1935-06-15 — Page 7

No.

14

China Mail

HOME SUPPLEMENT

Impressions

HONG KONG. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1935

No. 14

WHERE

•

WOMEN RULE

IR Arthur Keith said

SIR

cently: "Our standard of

life is no longer our acreage. but our brain capacity and our science."

احلام الفخار

But perhaps. Sir Arthur Keith is a little optimistic! It would seem that the leisure

many crave is desired, not for cultural exis, but for mere iuctivity of mind and body.

-When I think of the benefactors of the race," sayy Thoreau, "whom we apotheosised as sengers from heaven, bearers of divine gifts to man.:I da mot sec in my mind any retinue at their heels, any car load of fashionable furniture.”

كلة

S. the enthusiasts of the "simple He" are often quite as irrational as their dersive oppaa- ents. Living simply can be prac tised in other ways than wearing sandale, eating beans

staple food, and dwelling in A wooden shanty. Simple living does not imply a sacrifice of refinements or even luxuries." It means making the most of life and getting ali possible pleasure from it without breaking one's back or starving the mind. Simple living is just having time to live healthily.

"Let not to get a living be the trade, but the sport. Enjoy the land, but own' it not. Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are. buying and selling, and spending their lives ike seris."

A handsome philosophy!

The possessive passion, however. is natural; it becomes ruinons only when exaggerated Great posses- sors are merely collectors, and zot of higher value in society than the.... poor scholar in a bare garret.

But even our pleasures are in a form of hustling: driving a motor-

á traffic-congested street; rushing to the theatre and home again. Or we go to the other ex- treme in experiencing constant round of pleasure. Unhappy in leisure because we lack vital in terests or a vital interest, our life becomes made up of knick- knacks, where nothing is simple and sincere, or even beautiful.

Fewer women would be worn out at 50 if we were less preoccupied with the material Comforts and Intries, and less inclined to live in continual over-strain either in work or in our pleasure. Keeping young is a state of mind. If a woman is naturally happy, keen and interested," and if she lives a life comparatively free from 'unnecessary worries, then

OIT

she will remain young. A youth- ful appearance comes from within -that is, a lasting appearance of youth. A tortured mind re- *veals itself in the physical appear......

ance,

Phipthis Juky.

Work On A Small

Pacific Island

HE lazaret of Makogal is

Tiny dot of an island in

the vast expanse of the Pacife whose name on the map would cover more leagues of ocean than the island itself miles. It ́ ́is here that 15 nuns of the

French Order of the Soeurs Missionaires Societe de Marie work year in and year out, de-- voting themselves in a magni- ficent and inspiring spirit of self-sacrifice to the care of Tepers.

A min, after a service of twenty- eight years in the islands, and twenty-four on Makogaï alone, ex- pressed before leaving be:

- first holiday, a great wish that she should be allowed to return to the island. "The few people who come here to see us every once in a while they express astonish- ment at the life we lead, thinking only of the hardships and the dis- comforts,” she said. “But not one day have I been unhappy. AL- ready I feel I want to go back. I is my life, my only life. I love

The permanent nursing and ad- ministrative staff of Makogai in- cludes 10 native xisters. Not all of the Europeans are French. Some of them are American, Eng- fish, and German. New Zealand is also represented there.

Makogai is essentially an island of hope for the leper. It is a place of treatment, where the best of attention is given to every patient.. The treatment is nowadays só effective that every year between 20 and 30 people leave the island completely cured." The principal element of the treatment which ultimately leads to a cure where the disease has not too great a hold is chaulmoogra oil, secured

from a tree of that name which grows in India

The main establishments on the island are the farm, the co-opera- tive store, the hospital, the Roman Catholic church, and the Wesleyan church.

The farm manager, a doctor, s Wesleyan minister, and

a priest reside permanently on the island. These are the principal European men there. Practically all of the - remainder are patients.

The coastline, with a supply ship in the offing.

In the first place, Makogai is divided into distinct sections. On one side is kept the island farm, where the cows on which the in- habitants are dependent for their meat supplies, milk, and so on are kept. Vegetables and other raw products are produced here, but not wheat. For its bread the island uses Australian flour. The remainder, of the island is given оте to the popula- tion To this section the sisters were obliged to give careful thought and consideration, until to- day there are nine groups of vill- ages.

These villages, on the average, are. composed of 25 white. well-kept buts. They have been set up on a distinct plan, and permit each important division of race and caste to live together. The Indians have their own village. the Chinese theirs, the Fijians theirs and so on, until finally all the Europeans are grouped together. These villages, or compounds, have been further, subdivided, and the men, women, and children are all segregated

Amongst the

many odd and peculiar jobs that have fallen to the lot of the sisters from time to time is the planning and super- vision of the construction of roads, which

remarkable are really examples of this." science. The sisters have also planned modera

types of

concrete incinerators which the men patients have made under their direction. They have also drawn up blue-prints for the building of cottages, and the Roman Catholic church, the funds for the building of which were contributed as the result of charit--- able appeals. The church is main- ly made of concrete and stone, although the interior itself is equal to that of many of the smaller churches in Australia.

Cricket is a favourite pastime, and is one of the most popular games. Other sports are organis- ed and keenly followed according to the seasonal variations as else- where.

Gifts of money for the well- being of the

islanders

turned into immediate assets

One by the sisters.

Christmas several years 270 £50 subscribed for distribution among the lepers. The sisters, how- ver, conceived 2 more end❤- ing plan, and with the sanction of the donor called a general meeting of the patients. The meeting. nm- animously voted its approval of a scheme to use the money for the institution of a co-operative store. Anything needed iz purchased from this store by the islanders. The prices, charged allow for a small (Continued Over-Page)