of Firecrackers From Our Own Correspondent.
Soochow, Oct. 24.
One would judge from the crowd gathered on the Soochow Station platform at 8.45 this morning, that the Governor of Kiangse was about to arrive. The party, waiting impatiently for the arrival of the first train from Shanghai, was there to welcome Dr. and Mrs. Mason P. Young, of the Elizabeth Blake Hospital, on their return from: furlough. They arrived in Shanghai yesterday by the Admiral Line str. President Grant, from Seattle. All of the nurses from the Elizabeth Blake Hospital, and practically the on-tire staff, together with a host of foreign and Chinese friends, lined the platform; and as the train pulled in, the popping of the big and little firecrackers began. Banners with inscriptions of welcome, floated in the breeze, and the band from the large orphanage outside the Changmen furnished most royal welcoming music! Dr. and Mrs. Young richly deserve this hearty welcome back to Soochow, where they have so endeared themselves to both their Chinese and foreign friends during their first term of service: and everyone has the best wishes for this, their second term of service, just begun.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.