THE FIELD
by the Rev. R. O. Jolliffe

LUCHOW.
Luchow, our most southern station, is less than 29 degrees from the equator. If our field were transferred to its antipodal position, it would lie in the northern corner of Mexico, along the gulf of California. Luchow is situated on the Yangtse river at the point where it is joined by a smaller river variously called the Ln, the Toh, or the fining (SP). ...The nearest Canadian Methodist Mission station to Luchow is Tzeliutsing, three short stages to the north-west. Luchow lies equi-distant from Junghsien and Fowchow, therefore in the very centre of our Mission.

IMPORTANCE: Politically the province of Szechwan is divided into five circuits (that is, when the province is sufficiently at peace to be considered politically), and the head official in each is called an Intendant. Luchow is the centre of one of these circuits, which extends from the borders of Kweichow and Yunnan almost to Chengtu, and embraces twenty-five counties. The people may always appeal, if they are rich enough, from the decision of a county magistrate to the Intendant. Luchow is also the centre for the circuit's Normal School. This, together with the regular middle school, makes Luchow a rather important educational centre. Commercially Luchow might be considered as the gateway to the great salt-well district. Almost all the salt produced at Tzeliutsing and the surrounding country is brought down the small river to Luchow, where it is distributed to other parts of the country. Similarly, the city deals with the products of the great sugar district. In January or February, just after the sugar has been manufactured, it is an interesting sight to watch the fleets of little boats loaded with sugar coming down the small river. One of Luchow's interesting industries is the making of umbrellas, not the kind you have in Canada, but a kind which keeps the rain off just as well, and is a good deal cheaper . They are made of bamboo and oiled paper. A large pottery, match factories, foundries, and boat-building make Luchow a busy place.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY: In the surrounding country our Mission is responsible for seven-tenths of Luchow county, roughly speaking, that part north of the river Yangtse. The total area of these seven districts is 1,000 square miles, with a population of 400,000. The land is all under cultivation, and it is a very fertile district. The China Inland Mission have held the fort in Luchow for many years. The two missions now work side by side within the city, and have divided the outstation work to prevent overlapping.

STATION SURVEYS
LUCHOW
by C. J. P. JOLLIFFE, B.A., R. WOLFENDALE, M.D., and J. N. WOULD, B.A.

The Oilmen.

C. J. P. JOLLIFFE, B. A.

Luchow is a great, busy business city of probably 200,000 people. It is situated on the Yangtse, at the mouth of a tributary from the north called the To River, about one hundred and fifty miles west of Chungking. Luchow is three days south-east of Tzeliutsing, and four days, by land, from Chungking.

The special Council meeting, held in October, 1907, resolved " That this Council reaffirms its conviction that the entering of Luchow is necessary to the proper expansion of our work." A few months after this, therefore, at the Council held in January, 1908, it was definitely decided to open this station, and a beginning was made by the appoint ment of my wife and myself to the work of opening Luchow for our Mission.

In August of that year we arrived in the city, having previously rented a Chinese house. The rate was cheap because it was supposed to be demon-haunted and had been vacant for some years. However, demons do not trouble missionaries, and the first Sunday that we spent in our new quarters we held a service for worship.

THE FIRST SUNDAY: The first Sunday the street doors of the compound were thrown open and a man stationed at the entrance to invite the people in. It was market day, so the street was crowded. For a long time no one responded to our invitation. The house was known to be haunted, and even as recently as 1908 the foreigner was not regarded with any surplus of love. Only a few days before this. Dr. O. L. Kilborn, of our Mission, was riding through the streets of Luchow when a man shouted "Here is a foreigner! Kill him!" The Doctor stopped and reported the affair to a policeman.

We had almost despaired of securing a congregation that day, when at last, a man, whose curiosity overcame his fear, made a break and came walking in. Since nothing happened to him, others followed, and then others, until our little meeting-room was filled to its capacity. Seated on boards supported on saw-horses, this little crowd of people heard the first attempt of the Canadian Methodists to preach the gospel in Luchow.

CHURCH OPENING : In April, 1909, we had our "church opening." Near the entrance to our little compound was a large, roofed-over space such as are so common in Chinese compounds. It is called the "tin(g)". By a little rearrangement it proved well adapted for a meeting-place. Benches, a platform and a pulpit gave it quite a church-like appearance. On this church-opening occasion we were fortunate in having such distinguished guests as Dr. T. E. Egerton Shore and the Rev. M. M. Bennett, of Canada, and Dr. C. W. Service, of our own Mission, all of whom helped us very much in making the opening a success.

BUILDINGS : Our main buildings in Luchow are, with the exception of the rented compound at the west gate, all situated on one street, and are, therefore, in close proximity to one another. The buildings, constructed after foreign style, now comprise a church, a dispensary and two dwellings of the General Society, and one dwelling of the Woman's Missionary Society. Besides these, the hospital dwelling is now in course of erection and will be completed early in 1917. We still lack a hospital building (we have the site), a boys school and a dwelling for the educational missionary. Furthermore, the Woman's Missionary Society lack a girls boarding school building; their present school is carried on in adapted Chinese buildings.

LUCHOW CHURCH: Our church is built of brick, with two towers. Around the auditorium are eight class rooms which can be thrown open, thus increasing the seating space. In addition, there are four more class rooms in the towers. The new church was opened in April, 1914, when we were honored with the help of Dr. Kilborn, of our own Mission, Mr. H. J. Openshaw, of the Baptist Mission, and the Rev. Ding Li Mei, who is so often called the Moody of China.

MEMBERSHIP AND INFLUENCE : Our church now has 47 baptized members, 39 catechumens and 174 enquirers, a total of 260. We have all classes in the church, so we feel that the leaven of the gospel is gradually permeating society. The people are very accessible, and especially so since the revolution. This year, during the fighting between the North and the South in this district, the people naturally turned to us for shelter, and our churches and compounds were turned into havens of refuge. The missionary has come to be trusted by the people, and often his advice is sought by those in high authority. The opportunities for service among this people are very great.

In the city we have two street chapels, one under Mr. Would's supervision and one under myself. We have also a reading room where our church people and outsiders may see the best Christian literature.

EDUCATIONAL WORK: Our educational work in Luchow is still in its initial stage. This is because we have as yet no educational plant, nor a missionary who can give his time fully to this work. The schools are as yet the responsibility of a pastor missionary. Our school at present is being carried on in buildings erected temporarily in the hospital compound. This year we reported 100 boys in attendance. Some are the children of our church people, but most of them are children of non-Christians, and through this agency they are often attracted to the church. Luchow is an educational centre, there being both a government middle school and a government normal school here. We hope our Mission will soon have a school plant, and a worker who will be able to give his attention entirely to this work. Only thus can we meet our growing opportunities.

OUTSTATIONS.

J. M. WOULD.

The outstation work of the Luchow district is still in its initial stages. At present there are but three appointments, but there is a large number of towns awaiting and longing for us to begin work in them. In this country district there are approximately four hundred thousand people. We as a Mission are responsible for their evangelization, and at the present time I am the only foreign missionary working among them. As in Christian lands, so here in China, most of our promising boys are from the homes of the country. The city is the centre of vice and degradation.

The three centres thus far opened are situated at points seven, twenty and twenty-four English miles from Luchow. In each town we have a chapel, with a total, in the three places, of thirteen members and one hundred and fifty catechumens. There is also a school at each place, in each of which from twenty to fifty pupils are in attendance. Teachers, evangelists and colporteurs work harmoniously together in teaching, preaching and distributing the Word. Through their earnest, consecrated efforts there have been gathered together a large number of both men and women, who are diligently studying the gospel. There is a great future for the Gospel in these country districts. I am persuaded that the influence of our work is affecting the life of the towns. The gospel leaven is spreading, and, we believe, will spread more and more.

MEDICAL WORK.

R. WOLFENDALE.

The medical work in this centre was opened by Dr. W. D. Ferguson, in the spring of 1911, in a rented house on the North Street, which served as a temporary dispensary; and about this time the first piece of land property for permanent hospital work was purchased by him. It is situated on the small river side of the city, on the same street as the rest of the Mission property, and, along with two adjoining lots purchased by the Mission, forms a most excellent site for medical work.

In 1912-13 Dr. Ferguson erected a permanent brick dispensary and the hospital compound wall. This dispensary is exceedingly well adapted for outpatient work. It is a strong, well-lighted building, with rooms for consulting, dispensing, minor surgery, store room, etc. A few small rooms above are being used for inpatients until the proper hospital building is granted. Our medical work, in common with that in most other stations, was much interfered with by revolutionary disturbances. Then, early in March, 1913, Dr. Ferguson was obliged to leave for Canada on account of his wife's ill-health. Dr. Simpson succeeded him as a language student and I was able to re-open the dispensary in June, 1915. Outpatients are seen every day, Sundays excepted, and inpatients are numerous. We find that the Luchow people are very eager to receive foreign medical and surgical treatment.

SICK SOLDIERS on ALL SIDES: The first half-year of 1910 the inpatient total was about 280, and AVC had them lying in consulting room, waiting room, etc., etc., on boards and straw on the floor, packed like herrings, mostly wounded soldiers! Our city, during the fighting between Yunnanese and Northerners, in the spring, was over-ridden with Northern troops, and our Mission premises, along with other hospitals at Suifu, Tzeliutsing, Chengtu, Chungking, etc., became centres of Red Cross work. Hundreds came to our daily dispensary, and during these months of fighting the medical men of the province were very busy indeed. Now these Northerners have retired, and the Yunnanese are in possession of the city, every day some of these receive our treatment. (See Missionary Bulletin, June-September, 1916.)

Tin: LUCHOW WORKERS. C. J. P. J.

...
Luchow is a strategic centre. We form the connecting link between the Junghsien and Chungking divisions of our Mission. In the city and country we have at least a half- million people as our exclusive responsibility. Everywhere we receive marks of the confidence in us of all classes. All indications point to such an opportunity as has never confronted us before. It is important that our staff should be strengthened and our equipment completed at the earliest possible date.