[Some paragraph breaks added for ease of reading.]
M. I. Ting M.D.
Peiyang Women's Hospital
Tientsin.Dear Miss Turner;
Your letter dated August 29th came to me afew [sic] days ago. I enjoyed everything you told me. I read your description of experiment over and over again so I might grasp it in detail. I was glad to know that you had a year for study and a good vacation. By the time this letter gets to you, you would have started a quarter of your academic year.
I had a good vacation of ten day[s] up at Western Hills. Miss Woolley visited this beautiful summer resort when she was in Peking. I did nothing but eat, sleep and donkey riding. When I was at Peking I visited Peking Union Medical College and had a physical examination taken. The doctor examined me said that I have no organic trouble of heart. My tachycardia is probably due to hard work and physical strain. I am in perfect health.
As to eating habits we are very careful at this hospital. There are things that are beyond your personal control. In regard to amebic dysentery we do not use much of emetine now. In place of that we use yatren, the latter gives good results here. This preperation is from Germany. There is another tropical disease called Sprue which gives dysentery as well as amebic dysentery. Your friend in India must call upon a doctor to find out the exact nature of her trouble.
We have had bad cases recently. Within a week we had two maternal deaths and two fetal deaths. As I reviewed our cases I felt no other doctor could have saved them either. Of one case patient died of post-partem haemorrhage, other died of neglect. The second case came in too late. Both cases were very sad. We learned a great deal from pathology of these patients. The two cases should have Caesarian section if they had proper prenatal care. The first might have died even with Caesarian for her uterus would fail to contract on account of too many repeated pregnancies. The second patient could have been saved. The saddest part of our work here is that cases come to us too late and our people fail to understand that we are humans and we are not in position to do wonders.
As I grow with experience I am realizing the importance of preventative medicine. Within our scope we are doing something along this line. The field is so large here and one does not know how to begin and what would be the quiekest [sic] route. We have offered physical examination to a number of schools in city and we are giving every Saturday afternoon for students. There are three diseases among students and they are trachoma, intenstial worms, and tuberculosis. We are doing all we can to check the spread of those three diseases. Our Saturday clinic is free to students so they would understand that we are doing this for their benefit.
We have secured a Dr. Brown who is going to do some health work for us. Both Dr. Giang and I must remian [sic] in our active work for a number of years. We have spent eight of our best years in America for training and now we are young and we must do the more active part of the work. With two of us now we would be able to do a great deal more of work. We have sent Dr. Chu to Detroit for further training. We have also one girl at Peking Unin [sic] Medical College Hospital for training.
My mind is busy in getting an organized staff for this hospital. The next member we need on this staff is a dentist. I would like to send my niece to America for such a training for this is herown [sic] choice. In sending a girl to America for training several things must take into consideration. Her physical health, her preparatory education, and herown [sic] ambition in life etc must take into consideration carefully. The fact that I would like to have my niece to come to America because I know her back ground and I feel that she would be able to attain such an education.
The reason I hesitate in writing to Miss Woolley is because I do not know her so well. I also feel that she does not know me either. I thought probably I might save enough to educate my niece in America. Ofcourse [sic] this takes long time. Your standard of living is much more expensive.
My letter writing was interrupted by by [sic] two more bad cases from country villages. We were able to save two mothers and one baby and lost one baby. After our hard work I went to a college tea. At the latter gathering I learned from Mrs. Evans that Miss Purington is coming to the Orient this coming year. If this is true I would like to have her stay with me during her visit at Tientsin. Spring and fall are two good seasons of our year. Winter is too cold and summer heat is intense. There are quite a number of Mount Holyoke girls in town and in Peking. As soon as I have more time I would write a letter to Miss Purington in extending her my cordial invitation.
By this time you would have received my little gift. I hope that they are of use to you. Duty is so high in America that foreign articles cannot get in easily. I close this letter with much love to you.
Yours lovingly
M. I. Ting.October 17, 1925.