hurried home, for we were not quite ready to go to Oakland to meet the general and join in welcoming him. Three visiting las- sies had arrived before us, and we were very glad to find they had made them- selves quite at home and our supper ready on the table, for we were to take the 5 o'clock boat and there was no time to be lost. It seemed almost wicked to put on our new things, it looked so much Ifke vanity; but we took the risk and were every one of us fine as spring birds, for we all had something new. One lassie had a new guitar. Weé made her try it and sing us a song during our meal. We chaffed our lieutenant about her silk handker- chiefs, for at Christmas time she had been presented with twenty-eight, all sizes and colors, by members of her Chinese army. It was dark when we arrived at the railroad station and the train was two hours late. We made the best of It, however. Staff Captain Reid called us together and we had a glorious meet- ing. The excitement of anticipation of the coming of General Booth and his party lent an added ring to our hymns and a deeper earnestness to the prayers. Several testified and one dear lassie told how different was her con- dition on this coming of the general to the last coming. After we had marched through streets for a time it was at time for the train. It was a long tr and we did not know in which coach the general traveled, but when we saw a policeman making way through the crowd for a white-haired man we knew it was our beloved leader and we stood the <P ALL THE SHOUTING, - GLEEFUL, “You mean the woman you work for is, not you; for you have no money; you are in debt to her,” replied the “What do you know about it?” We talked to her for a time and asked her to come with us, In half est, half earnest, she said she would if we would take her as she was. We took her at h word and our leader slipped off an under-petticoat and gave it to her, another gave her a cape, and the third held out her bon- net. She looked at us in amazement while we were doing this. “Well,” she finally exclaimed, “I couldn’t be much worse off than I am here. I guess I'll try it, anyhow. It'll be something mnew, and I'm tired of this, by — We had been afraid some one would surely come in before she consented to escape with us, and a row in such & place is not pleasant. We had been as quiet as possible, but the mistress of the place avpeared just as we were at the door. She knew our rescued woman's tem- per too well to attempt to interfere, but told us we could bring her back when we got through with her. The woman’'s trunk and belongings she would keep herself, she said. Captain told her very quietly that we rould send for the things the mnext We did and got them, too, for the police were only too glad to get.rid of the woman. She feared neither man God, and came back from jail e every time, and they were all afraid of her. We took the rescued woman to our own room. After a warm bath she put on clean clothing and lay down in a clean bed. On a small farm she is a decent Christian woman to-day. She’ BROWN. . CHILDREN FOLLOWED AFTER US. silent. ‘When the Mayor kad welcomed him and our dear general spoke to us we found our voices, and volley after volley wefired before he was driven away in a carriage to hold his first meeting in this division of the army. Of our meeting, what our general told us, how he labored, has been told day by day in thé newspapers. I shall not try to add anything to that, but tell y#8u only what we lassies do. I am almost overwhel. :d with the task, for how can I take you infancyto the dives and dens; how can Ishowyou the faces we see and tell you the tales we hear down where Satan himself could ask for no more vileness, no more crimes? And who are the people who spend their nights there? Wio are the women who,earn thelr living, giving out their souls bit by bit they. learn new. wiles to draw trad Well, the English language makes us all_ sisters, for it gives but one word for us all—"‘women.” We visit the dives and saloons with our papers, not so. much for the money as that it g us an excuse to speak to those who frequent them. If I tell vou of a few:experiences in those places you may think them but stock stories, but it is not so; such things, as I tell you, are occurring all the time. There was one place we had been forbidden to enter. A new army officer was sent into the district. She tried the door of the place and found it un- locked. She came back to us and said: “If you are afraid to go in that den with me I will go in alone.” It was 3 o'clock in the morning; a very bad time to approach certain kinds of business. for those who are not too drunk to understand what we say. are sure to be very ugly in tem- T. peNo one was in the first room we en- tered, but a door leading to another room was ajar. A woman sat alone there In a very bad temper. Her cloth- ing was a single transparent garment; her greeting a volley of oaths and threats. A lassie laid her hand on the woman’s shoulder, and told her how we came only to help her. “I'm getting on well enough, thank you,” she said. - had a husband and two children, and she gave us no peace till we had hunt- ed them up, too, and had brought them into the fold. They were “tired of sin, and were only too glad to find a way out of it. In one saloon I offered a paper to a man' sitting alone at a table with a glass of beer before him. He was a handsome man, perhaps 35 years old, and be was drunk—drunk enough to talk and say what he felt. “Well, I am on my way to the bow-wows,” he said. *“If you can help 1 wish you would.” I talked to him, and he promised to come to our meeting. I watched for him, but did not see him. Yet somehow 1 could not forget that face. One day, it was about a month after I was at the hospital, and I found him. He had fallen while drunk and broken his leg. He remembered me, and would not talk to me at first, but before I left he told me his story. Born of a good family in Boston, he had had every ad- vantage, and was a graduate of Yale, Because he always spent money freely he was flattered and courted by those who wanted it. Before he knew it he was a drunkard. He would disgrace to family, and s San Francis He had b from bad to till ev would scarcely know He had tried to reform again ‘and slipped deeper and deep had finaRly It was se that story in the hc about his home and hopes and faith. Since then he has not drunk any liquor, and I do not believe he ever will again. He is now a member of our army. Often we are told to go home; that it is not right for us to be out at night. Pray, at what other time can we ever find those whom we want to save? It is seldom that we are ever insulted, for those who know the most of crime and espair. he told me pital. We talked evil know us. I cannot but wonder that the men who keep these places are so kind to us; they know we are working ¢ them, yet many and many are the words of encouragement we get from them. Almost all of them take our papers, and try to help us in every way they can. HELEN GREY. *