132 Chengtu Road, Tientsin, China.
October 6th, 1946.Dear Miss Turner;
I am very happy to know that this letter will surely get to you as I am sending it thru Alice Yang who is a daughter of my friend. She is going to sail on S. S. Gordan for America October 20th from Shanghai. Now that communication is still very difficult. yet, so this would be a good chance to send some letters to America thru Alice. The latter is also one of my babies whom I delivered twenty years ago. She is six months younger than MaryJean. On account of war she has been delayed in her education. She has to go to a preparatory first before entering college next fall. She is a very sweet girl[.] She has a brother in Canada and an older sister in Washington; so she would be well cared. She and her mother (I really should put her mother and I) are good school friends knwoing [sic] each other from childhood. I am now the family physician of this big family of six, one died during war and now she has five. Thru Alice I am sending you one hundred dollars American currency for my gift to the Florence Purington Fund. When the letter came I wanted to send something but then I was unable to do so. Kindly take this small gift to the office for me. Although the gift is very small in comparison to many donors but my share of love for Miss Purington is big. Her life has made a big impression upon my life_ the dean of understanding.
It seems to me that I have had one caller after another today and I would never be able to continue this letter. But no matter how short I will try to get off this letter to you. I am rather busy with hospital and other activities of the home, school, andchurch. [sic] My coworker got married and Vung Yuin promised to come for a month in order to relieve for a vacation. With her home andher [sic] two girls it is difficult for her to get away. The summer is gone now and I am not so tired. In August I was about to drop with perspiration from heat and much work. The autumn is about gone and winter would behere [sic] soon. Now we have two interns to help but they are just learning to do routine and are not able to take responsibility yet. One of ourown [sic] graduate nurses came from interior and she is acting in place of head nurse. This is a great help to me.
By this time I hope that my nephew Dennis has been discharged from army service in Italy and that he can take his refresher course. After one year he and his wife should return to help in hospital. I hope Mary Jean has finished her required credits for her degree at Mount Holyoke College. Now she is twenty one and I have told her that I would no longer would be responsible for her welfare. I want her to take a year in graduate work in some thing whereby she can pick up for work anytime in future. She is young and she cannot see things in my light so I am letting her to do what she thinks right. After all it is very difficult to bring up children and I feel that I have done my best by my nephews and nieces. Abby the youngest is rather talented inlanguages but she would not work hard. She gets bye [sic] at school and is in her second semester in junior year. She shall finsih [sic] in winter of 1947. She knows English and French very well. She has anyway three languages that she can use and if she would give more time to advanced studies in languages I feel that she would be fitted to do secretarial work in foreign service.
I want to thank you for the American medical journal which comes to me regularly. We are using new drugs now since we can get penicillin and sulfa drugs easily with boats arriving from America every week. The condition about China is far from being good but we must have patience when we realize that Japan fought her war of aggression in China eight years. Some cities are like ghost cities. Construction is slow and destruction at any time is fast. The first problem we must reconstructe [sic] is our railway lines. From Tientsin to Shanghai we cna go only by air and boat. The first is too expensive for the average wage earner and the latter is too slow. So even for me I have not seen my kinfolks since spring of 1938.
If you ever can send me some magazines about college. I have not seen a college magazine since the Pacific war. Alice and her mother are coming for supper. I close this letter with much love to you. Kindly remember me to Miss Purington, Miss Griffith and Miss Greene.
Yours lovingly.
Me_iung.P.S.
October 6th, 1946.
Dear Miss Turner;
Your good letter dated September 20th is right here this munite [sic] and I am answering you right away. I am so grateful to you that you are so good and kind to my great niece Yueh Ming. She is indeed working very hard and the report I have from Ann Arbor is very satisfactory. Dr. Kahn recently sent thru Dr. Cook hisown [sic] made antigen to me. We have a laboartory [sic] which does work for all Tientsin hospitals. We did lot work for the first marines last year. In fact the marine hospital has one of our technitian [sic] in their laboratory. I like Delee's work better for I follow his teaching in my work than Williams. I like any book on Hormones for this is new work and we know too little here after years of war without any outside contact. I shall be satisfied just with two books now as they are high and I do not want you to sepnd [sic] too much on me. External condition has nothing to do with the progerss [sic] of our work. It was under Japanese occupation that we put up such a laboratory for Tientsin. In fact a people can make more progress under difficulty. When life is too easy we think only in terms of material comforts.
I would not be thinking of leaving my post until the arrival of my nephew Dennis and his wife to share my load. Under private organization our hospital is the second largest size in town now and people from all over surrounding districts for help. Since V. J. D. I am better in everyway. My weight has gone up to normal. During war days my health went down and I looked too thin for myown [sic] good. Miss Boring is back at Yenching. Dr. Stuart called upon me personally before he left for Nanking. It is very difficult to get permit to travel so I would not be able to visit you at least two years from now.
This letter brings you much love. Abby now is listening to the radio and she asks to be rmembered to you. I askher [sic] why she does not write. Her answer is laziness. That is Abby, talented buy [sic] lazy. I hope sometimes during Alice's schooling in America she would have a chance to meet you. Our second generation is much bigger and taller than our time. We undertsand [sic] better nutrition for our children.
Yours lovingly.
Me_iung.