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Show First White Women in China Greeted With Astonishment and Curiosity, Curi-osity, They Were Finally Ordered Back to Their Ship as Most Undesirable "Foreign Devils." Setn Low, who Is known In national na-tional education circles as a former president of Columbia university. In national philanthropic circles as a maker of numerous munificent gifts, and in politics as a former mayor of New York city, and also of Brooklyn when the latter was an independent city, was one of a company of gentlemen gentle-men who had met to discuss the twentieth twen-tieth century industrial and commercial commer-cial awakening of China. Mr. Low's father, the late A. A. Low, gained his great fortune and established a world wide reputation as a merchant, through the great commerce established estab-lished by his house with China. He was owner of some of the clipper Ehips which made America famous on the seas sixty odd years ago. Of the men who met with Mr. Low there were several who had recently been in China, and thye told from personal per-sonal knowledgs of the great changes taking place in the empire, and particularly par-ticularly of the new and friendly attitude atti-tude towards foreigners on the part of the ruling classes. 'The change towards foreigners has. Indeed, been most marked," said Mr. Low. "The anecdote of the first women wom-en of American birth and training and, also, I think, the first white women wom-en of any nation to put foot upon Chinese soil proves that. One of these ladies was an aunt of mine, a sister of my father, and the other was a near relative of hers, and younger. Their adventure in China, I believe is not generally known. "These ladies took passage for China Chi-na upon one of my father's clippers On reaching port they went ashore and were at once the objects of the' utmost astonishment and curiosity Almost as speedily, too, there came mutterlngs against the two women, not so much from the merchants as from the ruling classes, who insisted to the ship's officers that the 'foreign devils,' as the authorities described the amiable ladies, should be instantly instant-ly deported. "At once assurances were given the authorities that the two ladles had no Intention of interfering In any way with Chinese customs: that they had simply come to China on a ship of their relatives as travelers anxious to see strange lands. "The explanation did not make the slightest difference; In fact, the ruling classes Insisted more strongly than before that the ladies should be de-porter'. de-porter'. At last, the authorities pronounced pro-nounced sentence, so to speak. They sent word to all the native merchants J that unless the two American women I were at once placed on board ship and i kept there, and from off Chinese soil, , until the vessel sailed, an edict would be issued which would permanently prohibit any further commercial relations rela-tions of any sort with the firm of A. A. Low & Co. "The merchants knew that the ruling rul-ing classes meant what they said-the said-the officers of the vessel likewise knew that the authorities were in dead earnest, and with neither officers nor merchants anxious to have the threatened edict Issued, the ladies were nt once escorted back to their quarters aboard ship and kept there until after the vessel had cleared the harbor and all dangor was past of disturbing large commercial relations that were profitable alike to China and America. "That, gentlemen, was the China of 1840 and thereabouts." (Copyright, 1910, by E. J. Edwards.) |