Chesterton High School - Singing Sands Yearbook (Chesterton, IN)

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7 THE GRADUATE. Unbinding the W'0men of China Flossie Pelham. Several years ago, there was a great insur- rection i11 Kansuh, tl1e 1101'tllXVt'St province of t'hina. The Mohammedan rebels slaughtering 011 the way, closed i11 011 tl1e capital, Lanchow. The terrified countrymen tied to its protecting walls, but the poor women, on account of their bound feet. fell behind a11d faili11g to arrive before the gates were closed were butchered at the very threshold. NVhile the shrieking won1e11 beat despairingly upon the iro11 bound doors, as their blood-thirsty pursuers drew 11GEl1', hu11- dreds of anguished husbands knelt down before the English missionary and begged llllll to urge the governor to ope11 the gates Ellltl let the late- tomers i11. The llllSSlOl12'll'j' explained how this would also let the cutthroats in too, Zllltl then added. You would have your wives s111all footed. wouldn't you? VVell, this is your pun- ishmentf' The Kakka women of southern China do not bind their feet and in Canton, Ollly the daugh- ters of the well-to-do follow the custom. In the extreme 11orth of China. the Manchu women leave the foot natural and this perhaps is the reason that they are so big.healthy and comely. Ill the rest of the empire foot-binding has not been the folly of the idle or the fad of the fashionable. but a custom that all classes, both rich and poor follow. Ill three districts of Kansuh, women are still crawling about their houses upon their knees, just to please the preverted taste of the Chinese men, ln both Shansi and Shensi the XVOHIGII work in the fields, not stooping, for that would hurt their poor feet too much. but sitting Eilltl hitching themselves along as they reap. They have to be carried to the fields in a wheelbarrow and they arc so helpless that the most of them never get a mile away from the house to which they were taken as brides. They hobble about their villages a little, steadying themselves by a hand on the house wall or leaning o11 a staff. The Vhinese have a saying. 'tFor each pair of bou11d feet there has beell shed a tubful of tears. This is very likely, as the bandaging begins between the fifth and seventh years and after three years of misery, tl1e front part of the foot. and the heel ougl1t to be forced together so that a dollar will stick in the cleft. Because of foreign influence, thoughtful men of China have been made to see the evils of foot-binding. A few years ago, the then em- press dowager issued an edict commanding the people to abandon it. The missionaries preach against it Eillfl sometimes even refuse to admit foot-bound girls into tl1e mission school. The Natural Foot Society circulates literature, edicts, proclamations, placards, poems and fold- ers, writte11 by officials, missionaries, by phys- icians and by native reformers. Poems have been written on The Sorrows of Foot-bind ing, which move people to tears. Speaking broadly, the reform has 11ot reach- ed farther than the cities and high classes. It is said that three-fourths of the women of China are still so bound and it is safe to say that at the pl'QSE11t time, there are in China, seventy million pairs of deformed, aching and unsightly feet. liut cotton bandages are 110t the only bonds of the wo1ne11 of China. The following story is told: One sultry n1orning in July, a coolie was carrying two little cloth covered boxes balanced on the bamboo across his shoulders. In each was a child of five years of age. The boy 's box had a tiny open window to enable him to receive air and to see what he was passing, but the XVl11dONV of the girl's box was tightly screened up. The little girl had to e11- dure the heat a11d darkness because sl1e was a female and propriety demanded it. No females lJ1:'tXVE't'11 the ages of ten and twenty-five are ever seen on the streets of China. Shut away from sight and knowledge-how symbolic of the women of China! Hut perhaps tl1e greatest affliction that the Chinese women have to bear is their early marriage and tl1e veritable slavery that results from it. The girl is generally betrothed at the age of two or three to a boy five or six years old and not until the Wedding does either know the other's name or look upon the other's face. The Chinese woman does not expect to receive ron1antic love, tenderness and chivalry from her

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THE GRADUATE. 31 A Tribute to the Old School Bell How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, e The scenes they were, mostly that greet us to-day, The little Primary how dearly we loved it, WllGl'B we learned to count six, and could tell B from A. c Then on to the Second Room. quickly we hastened, To be with Miss Murphy that teacher of power Here wonderful wisdom and knowledge was taught us, ' At the sound of the bell, we knew what was the hour. The old high school bell, the sweet toned high school bell, The dearly loved school bell. that hangs in the tower. Now on to the Third Room. how swiftly we glided, To the Fourth-To the Fifth-and the Sixth saw us next, We began here to feel, Life was not all a pleasure i Such difficultlessons, we were oft sorely vexed. But 'amid all the trials which then did sur- round us And cause us to wish for the good closing hour. VVe anxiously waited and counted the minutes. Till the old' high school bell, rang out. at each night and noon-hour. The old high school bell, the sweet toned high school bell, A The dearly loved school bell. which hangs in the tower. We paused at the Seventh. for one short year only, So anxious were we to reach the eight grade. This'we did in good time. and by long and hard study Succeeded in Exams, with a fair average made. How proudly did we, then. receive our diplomas The emblem of knowledge, and to us of great power, And still the one faithful and never unchanging Same bell. pealed forth, the glad news from the tower, The Old High School Bell, The Sweet Toned High School Bell, The llearly Loved School Bell, which hangs in the tower. Vfith fear and much trembling we entered the High School Our pride 11ow had vanished. we felt Oh. so small. lint teachers at length kindly came to our rescue. And helped us to master some subjects. not all. Many changes were made in four years that followed. lYhich have caused us many a sad anxious hour. But amid all the changes, there still remains stationed, The same noisy Bell with its wonderful power. The Uld High School Bell. the Sweet Toned High School Bell. The Dearly Loved School Bell. which hangs in the tower. And now as our school days are nearing com- pletion Having spent all our school years within these same walls. Vl'e cannot but feel a sensation of sadness And over our hearts a cloud of gloom falls. No more. dear old friend. will we need your calling As you send forth in deep tones. the news of S the hour. So we bid you Farewell. to your call we have hearkened. For years in, and years out. from your place in the tower. The old school bell, the sweet toned high school bell. The dearly loved school bell which hangs in the tower.

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THE GRADUATE. 33 husband-indeed she thinks herself happy if she has a husband who does notbeat her and who provides for her. The married girl is lost to her parents and cannot provide for them in their old age. There are whole districts in China Where never more than one daughter is raised by the family, the rest being sold to wealthy parents who want to rear wives for their sons. E Every Woman principal of a mission school is at heart an enemy of the Chinese subjection of Women. She does not strive to make the girls assert this or that right, but she tries to build up in them a personality that will not accept the old state of things. Chinese parents are now giving their girls permission to attend the mission schools, when they hear of the fine salaries educated women are bringing home. Then too, the taste for the pretty doll wife is going out-college men prefer educated wives. Railroads and mines and trade cannot add half as much to the happiness of the Chinese as the cultivation of the greatest of their un- developed resources-their womanhoodf' The Express Service Mildred Shaner. The express companies of the United States were the pioneers in opening the great VVest. They established their stage lines Hlltl mail service. They started banks, and were among the very first agencies to develop the country. Their competition has perfected the mail service of today, and the postotiice has been forced by their system of issuing money orders to pay more attention to that function of business. They act as agents in purchases and sales, and have their attorneys for all kinds of law work pertaining to business. such as searching a title or collecting a debt. Stores make use of their C. O. D. department in delivering goods to customers. The usefulness of express compan- ies has not been lessened by the fast freights, or by the parcels-post. The organization of the express companies is at the same time complex and simple. Their huge business is so systemized that it works with perfect smoothness. Their contracts with the railroads give them great facilities. The steamships and long trolley lines are also press- ed into their service. The cable, telephone and telegraph are in frequent use by them. They have their own piers and terminals. Duties on importations may be paid in their own brok- erage offices. Looking, for a moment, at the methods by which the express business is con ducted, we find that i11 small towns their agents take orders which are forwarded to the large centers for fulfillment. In the great. cities the otiice will have a dozen different departments. Among these may be enumerated the C. O. D. department, the commission department, the custom brokerage department. and the insur- ance department. Each department has its manager and staff of clerks. The companies now have special refrigerator cars for perish- able goods, such as meats a11d fruits. Their special cars for carrying horses and stock are largely patronized. The heavy safes in their cars protect bullion and jewelry from robbery. The methods by which express companies collect merchandise and parcels are familiar. Regular patrons are called upon by the wagons at regular intervals. Wagons have regular routes. It would be a low estimate to say that there are seven lumdred express wagons on the streets of New York at all i1Oll1'S of the day. At, present there are sixteen large express companies in the United States. There are also two in Canada and the same number in Mexico. Their capitalization amounts to one hundred millions of dollars and more. However, the companies claim that their margin of pront is very narrow. Even so. they certainly are an enormous convenience to the public.