Weekly Chemawa American., May 25, 1906, Page 2, Image 2

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THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
now my friends, I am reading you a letter that was
written just to you, and I am sure they thought it was
just to them for they stole my watch. They stole it be
cause they didn't know any better. This is what they
learned by heart that night before they left me : "That
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than
of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ." And now remembering that these
people did feel the truth with such suffering as that
before them.
"I want to tell you a story which is a little incident
of one of my girls. Because as I am Secretary for the
V. W. C. A. tonight, I want you to know that out there
in the heart of Turkey is a Christian Association which
is being faithful and true. I will tell you something
of what happened to this girl in Turkey but before I
begin, I want you to see some of the Turkish costumes,
so I have brought with me someone dressed in the
costume that this girl's grandmother once wore some
seventy-five years ago. This girl, whose story I tell
you, never wore a costume like this because she came
to us so young, but her grandmother wore it and her
mother wears one like it. Every Turkish woman
wears a wrap like this, exhibiting the costume, called
a sheet, the weaving is done by the women. Some
times they weave it ofsilk or of satin, if they are rich
enough, but generally they are of cotton and are
made at home. Once in a while the Sultan thinks
they arc not covering their faces carefully enough, for
they sometimes get the American spirit and cover
their faces only with a thin veil and he issues an
order saying that the women must shot their faces as
they call it there. If any one calls upon them they
takeoff this outside garment, throw it back and then
they wear a dress like this, showing the dress. Our
school girls dress just exactly as you do. This dre-s
is made of what is called damask satin and costs even
more than a tailor made gown. There was very little
sewing done before the missionai ies went to Turkey,
so they did not often get a new dre;s, and when they
did, they took care of it. You can imagine how little
sewing was done when I teil you that there was only
one needle for every time or four houses and one pair
of scissors in a street.
Of the country from which this little girl, mentioned
came, she said :
"It looks very much like this country, except that
Ihey get all their aier firm spihgs, It childien
carrying it in pitchers. have ofien seen children walks
up and down the mountain side with a pitcher of
water on their heads. Few speak any language any
one can understand, except themselves, and most of
the people are uneducated and not ambitious, but
this girl belongs to a family whose father wanted his
children to learn something. I will tell you something
that happened to this girl's grandfather when he was
a young man. One day while in a neighboring town
found a Bible that had been laid down by someone.
Having nothing to do, he picked it up and began
reading. He could not read very much, but from what
lie read, he thought he would like very much to own
one, so when the owner came and claimed it he asked
her bow much they cost He found out that it would
cost him half as much as his cow's worth. He only had
a cow, and depended on it largely for food, but lie want
ed the Jiible so much that be sold the cow and bought
it. When he came home his wife was very indignant
and said: 'Can we live this winter with only that
book to eatVWill it take the place of sugar and broad
and milk?' Later She said My husband has gone
crazy ;he sits with that book in his hands and points
to tlie lims and mumbles and mumbles and talks to
himself. He spelled the words and reads them slowly
until he got their meaning and thorn read it to others
, who came to listen to him. The people who came to
hearhim became so much interested that they talked
it over with him and concluded they would like
someone toeome and teach if to them. So they asked
that a missionary be sent out, and when the missionarv
did come he found that nearly the whole village was
ready to believe."
And she says"B was a grand daughter of this
crazyold man who read the Bible".
"When this little girl came we thought it quite
strange that nothing was the matter with her, for
there generally was. We hardly ever received and
who were not sick or maimed. 'The people who had
achild who was blind, sick or deformed would say,
'1 hey are of no use, we will give them to the mis
sionaries. And when one was well and strong we were
thaiiKful."
Of this girl, Miss Gage says "She learned easily and
was taught to sew, wash dishes, and doalt kinds of
house work, but she often did harder duties One day
after she had been with us a long time, she came to
me and said, Oh teacher, will you give my heart to
Jesus? I told her that I could not, but, I said you
may if you wish, she said, i d want to, but f do not
know how, and then she said her first little prayer,
She was then 12 years old. When she was 16 years old
she came to me and said : M iss Gage, I want to join the
church, I am trying to be a Christian. I noticed she
went around with her face sort of turned upward, as
though that would make her good. But I did not
think she was ready to join the Church, so I told liar
to wait a while, for she had not always shown a Chris
tian spirit. She would spend so much of her time in
thinking of being a .Christian that she would some
times neglect her room or her other work. So X told
her aChristian never neglected their work and that
he must show that she was ready before she joined
the church.
"On one occasion this young girl had joined her class
mates in declaring that they should all leave the school
if they were not allowed to buy their own provisions.
They thought they would get better for the same
money, than the managers did. So they called on
me one evening, She says And told'methai it
they were not allowed to buy their own provisions,
they would all leave next morning. I told the m e
could not allow them to do this and told them if they
to go. When I went to bed 1 did not know whether I
would find one of them there in the morning. They
did not go, but the next morning B came to her teac
her and speaking up boldly admitted they were in the
wrong and everything went on as before
Miss Gage says: "It is a very dreadful thing for a
Turkish girl to speak aloud, uniess she is spoken t
and she knew that her class mates might think badly
ot her and say: R is not a good girl. B i
bold'. "This girl was of a mischievous nature and
often did things which caused her trouble. One lime
she did something that was particularly naughty, 1
guess 1 will tell you what she did. She dressed up in
men's clothes and came to my room to show me how
she looked. I reproved her for telling her it wh" not
the right thing to do. She looked at me so earnestly
and said: 'Miss Gage I think you are wrong.' I admi
red her for this; for standing ihere and telling me w
honestly. 'Miss Gage I think you are wrong'. I told
her to think it over and tell me iu (he morning, what
she thought of it. She said she would for she hud
ways f.m.i I that I told h -r wh-ir wa right. Next
morning she came to me ana said, M iss Gage, oil wei e
right after all and I was right, and she showed me
place in the Bible where it said it was wrong
for woman to put on men's clothes. I did not know it
was there myself.
Miss-Gage told how after B wanted to join tin'
Church, she tested her religion by asking her to take
a school out in China. The pay' was very poor but
B , needed the money for her father was v-iy
poor. At .first B did not want to go, and said
wis very liltl1 and she could not ko among those
people. '"Hut" I said, Says Miss Gage. tt on Id you uoi
go to keep your father fro m starving? But siili she
would not gi . She was little selfish, at last though
she decided to go, and is now working in China and
doing exccliei.i work. She is the wife of a minister
there and their work is highly praised".
M iss Gage also loul us of t be custom of co; lectin?
money for the marriage do ivory of a gin. The girl '"
ceive presents of money .ruin her friends from the
time she is small, these she strings and bangs about
her neck. If she belongs to a rich t'ami ly she has re
ceived a great many by the time she marries, if to
poor family she of course has less. At any rate it is all
she receives at her marriage.