by the veteran missionaries Dr. and Mrs. Dean, unaided save by native helpers, was at last reinforced by the arrival of the Rev. L. A. Eaton, Dec. 15, 1882. Mrs. Maria M. Dean, who for the benefit of her feeble health had been constrained to leave her husband alone and visit the States in the spring of 1881, was on the eve of returning to Siam when she was suddenly called (January 16, 1883) to exchange earth for heaven.
The joy of those in the field at such a welcome addition to their number as the opening year had brought them was, however, soon diminished. In March, only four months after his arrival in Bangkok, Mr. McLaren was snatched away by death, to the great regret of all, for he was a man of unusual promise. The Laos party suffered greatly from sickness after they reached Cheung Mai. Mr. Hearst was so prostrated by malarial fever that he was obliged to leave the Laos country, and, before the year was out, Siam itself for China and Japan. In the latter country his health so greatly improved that he hopes to remain and labor there. Dr. Cheek, with strength exhausted by his long and arduous labors, greatly needed change and rest, and with his family and Miss Edna Cole, whose health had become quite impaired, left Siam for a visit to the United States, arriving in New York in September, 1883.
