THE KOREA MISSION FIELD

VOL. VIII APRIL, 1912 NO. 4

PUBLISHED MONTHLY at Seoul in the interest of all the Evangelical Missions in Korea.

EDITOR.—LILIAS H. UNDERWOOD.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS.—Mrs. HUGH MILLER and Mrs. GERALD BONWICK. All editorial communications should be addressed to the Associate Editors, c/o the Tract House, Seoul.

BUSINESS MANAGER.—Mr. GERALD BONWICK, the Tract House, Seoul.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, including postage to any part of the world, one yen, or 50 cents gold, or 2/1 English Currency. Business matters and Subscriptions should be addressed to Mr. BONWICK as above. Remittances from countries other than Korea and Japan should always be sent by FOREIGN Money Order or ordinary Bank cheque. Please do not send stamps or Inland Money Orders.

If preferred Subscriptions may also be sent to any of the following:—

IN AMERICA. Dr. A. B. LEONARD, 150 Fifth Ave., New York. Rev. J. E. MCCULLOCH, 422 Park Ave., Nashville, Tenn. Mr. D. H. DAY, 156 Fifth Ave., New York. Mr. JOSEPH PINCKNEY DURHAM, 1155 W. 30th St., Indianapolis, Ind. Rev. ERNEST HALL, 920 Sacramento St., San Francisco, Cal.

IN GREAT BRITAIN. Mrs. BONWICK, 28 Weston Park, Crouch End, London, England.

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NOTES AND PERSONALS.

The illness of Mrs. Underwood, as mentioned in last month's number, has made it necessary for someone else to fill the Editorial chair. Mrs. Hugh Miller and Mrs. Gerald Bonwick, have joined forces as "Associate Editors" and the April number is the result of their united effort to keep the K.M.F. flag flying.

They both agree that the chair is a big one and not any too comfortable, but it can surely be made so, by a few cushions in the way of articles and reports from your station or anything that you think will be helpful to our many friends at home, connected with the work in Korea.

As we go to press, we are grateful to learn that the prayers of her many friends are being answered and Mrs. Underwood is slowly but surely recovering.

The Annual Conference of the M.E. Mission North met in Seoul early in March, presided over by Bishop Harris. This early date was selected in order that the business of the year might be concluded, as a report will be presented by Bishop Harris and other delegates to the General Conference meeting in Minneapolis in May.

We are reminded that several of our Methodist friends left for home soon after the close of the Conference, their furloughs being due about this time. Dr. and Mrs. Noble and family, and Miss Frey left via Siberia. Miss Albertson, Miss Snavely and Dr. and Mrs. Follwell and family sailed a little later.

Dr. and Mrs. Bolt and two children arrived from China in February. We understand that Dr. Bolt is taking up duties in connection with the Severance Medical School during his stay in Korea.

Other recent arrivals from China are Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Burgess of the Pekin Y.M.C.A. Mr. Burgess is the Secretary of the Interscholastic department and expects to remain in Seoul for some weeks.

It is with sincere regret we note the home going of Miss Estey of Yeng Byen. She has been ill for some time past and in February left for America. We hope a few months at home will so improve her health that she will be enabled to return to her much loved work.

She was accompanied on her journey by Miss Hallman, the trained nurse in the Methodist hospital, Pyeng Yang. She returns to the homeland after nearly five years service in Korea. We look forward with pleasure to her early return and also to the important event she is planning for herself and her friends.

"I have been waiting for an inspiration." So says one of this month's contributors. Is not this the case with others? We should like our many waiting friends to follow the example of this correspondent and "do the best you can without it." Please wait no longer but send along the very story, big or little, that the folks at home are waiting for.

Would it be out of place to suggest short notes, letters, &c. from some of the subscribers and friends in the home lands. It may be they want to know something about one particular phase of work on the field that has not been touched by former correspondents to the magazine.

Information could be secured in this way: A question asked in the KOREA MISSION FIELD and the answer given in a following number, by some one engaged in that particular work.

This is only a suggestion.

"Keep me, O God! Thy ocean is so large, my boat so small."

FISHERMAN'S PRAYER.

로마자 표기 대조: Yeng Byen=영변, Pyeng Yang=평양, Severance Medical School=세브란스 의과대학, K.M.F.=Korea Mission Field(한국선교지), M.E. Mission=Methodist Episcopal Mission(북감리교 선교회), Minneapolis=미니애폴리스(미국 미네소타 주)

GLIMPSES FROM A NEW STATION.

By Mrs. Roger E. Winn.

Miss Doriss and we moved to Milyang* from Fusan the week before Thanksgiving and, as our remodelled Korean houses were not completed at that time, we "camped" in one room at a time for some two or three weeks while the wood work and floors of the other rooms were being stained and oiled.

Miss Doriss' house is in the same compound with ours and although they were once ordinary Korean houses they have been enlarged and remodelled to suit our needs for the present.

Our house was planned more with a view to its being used for other purposes later so our rooms are only divided by Japanese paper doors and by taking out the doors practically six rooms can be made into one. We have considerable fun when we have guests for we tell them they dare not talk secrets even when in their own room for one can almost hear a whisper from one corner of the house to the other.

However, we are most comfortably fixed and feel very much at home here where we have almost unlimited opportunities for working for our Master.

We have not had as many sight-seers as we had expected but of course the foreigner is not so great a curiosity as he used to be. The object of greatest interest to those who have come has been our baby and when he says "Apaji" (father) for them they are delighted beyond words. But how he can be so well and strong without being fed during the night and every time he cries is a great mystery. Then when we tell them "this is baby's room and this is the little bed he sleeps in" their faces show their amazement and they almost reproach us for our cruelty as they say "I go ('Oh my') does he sleep all alone and doesn't he cry?"

We invited our church people to come to see us after our house was finished; the women came one day and the men the next, so there would not be such a crowd and they could see things to better advantage. To them, our kitchen stove, perhaps, was the greatest novelty, and after our cook had explained all its different parts several dear old women said to me "Oh! how we do thank God for sending you to us, for if you had not come we could never have seen such a wonderful thing as this." Others after looking around the house said, "Do you think heaven can be much more beautiful than this?" Before the women left we sang the doxology, and several women prayed. It touched me very much and I could but contrast it with some receptions at home.

Our church here is increasing in attendance every Sunday; yesterday afternoon about a hundred and fifty women were present. The interest in the Sabath School has increased much since we divided the people into classes and tried to suit the lesson more particularly to the individual.

Mr. Winn has a teachers' training class every Saturday evening,—only those who have received this special instruction being permitted to teach.

Miss Dorris has made several trips to the country, holding classes in the smaller villages and she always returns with enthusiastic reports of the earnestness of the women who have studied.

Our big Bible class for women was held here from Jan. 23rd to Feb. 23rd and although we were disappointed because more women from our territory could not come yet we were more than pleased with the quality of the work done by those who attended. The last evening of the class Miss Dorris asked those who had committed the Beatitudes and the Twenty Third Psalm during the class, to stand and repeat them together, and I actually wept as I saw twelve dear old women, ranging, perhaps, from fifty to seventy years of age, get up and repeat those verses with twenty or more tiny little girls. They seemed so pleased that they had accomplished so much in spite of the fact that they could not read.

I am enjoying my weekly Bible-class very much and I am praying that God may use my poor stammering tongue to His own Glory as I endeavor to teach His great truths to these dear women who are hungering for that knowledge. Last week we had many unbelievers who came for a "sight see" of the house, but as they came early we asked them to study with us first, then I would show them our house. It proved to be a splendid idea; so hereafter my Bible-woman is going to invite unbelievers to come first to the class, then their wish for a "sight see" will be granted.

We ask for your earnest prayers in our behalf that we may make no mistakes in the beginning of our work here, but that God's Word may bear rich fruit in the hearts of His people.

*밀양(Milyang): 북장로교 선교회가 새로 개설한 선교지. 대구와 부산 사이 철도선상에 위치. / Apaji=아버지(아빠지), Sabath School=주일학교

THE TRAINING OF PREACHERS' WIVES.

By Mrs. C. S. Deming, Chemulpo.

The article by Mrs. Blair in the February, MISSION FIELD on how to improve the efficiency of our pastors and helpers wives has been read with much interest by a new comer to Korea who has worked over the problem in the sister mission field of China.

Social conditions being much the same in both countries, missionaries there have been equally familiar with the sight of a fine strong preacher or evangelist handicapped by an ignorant stupid wife who is in some cases not even a Christian. The methods adopted in one mission to meet this need are worthy of publicity.

When the Baptist Foreign Missionary Society commenced its first Bible Training School at Zaoshing, East China, which has since developed into the Union Baptist Theological Seminary of China, its president, Dr. Jenkins, insisted on the married men bringing their families to the school compound where special courses were provided for them. Their children, old enough were sent to boarding schools. No organized work was attempted for the women at that time owing to the lack of workers; but Mrs. Jenkins, after her family was sent to school in America, gave all her spare time to teaching the women how to read the Ningpo Romanized, in Bible study, and at their homes gave practical talks on the care and training of children, etc. But what counted most was the daily contact with the sweet, gentle, unselfish, consecrated life of their teacher, which left its impress on every woman. The women went from the Bible School determined to do what they could to help their husbands, and make their homes shining lights in dark places.

One of these women went with her husband to be the missionaries of the East China Native Missionary Association, and started work in a hostile place where no Christians lived. At first they were stoned out of the place and had to hide for their lives. As a result of their united efforts a large church was built up in that place, with four or five mission chapels in the surrounding villages. The number of women in the church and their advance in Christian truth, testified to the splendid work of the pastor's wife. Later, when her husband, pastor Tsoh, was called to the pastorate of the Hangchow church his wife was a great assistance to the writer in all branches of woman's work. Her case was one of many which showed the good results of Mrs. Jenkin's influence and training.

When the Union Baptist Theological Seminary was started in connection with the Baptist College special quarters were provided for married students, and every married man was compelled to bring his wife as a condition of entering the seminary. There had been some cases previously where after years of preparation a man could not be used in the ministry on account of the character of his wife. These cases made it advisable to make this strict regulation.

During the writer's last year in China she had the privilege of organizing work among these women and carrying on their training with the assistance of Mrs. Tong, a woman of great spiritual power and wife of Professor Tong. A long dormitory was provided for the married students; each family had two rooms and a little kitchen at the back, each woman doing her own house-keeping. During that year there were some twenty women in attendance, with about thirty-five children too young for boarding school. The work was in its infancy and the accommodation crowded, but good work was done. Fourteen little tots were started in Kindergarten work which kept them happy though away from their mothers, and proved an object lesson to the parents. A small school was started for the older children, and taught by some of the college boys. One little room was fitted up as a nursery with some tiny cots and playthings. Here an old grandmother of the neighborhood held sway over the babies as no child was allowed with its mother during study periods.

With house keeping duties the study hours are not of the longest but during the three years that the women are there they have a complete Bible study course, besides having talks on training of children, care of homes, hygiene, etc. Prizes were offered for best kept homes and children.

The most important work was the help given to each woman personally, the careful study of each woman's character, and the effort to help each one to correct and overcome her own faults. The high privilege of being a preacher's wife and the opportunity for service which would be theirs as co-laborers with their husbands, was ever kept before them. The necessity for fitting themselves in mind, body and soul was never lost sight of. Methods that a busy preacher's wife could use in reaching the women without neglecting her home, were freely discussed; and the visits of heathen women to the compound on Sunday afforded opportunities for them to preach the Gospel. One afternoon each week a little band would go out to visit and preach in the surrounding villages. The writer's three babies helped to demonstrate the fact that a busy mother could accomplish something if she had the mind to do so.

One woman who came to the school although a Christian had a temper which made her act as if insane. When the paroxisms were upon her, she would leap up and down and tear her hair and clothing. She learned in school to get victory over herself by prayer, and we saw no more of the out breaks.

Another woman had been prejudiced against Christianity by her ignorant relatives in a distant village, and had not been with her husband enough to know what Christianity meant. When the Gospel was made plain to her on coming to school she accepted it in child like faith, and became one of the most earnest and brightest workers. Every woman who came to the seminary without Christ, met with Him there and every one was awakened to their responsibility as preacher's wives. In our little prayer meetings the presence of the Holy God made all conscious of their short comings, and the cry for help to make the most of their opportunities was frequently heard.

A large building is now being provided at the seminary for the women and children with a chapel, class accommodation, kindergarten room, and a primary department. The teaching will mostly be carried on by the wives of the foreign teachers. One professor has considerately married a trained kindergartener, so every branch of the work is provided for.

The writer hopes to see similar work carried on with the wives of married students in the Methodist Union Theological Seminary in Seoul, perhaps in connection with the Bible Woman's Training School. Although but comparatively few women can be reached at a time, yet this method will insure a better quality of preachers' wives in the future, and emphasize the necessity of securing a believing wife in the first case by those who are planning to enter training for the ministry.

Baptist missionaries in East China now consider the training of preachers' and helpers' wives of equal importance with the training of their husbands, owing to the marked improvement in the type of women now going with their husbands into the work.

Chemulpo=제물포(인천) / Zaoshing=쟈오싱(중국 동부) / Ningpo Romanized=닝포 로마자 표기법 / Professor Tong=통 교수 / Hangchow=항주

REVIVAL IN THE CAROLINA INSTITUTE, SEOUL.

(PAI WHA HOKTANG).

Whatever the remote beginnings of the Revival in our school may have been whether the devout and earnest prayers of friends at home who began to pray for this school when there were neither pupils, teachers nor buildings; or special prayer meetings held in the past by the Missionaries appointed to work in the school and their friends who were particularly interested in the student body, or the daily prayers of the Missionaries who have prayed and worked here all these years—it had its immediate beginning in the realization, on the part of the principal, that the great need of the students, was personal religion and that this need was so great and urgent that God's time must be ripe for it to be supplied. Being convinced that our God is one who is able she began to plan for the meetings with a God—given faith and assurance of victory and proceeded under His guidance.

From Wednesday until Monday evening all work was stopped and three meetings were held each day in which the Rev. John Thomas and Mrs. Thomas took a prominent part. The girls were urged to spend much time in secret prayer. The results were wonderful. By thus giving themselves to prayer and the hearing and reading of God's Word, those who were already Christians came into a deeper experience; those who had wandered away were brought back, and their hearts were filled with such an earnest love for God that they too worked with out ceasing for the others.

God heard the prayers of those who prayed for the student body as a whole and for the individual pupils and gave them the messages they needed, through the preacher, and spoke to them while they waited before Him in secret. "More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of." He might have blessed these children thus had their friends not prayed for them. But what a privilege it is to be able to say "Oh God our Heavenly Father, in such and such a realm which I cannot enter wilt Thou make a change for Thine honor and glory," and then to open one's eyes and see that it is done! What an incentive to faith!

The effect of the meetings was felt all over the school. Not a single one of the whole student body failed to recognise her standing in the sight of God. Repentance brought peace, and each student determined to live entirely for Christ in the future. And so the meetings closed on Monday night in a blaze of glory. The next day school began again, and there in the valley of everyday life, Satan laid His snares to tempt them, and oh, so many of them were taken unawares. Not knowing how to escape many became more and more entangled in the meshes. Can anything be more pitiful than this?

But we do not ever cry helplessly to a God Who does not see our need. Holidays came as Holy Days and on those days a convocation was held, a solemn assembly before our God, and it became a common thing among the students to ask whether there were to be two meetings or one when none at all had been announced. Then came the week of Prayer and the Revival in our Church, both of which were of immeasurable value to all the students. They heard more of God's Word, had more time for prayer and Bible study and grew stronger. "If I am going home," said the Missionary, "and fall, shall I make no effort to rise until night? If I am on the road to Heaven and fall shall I wait until I say my prayers at night to ask God to help me up, and start me on my way again? No, far from it, God can help me up at once, and if I proceed again with might and main it will be almost as if I had not fallen." This and many other things they heard and understood, and are now journeying on the upward road.

Our school is like a different place. Obedience is rendered with a more willing spirit and work is performed more conscientiously and carefully. It is plain to see that the children are heeding the Savior's command when He said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." Besides calling upon God in times of special danger, we have reason to believe that every student keeps her morning watch faithfully. They also have daily group prayer meetings which they commenced of their own accord, and even without the knowledge of the teachers.

They give evidence of being deeply interested in the study of the Bible by the questions they ask, not only in class, but also in the morning exercises. The usual evening prayers have become a real factor in their lives instead of a time honored custom that must be carried out.

Some are still weak and all are assailed by many temptations, but God is strong; He is the Creator of the ends of the earth; He does not faint nor grow weary. Moreover He giveth power to the faint and increaseth strength to those who have no might. It is His glory to deliver from temptations and give His own Spirit to them that ask Him.

Bertha A. Smith.

Pai Wha Hoktang(배화학당): 서울 소재 북감리교 여학교, 현 배화여자중고등학교 / Rev. John Thomas=존 토마스 목사

OPEN-AIR WORK.

We who spring from English-speaking nations are apt to forget that in the majority of "civilized" countries preaching in the open-air is not tolerated. Great Britain is practically the only country in Europe where the Gospel can be preached out of doors, untramelled by police restraints—if at all. But in Korea we are given perfect freedom for open-air work and Christians have not been slow to embrace its privileges from the very commencement.

Large open-air Demonstrations do not appear to have been indulged in often, though the writer was present last Summer at a well-organized open-air gathering in the suburbs of Seoul, under the direction of the Y.M.C.A., and it was attended by some 500 persons. But the itinerating missionary finds many of his best hearers on the wayside, and as he passes from village to village the people gather gladly in little knots to hear the Word of Life. The young enthusiast returning from church rejoices to gather a crowd in the main street of a big city, and tell over again the points of the sermon to which he has been listening. The Colporteur with his little stock of Books and Bibles, Tracts and Gospels, can take his stand in any of the hundreds of markets that are held every week all over Korea, and to the great crowds that assemble there he reads extracts from his books and preaches to his heart's content.

I have been an open-air worker for over 20 years and never have I seen such order and attention, such eagerness to hear the Gospel, such an absence of opposition or even criticism, as at the Open-air Meetings in Korea. Let us place a proper value upon our outdoor preaching; it is one of the best ways of reaching the large "coolie" class, many of whom are shy of entering our churches, and it is the finest possible training ground for our younger preachers.

Gerald Bonwick.

Colporteur=권서(勸書, 성경 및 전도지 판매인) / coolie class=쿨리 계층(하층 노동자)

HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN KOREA.

By Annie L. A. Baird.

Only a few decades have passed away since Mary Lyon dreamed those first bold dreams of the higher education of women in America, and stronger proof that Korea is "the heir of all the ages," could hardly be adduced than the fact that already this question is being forced upon us with increasing insistence. In an incredibly short space of time the women of Korea have begun to rouse up from a state of utter mental inertness, and are looking about hungrily for something wherewith to train and occupy their growing powers. "Chungsin chokom do upso," (I have no sense at all,) is rapidly giving way to "Kongpoo halyamnita," (I want to study,) and it is plainly up to the missionaries to satisfy the desire which the Gospel they preach has operated to create.

The question presupposes the existence of a system of primary girls' schools in something like working order, and if this is not the case in the regions in which we are interested, the very first step toward higher education is to foster the primary schools. Here is where the circuit riders of all denominations can come greatly to the relief of the situation. The rule in Indiana used to be that where twenty children could be gathered together a school would be established, and if every itinerator in the country would make it his aim to accomplish this, Korea would soon present to an eye attuned to the situation, the appearance of a daisy-starred meadow. The separation of the sexes, necessitating as it does the establishment of schools in pairs, is of course, the greatest difficulty in the way of a speedy realization of this desideratum, but I look forward to the time, when by pushing girls' schools in the centers which are capable of sustaining them, and by providing Normal Schools for the training of primary school teachers, a corps of able and consecrated women teachers will be brought into action, who can gather up the little folks of both sexes and carry them along together until at least their eleventh or twelfth year. To this end let us labor and pray.

As to higher education, many questions present themselves. What shall be the medium of instruction, English, mixed script or unmoon? The choice of English has a manifest advantage, at least for the teacher. She can begin full work the day she arrives on the field, with text-books the result of many years' upward struggle in America. Not upon the teacher but upon the pupil falls the weary burden of language acquisition, the double task of acquiring not only an education, but the very medium through which it is imparted. Life is short and the spirit fails at the thought of forcing Korean women students in general through such a system. Certainly it offers to the student the minimum of profit, either for themselves or through them to society, in return for the maximum of effort.

That Koreans of the other sex can be really educated to any extent through the medium of English without going to America or England for the purpose, has not yet been proved, and one wonders whether the final output of a girls' school taught in this way would be anything more than interesting curiosities, like a ring of rose cuttings that I once saw at a Japanese florist's, which had been grafted into a pine stump and were growing and blooming there. They were an astonishing exhibition of what could be accomplished by artificial force, but not of much value either as roses or pines, and quite incapable of self-multiplication.

It would seem a better thing to plan to send to America the occasional young woman for whom such an education is deemed advisable, and put the bulk of our means and energies into an educational system on the Korean basis, to which every otherwise qualified young woman is freely admitted through the medium of her own mother tongue, where instead of making aliens of the pupils, the teachers are expected to expatriate themselves in language and mode of thought, and become in every way possible at one with the student body and the people at large. We want a system which will train young women and yet leave them indigenous, their thoughts and affections deep in Mother Korea, who can reach out on all sides and draw to themselves other girls and young women in whom they can instill their own home-grown Christian characters, and to whom they can impart the training they have themselves received.

If the objection is made that we have no text-books for such a purpose, it may be pointed out that education of an academic grade is already being offered the young men of Korea in a number of places, altogether through the medium of their own vernacular, and the Union College at Pyeng Yang is carried on in the same way. The lecture system is largely resorted to, but surely, though perhaps slowly, text-books are being evolved which will be available for use in the girls' schools. Here is a good place to put to proof the assertion sometimes fondly made, that what man has done woman can do.

In what respect should the curricula of schools for girls and young women differ from those laid down for boys and young men? Any discussion of this question by men and women is apt to bring to light an odd little factor in the hearts of those present. However obtuse they may be to its presence in themselves, each sex is quick to discern it in the other. It leads women on the one hand to insist that the curricula for girls shall be exactly as advanced and comprehensive in every way as those for the boys, and men on the other hand, to urge that a major place be given to embroidery and bed making. No one likes to admit the presence of jealousy, even for sex, and it is just as well, perhaps, not to try to name this little "nigger in the fence," but there he is, and if his influence prevails from both sides, the curricula for the girls' schools are going to be crowded and heavy beyond what is possible of accomplishment. No reasonable woman will be likely to minimize the importance of the purely housewifely accomplishments, and every reasonable man freely grants that the human brain, regardless of sex, is well worthy of good cultivation, so it seems to me that with a little concession from both sides, and a disposition to mutual confidence, we ought to be able to produce curricula that will be satisfactory to all concerned. For instance, we women, in my judgement, had just as well relinquish the idea, if we entertain it, of putting subjects like Differential Calculus and Spherical Geometry in any course of study now contemplated for girls' schools. One would like to know just as a matter of information how many women missionaries on the field ever studied these subjects, and of those who did, how many still shudder at the recollection. Long years will elapse before Korean women are likely to crowd into engineering or other professions calling for education in higher mathematics, and in the meantime they are in desperate need of thorough instruction in Domestic Science of every kind, chemistry of cooking, hygiene, dietetics, as well as geography and history, the various departments of plant and animal biology and the elements of pedagogy. They ought to know how to keep books, and they must have enough Chinese to escape the suspicion of illiteracy. If all the subjects that ought to be taught were arranged in the order of their importance, perhaps the thorough acquisition of the Japanese language would be put at the head. Add English, if you will, but if so, not as a matter of principal parts, compound and complex sentences, auxiliary verbs or modifying elements, (what do Gypsy Smith and many other masters of English speech know about these things?) but as a matter of easy, free conversation, reading and plain composition.

A course like that outlined above, with plenty of time given to the purely domestic accomplishments, ought to escape the charge of inanity on the one hand, or of overstepping the bounds of woman's traditional sphere on the other. With the Christian influence ever uppermost, it ought to furnish us with young women trained in head, heart and hand to occupy any and all positions of womanly usefulness.

It is good to know that girls' schools looking toward a good academic grade are now in operation in several centers, and it will be a matter for congratulation when a standard curriculum, agreeable to all denominations and both sexes can be decided upon.

Mary Lyon=메리 라이언(1797-1849, 미국 여성 교육 개척자, 마운트 홀리요크 대학 설립자) / unmoon=언문(한글) / Pyeng Yang Union College=평양 유니온 칼리지 / Gypsy Smith=집시 스미스(유명 전도자)

WINTER ITINERATING IN THE NORTH.

Since the December Station Meeting the first event of any importance was the decision that I must go to Kang Kai and the North in place of Mr. Whittemore, and after a night of hurried preparation I left on Saturday, December 30th. Sunday was spent in An Ju, getting an early start on the following day.

Five days of steady travelling—much of it severe mountain-climbing—got me to Chosan, on the Yalu river, one day late for the Class. Mr. Rhodes and I spent a busy but enjoyable time there, finishing on January 14th. The Class was a fine one; 300 men and women studied, of whom fully half were from out of town. I taught for three hours a day, beside speaking several evenings and preaching in the afternoons. The pleasantest part of my Chosan work was the class of baptized women, who showed an interest in the Psalms that called for the best that I could give them in the way of teaching.

Here also I became acquainted with what seems to me Kang Kai's most valuable contribution to our Mission Policy, the "Quon Sa." This is a paid, trained woman Helper, who yet is not entirely divorced from home duties and home ties. The plan was excellently outlined in a recent number of the KOREA MISSION FIELD. These women have the advantage of a regular course in Miss Best's Bible Institute at Pyeng-Yang and so are progressively fitted for the work. As for their usefulness, Mr. Blair told me that one in particular was equal to any of the men Helpers in their work, and what I saw of their teaching, conduct of Women's Meetings and general work bears this out.

On the three days trip to Kang Kai (90 miles) I had my first experience of riding a Korean sled. The typical sled consists of two long poles of hard-wood with a couple of cross-pieces to hold them together. The back part of the poles forms the runners and is roughly hewn out, the front part is shaved down thin and forms the shafts. If the "engine" is of the genus Bos the shafts are connected in front with a yoke, but if it be a pony they are fastened to the pack-saddle, and in any case there is no hold-back arrangement. Now on the frame you tie a frame of wood like a square box with no bottom. The Koreans have a frame of wicker and straw, and Mr. Blair has a little house of wood and canvas, closed to the outer air by curtains and doors. Mr. Rhodes used this a part of the time; we called it the "ark" and of course he became the "archangel." Now you attach your boxes, tying them on securely in front and behind; then your bedding goes in the bottom of the box on the slats, enough being reserved for you to burrow in to escape the cold, and there you are, ready for anything. You get down in the blankets, the "chaffeur" gives the bull a "shove" and off you go.

Like the advertised touring-cars the bull-sled has "four speeds forward and reverse." The early morning gait is a crawl of two miles an hour or less. When he has digested a part of the bushel or so of cooked beans, chaff, etc. that made his sides bulge to an alarming degree, he will get on the second gear a fast walk at 2½ miles per hour. Then on a good stretch of ice the "motor-man" will pile onto the sled and you reach the third speed, a good lively trot. We made 33 miles one day, with well-loaded sleds, in 10 hours travel.

On an icy slope you get a chance to try the "reverse." The sled slews far to one side and, despite the efforts of bull, driver, your own "boy"—who usually rides on the edge of your sled—and the interested passer-by-who is always on hand in this country and seems fairly to swarm from the ground when an accident is coming to give him a chance of unholy mirth at someone's expense—in spite of all these pulling hard and shouting harder the whole outfit slowly tips over and you roll into a snowbank in a smother of blankets, unable to do anything, but cherishing a belief that by laughing the hardest of all you save your own valuable dignity. This episode does not happen very often but the possibility is always there, and it alone would redeem the bull-sled from the charge of "dulness."

Then there is the "high-gear." The passes up here are higher than our mountains in Whang Hai province, and the roads over them are real feats of engineering, zig-zagging up and down on surfaces that are next to perpendicular. The constant sled-traffic makes these roads glassy with smooth snow diversified with ice where a spring has overflowed. Part of the fun is to coast down these. The driver wraps around the runners a twist of some tough vine to act as a brake; this usually lasts half-way down and slips off just as you hit the steepest place. You get your feet free from blankets, perch on the uphill side to help balance, and away you go. First the bull, who is used to this kind of thing, walks very circumspectly, then as the grade gets steeper he sets his feet and slides, often in a sitting posture, then as the pace increases he gives it up, and down you go as hard as he can gallop, which means he hits the ground about twice on each turn of the winding road. It knocks a toboggan all hollow, for the turns are many and sharp, and each one seems to be the last you can hope to make without going over the edge.

We reached Kan Kai on January 17th and the Class began next day, closing on the 28th. It was a big class though the attendance from out of town was not large. Over 400 studied and they all worked. Seven classes for men and six for women, most of them rigidly classified, with a system of certificates for those who studied faithfully, made small and homogeneous classes that it was a delight to teach. In addition to class-work I managed to get in some preaching, and was fortunate enough to help one man to make up his mind to burn his "spirit-papers." Part of his family were already Christian and he was only waiting to be pushed over the line.

We had fine evening meetings with congregations reaching the 700 mark, most attentive and inspiring to preach to. The Kang Kai church is a noble building, and, for its size, excellent to speak in. The weather was "mild" for the thermometer only went 10 or 12 degrees below zero at night. The spiritual tone of the Class was fine and in the study hours and evening meetings all seemed ready for spiritual truths as well as for the more tangible outlines and illustrations.

Leaving Kang Kai on January 30th Mr. Rhodes and I travelled 60 miles farther north. Here in a mountain valley the houses are all built of logs, built as our American pioneers built theirs, and so is the church. The latter seats 160 when packed. The Class was rather more primitive in its make-up and classification than any I had been in for years, but thoroughly enjoyable. 128 enrolled, most of them men and boys, and the attendance held on remarkably well to the end. Fully half the lowest division had never been in such a Class before, and even the 18 men in the Officers' division had to have things pretty well simplified for them. But all made up in zeal for any other deficiencies, and it was a joy to teach and see faces light up and fairly glow when a difficult passage was made clear or a new truth brought out.

As I look over this report I find I have missed one blessing and pleasure that I enjoyed; I mean the fellowship with a number of Korean officers, both men and women. I met and learned to know some of the finest Koreans I have ever seen, and the names and faces of many will always be remembered with pleasure and genuine affection. I sincerely congratulate the Kang Kai missionaries on the influence they have on the minds of the strongest and most attractive body of Korean Christians I have ever faced.

E. W. Koons

Kang Kai=강계 / Chosan=초산(압록강변) / An Ju=안주 / Whang Hai=황해도 / Quon Sa=권사(勸師, 여성 조사/전도사) / spirit-papers=영 종이(제물로 쓰는 종이)

THE CONVERSATION AT THE WELL.

By E. M. Cable.

Not long ago two Korean women came to the community well, as was their usual custom, to draw water. The younger, after having offered the customary salutation, looking down into the well, broke out into a mournful cry saying, "O! I want to throw myself into the water and drown. Why should I live any longer? Let me die. O! let me die." The other woman moved to sympathy by this pathetic appeal, ventured the query, "Why do you speak in this way?" Said the woman, "There is nothing to eat in our house. I am hungry and my family are starving, and O! my mother-in-law is so cruel to me. She beats and abuses me—I want to die. My husband too, he is so bad. He scarcely ever comes home to see me and when he does he is always intoxicated and beats and abuses me so—O! I cannot endure this any longer. I am going to throw myself in this well and put an end to this miserable life."

This is a sample of the many sad conversations one might hear at the Korean community wells which are generally frequented by the women. It is the heart cry of the heathen cursed woman-hood of Chosen. They need more Marys and Marthas to tell them of the Man of Galilee who came to lift their heavy burdens and sorrows and fill their sad lives with joy and hope.

Chosen=조선(한국의 일제강점기 명칭)

THE BIBLE SOCIETY AS AN EVANGELISTIC AGENCY.

Address Delivered at the Opening of the New Bible House of the British & Foreign Bible Society, Seoul, on Feb. 3rd, 1912.

By Rev. W. G. Cram.

In the propagation of the truths of the Christian religion an intense evangelism is generally recognized as the central fact. An evangelism that brings the message of life with dynamic force to the human consciousness, that brings the virtue of Christ in healing contact with the open sore of the human soul is the true fulfillment of the idea of Christ's universal conquest.

In its attempt to conserve and foster this spirit of evangelism, the Christian Church has established many agencies. Some are of doubtful value, others are good and helpful, while there are others that are indispensable. Among those agencies which we reckon indispensable and whose origin we recognise as providential, the Bible Society comes first and is entitled to especial consideration as a conserving force of the true evangelical idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is true in the first place, because the Bible Society stands before the world as the custodian of the Word of God. The interpretation of the message of life and the principles of its propagation, the unfolding secrets of personal communion with God and the duty of the individual life, in Christian service and sacrifice, are to be found in genuine simplicity in the Scriptures themselves. The Word is its own best interpreter. Systems of theology have their place in the study of the philosophy and science of religion but they cannot suffice in supplying the masses with a knowledge of the original sources of spiritual life. Often have we heard that the simple reading of the Word, has awakened a consciousness of sin. A gospel portion stored away in hiding, covered with the dust of years, suddenly comes to light and brings its message of healing life, of overflowing joy and comfort, at just the time when the heathen soul is feeling out into the darkness after some thing desired, but unknown. The Word has preached its own message. It has delivered its own burden. Its evangelistic note has been sounded; a soul has heard and has been saved. The agency which has brought this to pass is the Bible Society. It prints the Word and puts it within the reach of the poorest of the masses. They buy and read—and in reading find life. Truly it is one of the greatest evangelistic agencies because, as a custodian of the Word, it serves all men regardless of nationality, of language, and all churches regardless of creed or name.

That the Bible Society is an evangelistic force is true in the second place, because the printing of the plain text of the Bible, without note or comment, is a perpetual testimony to the fact that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. The Bible Society does not countenance a destructive criticism. It will not published a dissected or amputated Bible. Many a critical comment has fostered a spirit of unbelief. Often it has not produced research but on the contrary pride and arrogance. In printing the plain Word and spreading it broadcast the Bible Society has done more for a sane and helpful interpretation of the Word, and the application of its principles to every day life, than any other agency. It bears a silent but impressive testimony to the authenticity and credibility of the Holy Book.

Lastly the evangelistic value of the Bible Society is manifested in its distribution of the scriptures through a well ordered plan of colportage. Always in co-operation with the churches, these colporteurs are sent out laden with Bibles, or portions of the same, printed in an attractive form, to be sold at a price within reach of all. The colporteur is truly an evangel of light. Often he brings the Word in contact with raw, untempered life for the first time. He does not always see a miracle of grace but he has brought this raw, untutored human life in touch with a spiritual force, he has brought to it a message of love and life-yea abounding, everlasting life. Such an agency as this is incalculable as a real evangelistic force. In consequence the Bible Society is one of the greatest assets the modern missionary movement possesses.

British & Foreign Bible Society=영국 및 해외 성서공회(BFBS) / Colporteur=권서(勸書)

BEYOND THE CLOSED DOOR.

The place of secret prayer is the place of preparation for all thought and work and really for all the varieties of a true social life. But the act of prayer requires not merely intellectual concentration but the exercise of every faculty in the human soul—the affections, the imagination, the memory, the power of forelook, the reason, the will. To pray, one must think with closed eyes and knitted brow and fixed resolve—renewed and persistent resolve—as he seeks closest fellowship with the invisible and silent Deity. The first step in prayer is deliberate, persistent, concentrated thinking. God is. God is here. God knows and loves and heeds the call of the weakest soul. He has promised to answer prayer. He has said, "I will." And God's "I will" weighs more than any millionaire's promissory note. But it requires in the man who prays, confidence, absolute and unhesitating. "The will to believe" is the key that opens the door of the closet of secret prayer. Reader: have you the key?

SOME POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KOREANS AND CHINESE.

The Rev. E. W. Koons of Chairyung has been travelling recently on the borders of Manchuria and his record of the impressions made upon him by the contrasted characteristics of the two nations will be of interest.

He says:—As soon as I left An Ju I met Chinese carters, carpenters and merchants, and they were very prominent all the rest of the time I was in Korea. In Manchuria I saw more Koreans than Chinese, and the Yalu river was used by both nations, of course, so I had a chance of seeing the two races under similar conditions and I diffidently offer a few observations.

(1). Economically the Chinaman is better off. He wears warmer clothes, stouter shoes, a fur-trimmed cap, has a bigger and better house and, as a rule, owns and works several animals. I was told that the Chinese own most of the junks that ply on the river, and all the big trading houses are Chinese. Some Chinese villages have scores of stacks of cleaned grain waiting for the opening of the river, but I never saw more than three in a Korean village.

(2). There is a surprisingly small amount of learning from one another. The Korean jiggy is far better than any Chinese device for carrying loads, and I saw not one Chinaman using one, while on the other hand the Chinese "man-sled" pushed with a pole is a fine thing and I saw no Korean using one of these.

(3). The Chinese know how to handle animals. Big teams of 5 or 6 mules, without reins but all in perfect subjection to the big whip of the driver who rode on the cart, put to shame my Korean "mapu" who had to fight desperately with his one pony to keep him in the road, and could only ride a little while at a time without having a row. The Chinaman who drove me from Wiju to the station in two hours, mostly in the dark and on a narrow road with several broken bridges, handled his two ponies as well as any man at home, and made less play with his whip and did less yelling than a Korea "mapu" would in two miles.

(4). The Koreans are hard workers but have not the passion for gain that the Chinese have. My "boy" commented on the way a Chinaman will try to sell you anything that he thinks will be bought, while a Korean appears very often to think he does you a favor to let you buy at all, and seldom tries to get trade by advertising his wares. Till nearly midnight, in Sin Wiju, Chinese vendors of fruit and cakes were going the rounds and picked up many a penny.

(5). Nevertheless the Korean has the better of the Chinaman in some things.

A. He is cleaner, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the Chinaman is dirtier. The hands of the Chinese laborers I saw were black with grime.

B. He lives under a better government. Postal facilities and general police supervision are absent on the China side of the Yalu river as far as I went, but I know this is not true of all China. In the matter of a coinage on a gold basis and similar things the Korean is better off. The Chinese fear of robbers is pathetic. I found the men of a large trading house locked up, like a female seminary after curfew, not even an hour after sunset, and it is so everywhere.

C. The Chinese woman is of no value as an economic factor in comparison with the Korean woman. Little as I like the almost animal-like way the ordinary Korean woman has to toil indoors and out, her life is better for her and for the coming generations than the almost idle and completely indoor life of the "lily-footed" woman of China.

D. The Chinaman is in bondage to spirits more than the Korean ever was. I saw a fine temple each day of my trip down the river, and spirit-shrines are everywhere, and the men worship at them.

E. The Chinaman is more selfish and indifferent to others' good than the Korean, and that is saying a good deal. He will help his own partners and no others whatever happens.

F. The Chinaman will not learn from other nations. He is the most thoroughly self-satisfied being I ever saw, and his very excellencies stand in the way of his further progress. The Korean is waking up. Some stern lessons have shown him all too clearly that he must move with the world, and he is moving.

Chairyung=채령(재령) / An Ju=안주 / Manchuria=만주 / Wiju=의주 / Sin Wiju=신의주 / jiggy=지게 / mapu=마부

THE SALVATION ARMY.

The annual meetings of any body whose members are working in widely scattered regions are usually looked forward to with a great deal of interest, and when, coupled with this there is the hope of seeing reinforcements who have arrived on the FIELD recently one can fully realize that in connection with the Salvation Army Councils which were held in Seoul from Friday, February 9th to Thursday, February 16th that much "chaimi"* was manifested.

Since we had last met together six new Officers had arrived—three from England, Captain Annie Baty, Lieutenant Sidney Manton, and Lieutenant William Naylor, and three from Sweden—Lieutenant Magda Kohler, Lieutenant Verna Ollsson and Lieutenant Sofia Frick.

All of these Officers will have the privilege of a year at language study before taking up active duties.

As our foreign force now numbers twenty-five we certainly feel that we are growing, and during the Councils different aspects of the work were fully dealt with and it is hoped that as a result there will be consolidation and extension in every direction.

A few words as to the public side of the series of meetings may not be out of place. On Sunday afternoon, under the leadership of Colonel Hoggard the Officers took part in the Union Church Service in Seoul and the leader gave a helpful address based on the words "The Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ."

On Monday at 7.30 p.m. a Musical and Singing Festival was given in the Y.M.C.A. and Doctor J. S. Gale, who has often proved himself a good friend of the Army, took the chair.

The audience had quite an international aspect as there were present the Russian Consul General, Archimandrite Paul of the Greek Church, well known business men, officials and missionaries of every denomination working in the city. The nationalities represented in the audience included American, Canadian, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Swedish, and British. From remarks passed at the close of the service the programme was evidently enjoyed.

On the following evening by special invitation a similar festival was given in the Korean Y.M.C.A. Auditorium. Dr. Sungman Rhee took the chair and it is estimated that there were 1,300 present and for an hour and a half they evidently enjoyed the different items given on the programme.

John F. Crispin.

• Joy.

chaimi=재미(즐거움, 흥미) / Colonel Hoggard=하가드 대령 / Dr. Sungman Rhee=이승만 박사(후에 대한민국 초대 대통령) / Archimandrite Paul=아르히만드리트 바울(그리스 정교회 고위 성직자)

HOUSE TO HOUSE VISITATION.

The Water-gate Church is in one of the poorest sections of the city of Seoul. I have visited with the Bible women in the homes of the people and the faith and fortitude among so much poverty and filth is surprising. Surely, the glimpses of mansions beyond caught by the eye of faith must be entrancing. How blessed is our privilege to point these poor women to a Saviour who can fit them for a land that is free from sorrow and pain.

One day we entered a home where the family had just recently decided to become Christians. There were four sons and their wives in the family and staying with them for a while was a woman of middle age whose face lighted up with an inward joy as we talked of the things of God. She said "I know what you preach. I have the witness in my heart and a great peace in my soul."

We visited another home where only the wife was a Christian and her husband was persecuting her. Because she had no children he had taken a concubine and was even threatening her that he would open a wine-shop and force her to sell wine. He said if you are a Christian you ought surely to obey your husband. We tried to cheer and advise her but how our hearts were grieved for this poor woman.

In a small room not more than eight by eight feet we found a poor woman with two children and she told us a pitiful story. She said her husband had grown sick and was not able to work and buy rice. He became so distressed by the children begging for food that with only a few cents in his pocket he decided to go to the home of his childhood. He went away and it had been five months and no news had come from him. His wife believed he had fallen by the road side and died. She did not know the name of the district to which he had gone, so could not send a letter of inquiry.

Entering the home of a young married woman one day we found her very much distressed about the illness of a three months old baby. Leaving the Bible woman to look after the house I told the woman to put the baby on her back and come with me to the dispensary. We obtained some medicine and I learned afterward that the baby was soon well.

Sometimes our hearts are gladdened by seeing immediate fruits of our labors. One day we visited a woman who had moved into a small room connected with the house by a porch. She was a Christian and as we went in to visit her the owner of the house, who was a widow, and other members of her family came out. It was a warm, sunshiny day and we sat on the porch and talked about believing in Jesus. Then we sang some songs and prayed. This widow said she would become a Christian and we prayed that this might be a firm resolve and not just a formal consent that meant nothing. After several weeks we passed by this house again and went in. What was our joy to find that all of this family were attending church and seeking the way of life. We were joyfully received and sang and prayed and conversed about eternal things. This time the old grand-mother who had come in from the country was present. The Bible woman exhorted her, as she was so near the end of life's journey to make preparations, to meet God in peace and enter, into the everlasting habitations.

Koreans have their heavy burdens. Sin and strife are rampant. But how sweet is our gospel message to these aching hearts and how quickly they often respond to the entreaties and invitations of the gospel messengers.

Rosella Hogan Cram.

Water-gate Church=수문교회(서울 수문 근처 교회) / Bible women=성경 여인들(전도 부인들)

EVANGELISTIC WORK OF THE WOMAN'S BIBLE TRAINING SCHOOL.

It has been such a pleasure to teach the students this year; their desire for study, and especially for the Word of God, has been a great inspiration to us. They prepare their lessons more carefully and more systematically than before and have learned better how to study. Often in our study together they have remarked, "Oh how interesting this is! Our time goes by all too quickly!"

In the study of Paul's Epistles they often remarked, "So much like our own experiences here in Chosen."

They have been free to ask questions, and very intelligent ones they have been. Never a doubt of Christ's great miraclous power ever enters their hearts, and they believe the Bible as the Word of God and through it the way of Salvation.

The practical work of the school has been carried on under our direction with the help of the teachers and some of the students. Tuesday afternoon of each week is set apart for special evangelistic service. The women go out to the village churches gather in all the Christian women and as many of the heathen as possible and preach to them; then an opportunity is given for those who desire to become Christians. At Kak-sim-sa, a village 30 li out side the city, we sent out an announcement that we would be there on a certain date to hold a service. In some way the "Head Men" of seven different villages near by heard the news and asked if they could not attend the service also. While it was a service especially for women, we consented. Seats were arranged on the outside for the men and some of the helpers were present to look after them and others who came.

After the service was over we gave an opportunity for any who desired to become Christians. There were several women and six of these men.

On Sundays the women go out to the country churches two by two. They not only attend the church service, but help in the Sunday-school, visit the sick, teach new believers, visit in the homes of the non-Christian.

Besides those who go out into the country, there are many who help in the city churches. On Monday morning a verbal report of the Sunday work is heard and often some very interesting things are told. Incidently one morning the question was asked of one woman, "Who preached at the service yesterday?" She hung her head and said, "I did. The preacher did not come so they asked me to talk." "What was your text?" "Pray without ceasing," was the reply. They said they had an interesting time. She also reported that after they had finished their service the preacher came and then they had an other one.

Through the efforts of these women the churches have been built up and many new believers led to Christ. We want to make the work of the school as practical as possible and teach them how to put their studies into practical use.

Respectfully submitted,

(Mrs.) Myrtle E. Cable.

Kak-sim-sa=각심사(서울 외곽 마을, 각심사 30리 거리) / Chosen=조선 / li=리(里, 약 0.4km)

BOOK NOTICE.

Fourth REPORT OF THE WELCOME TROPICAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES AT THE GORDON MEMORIAL COLLEGE KHARTOUM, Vol. A. Medical, Andrew Balfour Director, Published by Bailliere Tindall & Cox, 8 Hamilton St., Covent Gardens, London.

It is not our plan to give book reviews of any but literature having to do with the KOREAN MISSIONS, but the medical report which has just come to hand must certainly be of great value to our physicians and as such has a right to a notice here.

Issued under the authority of the Soudan government, the results of the careful work of a distinguished group of scientific men under the leadership of Dr. Balfour, it needs no recommendation from our men.

It is as the title signifies, the fourth of a series, all of which contain the actual record at first hand of new contributions to the volume of medical science. The last reports were issued in 1908. The publications of the Khartoum Research Laboratories now number seven, the last three being Report Vol. A. (Med.) and Vol. B. (Gen. Science) and a supplement to the Fourth Report.

We should be glad to know that a set of these valuable volumes was in each station in mission lands, where so often young physicians are called to wrestle single handed with new problems of Eastern disease.

L. H. U.

Khartoum=카르툼(수단의 수도) / Gordon Memorial College=고든 기념 대학 / L.H.U.=릴리아스 H. 언더우드(Lilias H. Underwood) 편집장

지명 좌표 부록 / Location Coordinates Appendix

본 호에 등장하는 주요 지명의 위도·경도 (WGS84 기준, 카카오맵/구글맵 표시용)