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76

Dorothy spent most of the day hunting jobs and houses.

Tuesday, 1 September

This morning I went up to the Y.S.C.S. to see how things are going. I saw Pettus, Hummel, and Mrs. Porter. The library has been moved, but there is a great deal of work to be done there in the way of cataloging and arranging. I'll have enough to do to keep me busy.

Dorothy again spent most of the day trying to get the arrangements completed for renting the house the girls have finally decided to take.

Wednesday, 2 September

This afternoon we went outside of Chienmen to do some errands, and ordered the brass drawer-pulls for my new desk. They are to be made Chinese style from our own design. In the evening we went to the Pei Hai to the lantern festival of the Moon Feast, the fifteenth of the eighth moon.

The Pei Hai used to be the exclusive playground of the emperors. Under the Republic it has been left more or less idle, available to people who could get special passes, or on certain days to the paying public. During the summer it has been much repaired. Roadways have been improved, electric lights installed, parts repainted and put in good condition, concessions let for tea houses and restaurants, and the whole thing opened to the public as Central Park is open, on the payment of an admission fee that is nominal to most people, but which serves to keep out the beggars and coolies. All of the evening, as I wached the crowd of students and men, women, and children of the middle and upper classes, where wealth and learning were both evident, I rejoiced inwardly and outwardly that this gorgeous sopt, rich in historical association and in natural and artificial beauty, was at last really the property of the people. And though there is no longer the feeling of pleasant privacy when one walks there, it is now certain that the place will be kept in good repair, which compensates much for the tea houses