Miss Smith died at Madura, India, November 18, at the home of Katie Wilcox, 1911. This is a copy of a letter sent by her to Miss Edith Coon, to whom Miss Smith had been going the next day. Miss Coon is vice-principal at the Women's Christian College at Madras, and was more influential than any one else in planning Miss Smith's program for India. She was at one time a member of the mathematics department at Mount Holyoke.
Letter dated November 20. Dear Edith:=
What a shock this morning's telegram will be to you. I am so, so sorry to send such abrupt news. Before I tell you details I want to tell you that it was all so beautiful and peaceful that we here are finding much comfort. We had a little dinner party with just the few Mount Holyoke friends here and it was just at the close of a very lovely quiet evening and in the midst of those of us who knew and loved her best.
Miss Smith has probably told you of her difficulty in getting into India. Her passport wasn't quite complete and she was detained at Dhanus kodai. I had a wire from her there asking me to get permission for her to enter. I dashed off to the Collector of Ramnad - found that he had just departed from town. Then I went to the Madura Collector's house and he sent a telegram to the Ramnad Collector for me and then the Ramnad Collector was very kind and got his permission down in time for Miss Smith to get the later train. I met her and brought her to Capron Hall and she went almost immediately to bed as it was near midnight. Sunday morning she went to church and enjoyed the service very much. After church we got into the car and went through the temple. Again she was thrilled by what she saw there and exprssed much pleasure and seemed well. She had a long rest that afternoon and then we had a few very lovely Hindu ladies in for a cup of tea. We also had Miss Abraham and Mrs. James. (Note. They are graduates of the Women's Christian College and teachers at Capron Hall.) Miss Smith was so pleased with them all and has since spoken of them so appreciatively. The tea did not last long. The ladies had to get away and were gone soon after five. I was a bit hesitant to do anything more that night but it was Karthihai and the temple was beautiful with thousands and thousands of castor oil lights and Miss Smith was very keen to see it so we got into the car and drove slowly through the illuminated streets and then at th e [sic] temple we got down and went in. There was a large crowd of people but we were not jostled and everyone was courteous and considerate, a thing which touched Miss Smith very much.
After dinner she and I rested in long steamer chairs on the roof top and talked very little but mostly rested.
Then Monday morning we got into the car at about 8 and drove out to Tirumangalam. (Note. That is where Katherine Clark Dudley lives.) There we really had a quiet day and she exercised very, very little and was apparently all right. We brought Katherine back with us, got home at 3:30 and Miss Smith had a good sleep and a late cup of tea. After tea she went up to her room and wrote letters. I think she felt all right. She seemed to. That evening we had the Mount Holyoke people in. Ruth White could not come because Laura is ill. Mr and Mrs. C. W. Miller (Edith Gates) and Frances came and also Mrs. Wallace whose mother was at Mount Holyoke. Katherine was there at it was a small, quiet party. During the evening as I looked about I thought what a lovely place Mount Holyoke is to be able to send out such sweet, dependable, cultured girls. During the evening I noticed that Miss Smith was not well. She went upstairs right after dinnerfor [sic] a moment but came down quickly and joined in the conversation. Later at about 9:30 there was a move on the part of the guests to depart and again Miss Smith slipped out quietly and went upstairs. That time I followed her but met her coming down. I said, "Miss Smith, you are not feeling well, are you?" She said, "It is nothing but a little gas pressing on my heart. I shall be all right. After the guests have gone I shall be glad to have a little hot water." It had chanced to be Mr. C. W. Miller's birthday, too, (Note, Miss Smith's was November 15) and Frances had brought just enough sparklers for us each to have one and as we were standing on the verandah we each lighted ours. I urged Miss Smith to sit down, but she did not. I hastened out to hold a light at the side entrance and while there heard a fall. Gertrude called me and I rushed in to find Miss Smith lying on the floor. We called the Millers, sent Dr. Miller and Frances for a doctor and did all we could, but both Mrs. Miller and I knew at once that it was really all over. It was as peaceful and beautiful as could be. She had just said "Good night" and then went to sleep. Dr. Thomas (a medical missionary) came and worked over her thoroughly, but she had already gone. Because of Frances (the daughter of Mrs. Miller) the Miller family departed at once and we sent Katherine Dudley and Margaret Stenger to Pasumalai for the night with them, and Gertrude and Dr. Thmoas and I did the few necessary things and made arrangements for the funeral. We sent word to Dr. Dickson and he is making a rosewood coffin and the funeral will be at 3:30 this afternoon.
Edith, I have had the loveliest visit with Miss Smith. As I l ook [sic] back it seems as if these last days had been a conscious benediction. I had forgotten that such sweetness, such quiet but absolute self-giving to others could be. She was so very thoughtful of me in every way. She loved Raymond Dudley. Once out there she turned to me and said, "What a fine man." The tone in which she spoke was more than the words. Later on as we sat over our cup of tea she said, "Is Ruth White's husband as fine a man as Katherine's husband?" The fellowship of these last days has been something that I cannot speak of adequately. My one regret is that she could not have been spared until she had seen the college and been with you a bit, to leave with you the heritage she has left in our home.
Now that everything is over and I have had time to think I remember her telling me of an experience she had on the boat. Louise Clark, sister of Lucy Clark of Jaffna, was with her. She said to me, speaking of how much she had enjoyed Louise's conpanionship [sic], "I had a very bad strangling experience on the boat and Louise gave me some little powder that was wonderful. It seemed to relax all the cords in my neck. She told me when she gave it that ordinarily it was not givenexcept [sic] by doctor's orders but that she had given it to me because she knew it was just the thing." I had no idea then of any heart complication. I thought it merely a throat trouble, but we all feel now that this was but a repetition of that former experience. If I had only known! I thought we were providing rest hours enough, but now I realize that she should have been resting 18 hours out of every 24. We used so often to ask if she was tired but she always said, "No, I am so interested. This is a new world tome." [sic] She had not yet seen Capron Hall School and as we stood for a moment at tea time on the verandah looking over toward the school I told her of your lovely college and girls and she was anticipating everything in store for her. During the evening Mrs. Miller was telling her of the loveliness of Kashmir and the house boat life and she was eager and sweet.
Edith, altough [sic] with all my heart I could long that she had seen the college, if this had to happen, how lovely that it could happen in one of our homes and among friends, and I even think it was best to have happened here just as it did. The school was wrapped in sleep. The servants had all gone. We were just a little group of friends held together in one of the closest bonds of life, the college bond. Miss Smith had been speaking of that bond and she had said that she felt that it was one of the greatest bonds in the world, that it did not even matter if you had not known each other in college, the common tradition, the feeling that you were of one college was enough. If it had happened in your large dormitory and perhaps when she was alone in your guest-room, it might have been very tragic.
It is such a comfort to have Gertrude here. (Note. This is Gertrude Chandler, who has been at St. Christopher's Training College in Madras for the past five years and is now at Capron Hall for six months before she goes on furlough.) She has been a great help and will be.
I am sorry, Edith, sorry for all that you have missed, sorry for all the beautiful plans that she cannot now share in, but I have a feeling deep, deep down that God's plan is very much better than ours could have been. It was a beautiful life, nobly and bravely lived and it seems to me to have gone on into something more wonderful for she went on with every faculty alert and keen. It will be very hard for the home people, but a comfort to them to know there was no suffering.
Note. Letters from Miss Smith herself have come from Port Said, Port Sudan, Columbo and Kandy, Ceylon. She was never a good sailor, but this voyage seems to have been much more comfortable than usual for her, with the exception of the last three days when the monsoon struck. Grace Paul met her in Columbo and helped her much there. She was alone in Kandy and perhaps somewhat confused by the entirely different environment, but yet enjoying the tropical scenery keenly.