The many steps leading up to the main hall were (probably still are) pretty forbidding to little kids who could of course choose to stay on the ground level and attend outdoor Sunday School instead.
In the main hall, there is this famous Yamaha organ from 1909, preserved in the church when it was re-built in 1932. Also, the original bell is now on the ground of the kindergarten. In its heyday, tolling of the bell could be heard all the way across the river in Bali. See here for more details.And the construction history of the two buildings:
Master 洪泉"司" (洪仔泉) worked with Dr Mackay and built the Mackay Clinic in 1879 (洪 later also built the Oxford College and the old Mackay Residence).
The Church was designed by Dr Mackay's son 偕叡廉 and built in 1932 by Master 樹"司", i.e., 黃阿樹, son-in-law of 洪仔泉.
樹司 had also constructed several buildings in Tamkang High School and Tamsui Girls' High, e.g., the 姑娘樓, 八角塔, and 體育館. And the designers of these buildings also included Rev 吳威廉 (William Gauld, a mathematician) and Rev 羅虔益 (Kenneth W. Dowie, an engineer). Many who had worked with the 洪 father- and son-in-law team later became successful builders and contractors themselves.
I have lived so long in Tamsui but the church is so close yet so far away for a non Christian. At least I am glad I had a chance to step into the church once; the impression was so strong that I still remembered it up to this moment as if it were yesterday.
回覆刪除Cho-San
The church does leave a very strong impression even though it has never been a truly inviting place. I went to school in the kindergarten there. I remember sitting in a circle of little chairs in the classroom. And the teachers were twin-sisters. Some neighborhood kid once told me that this church worshiped 棉仔紙ㄟ, a reference that still escapes me to this day.
回覆刪除The Mackay Clinic was an ultra quiet place, hard to imagine the chaos when 200 wounded Qing soldiers were treated there. I remember the unique large brick floor tiles and the very boring Roma-ji lessons.
by modern day standards, Mckay was practicing medicine, or rather say dentistry without a license. he pulled several thousand teeth in his 20 years illigal practice.
回覆刪除Cho-San
Good point. Although the Mackay Clinic itself always had a western physician in charge, I suppose Mackay could claim that he was practicing under a physician's direction. There was a dental problem, presumably from gum diseases caused by malaria, prevalent in Taiwan at that time.
回覆刪除Ah, I saw the picture that Dr. MacKay was practicing his tooth pulling under the bamboo trees in the open field, no in the office. Yeah, you are right, one way to cut medical cost down is let one MD supervises 100 PAs. What a great idea. There will be only one medical school needed in the States instead of 100 as we have now. Even better the malpractice insurance would be paid and covered by the federal government under Obama’s new medical plan, I hope. BTW, the deceased Dr. Tsai 蔡医師 of 淡水衛生所, that located near Tamsui Elementary school as well as Dr. Chang 張医師, the third son of 張七郎医師 who went to Brazil, all not attended medical school. I wonder how they get their license. There must be a qualification examination or something like that in Taiwan.
回覆刪除Cho-San
Mackay had pulled 21,000 teeth all together. In the early days, he and 嚴清華 (the first convert) would travel to a new town, started pulling teeth and when a crowd gathered, he'd then preach.
回覆刪除This 1 MD + 100 PAs scenario may just happen because most doctors will quit to go to law schools and then serve on Obama's "death panel" or sue the remaining MDs for a living. The way it is now, collecting fees from Medicare and Medicaid is already a nightmare.
Now that you've mentioned it. The field outside 淡水衛生所 was where we went to watch cartoon movies from the US on how to avoid parasitic diseases. The same movies were shown numerous times and we were there just for the entertainment value.
I only remember 盧秋貴, one of the three 醫師公會會員 in Danshui in the 1940s. To practice medicine in Taiwan, you'd have to join the 醫師公會 which, after reviewing your qualifications, then grants the 執業執照. The national qualifying exams are a much later requirement. The key is the 醫師公會.
It seems 張七郎医師, his first son 張宗仁 and third son 張果仁 all died together?
盧秋貴is classmate of 杜聡明at Tamsui elementary school and medical school.(Ref: 阿片試食官)after quit his practice in Tamsui, 張七郎 moved to east Taiwan 鳳林 around 40s. he and his 3 sons were all captured in 228 for the unknown reason, so are all victims. they were all killed in the grave yard except number 3 依仁 who had a peper showing he served KMT army. the younest one was about my age. he smiles to every one. he is a minister, so I heard. BTW, Chang family are Hakka 客家。
回覆刪除張三
So Chang must have been the third 醫師公會會員 in Danshui, besides Lu and my father. Thank you very much, this is the information that I have been searching for.
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