* HORRORS OF CHINA TOLD
IN LETTER TO BREVARD
(Continued from page one)
leave the city and had spent the en
tire morning helping: to evacuate
them. I had asked him if he thought
it necessary for me to leave also and
told him that of course 1 would go
if he thought best, but preferred
.staying at the Consulate. He said it
was perfectly safe for me there as
they would never dare to touch any
thing at the Consulate. Many peo
ple had sent at least n box of their
valuables to Shanghai but, deeming
this absolutely unnecessary, I had
not done so. When I heard the siege
of the city commence, I did what I
had planned to do? put in a vacant
office safe all the silver that 1 could
get in and a few household curios,
but the safe would not hold very
much and lots of things were left
out
A Two-Day Siege
The siege continued for two days
and at about the same time we first
heard the booming of guns, we heard
them cease much to our surprise.
Kveryone, including the Chinese, had
thought the siege would last a week
or longer, but the Northern forces,
for some unknown reuson, gave up
almost immediately, and the 50,000
or 60,000 troops that we had been
watching march through the streets
of Nanking for the past ten days
were .on their way out again, and
you can imagine the clatter and
confusion of their retreat. They
were most courteous to foreigners as
far as I can hear, save in one or two
instances, and I stood at our gate
for quite a while and watched them
go by and not one said or looked in
sulting. Poor things they were too
intent on getting away and saving
their own skins.
We had at the Consulate, a guard
of a dozen sailors, with one officer,
a young lieutenant. These men had
been there several days just as a
special caution against anyone com
ing in or trying to look, as might
huppen from stray people. We had
a signalman who kept in touch with
another signalman in the Standard
Oil residence which was just inside
one of the loops of the city navy
some 2 1-2 miles from us. This sig
nalman in turn was to signal to our
gunboats in the harbor which ejuli!
be seen from there, but not from
our house, in case of disturbances in
the city.
When the troops started retreat
ing through the city past our front
gate, our sailors threw up entrench
ments at the front gate of boxes
filled with earth, in cas? of need.
The gate was a tall double one of
wrought iron and was some ten feet
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high. The rest of the place was sur
rounded with a wall of some eight
or nine feet high as were many
houses out here. All night we could
hear stray shots about the place, not
from anyone shooting at us but from
Southern soldiers hunting down
Northern ones. All our sailors were
t>n duty patrol ing the place, and
several of them caught men trying to
get over the wall-whether soldiers or
poor countrymen from around our
;?lnce trying to get in for protection
could not be told, as generally only
their heads would appear over the
top of the walls and the sailors
would beat them back with the butts
of their rifles.' Our. compound was
filled with the poor villagers around
our place who had come in for pro
tection. You s(te ^though we live in
the city, the place\vhere the Consul
ate is located is in reality only a lit
tle village and there is open country
all around with little farms stutter
ed about. The real congested city
is many miles further out, but the
city wall from 40 to 90 feet high in
places surrounds the whole place,
and when the retreat commenced,
the gates were all closed and none
got in or out except those soldiers
who were retreating at one end of
the city and those Southerners who
wera entering at the other end of
the city. Our Vice Consul who had
gone out of the city on business
down on the water front, could not
get back in, so was not with us at
the Consulate when we went through
all our troubles.
An All-Night Watch
We had a very hectic night and
none of us took off our . clothes ex
cept the children. I insisted 011
J. K.'s lying down about 12 o'clock
as things were rather quiet about
then and he slept for five hours and
it was probably his salvation the
next day as he had been having very
little sleep and had been under a
great strain for a week or more
and could never have gotten through
the day without those hours of rest
he had.
We were all up again at about 5
o'clock and by six or seven the
Southern troops were pouring past
the gate, but they seemed to be a
decent lot and J. K. returned once
?ro:w the. front gate and said, "I
don't believe these fellows are going
to bother us, they seem friendly
enough ? I even saw one fellow
???: -in at our flag and salute it!"
This however, must just have been
a regiment that was alright, for by
eight o'clock we began to get re
ports down from the missionary end
of town that looting had started up
there, and soon we received word of
the wanton shooting in the back of
'Jr. Williams, Vice President of the
y un)iing University. My husband
advised all with whom he could get
touch to offer absolutely no re
stance, as that way lay their only
chance of being saved. Few stray
s.vjts fired by some poor frenzied
i.tisionary trying to save his little
all from those fiends Would only have
meant sure death for them and more
troops on the scene.
Firearm* Hidden
Our own men were also ordered
to hide all firearms and to take away
the earthworks at the gate. J. K.
feeling that when, as must happen,
.some Southern official called on him
' in the course of the day, and found
[ such evidence of planned ijesis
Itance, it would not go well with us,
I and we stood a better chance un
1
When gasoline
is as good as f
"Standard " any
radical improve
ment is out of
the Question.
"STANDARD"
GASOLINE
\
M.a4o ?n Carolina
j .iini'.'d. It ciime hard for the sail
. ? us ?>!??? y sucK instructioiisi but
' ? ni\v ;md arms were hidden but
with mi rye to wheye ihey had been
put, an. I i In- front Rati* U'ft locked
and tin' guards on duty about the
place,
1 had packed the day before a
suit case because J. K. had said he
might put Hie and Mrs. Roberts and
Jhe ch'ildren aboard a Standard Oil
boat which was due there and we
could come back next day if every
thing was alright or go oil t<> Shang
hai if necessary. Hut the retreat of
the soldiers was so sudden that this
>vas out of the question. I had
these packed with most of thu chil
dren's clothing and all the things
that I would l>e wearing in the
spring, and things that 1 would need
? ill so a complete inventory of all
our possessions, my personal check J
book and a gold check for $100 that
1 had hi on holding' for a rise in ex
change before deposit in bank of
Shanghai. 1 packed that morning
also a suit case with all J. K.'s good
shirts, some never even worn, all his
underclothing I could grab up and
things I could, see lying around.
These 1 put in the attic along with
pictures of tho family that I thought
might as well be out of the way. I
stuck into trunks whatever 1 saw
lying around and 1 tried to hide
good, blankets and comforts and
thing3, but I didn't think they
would dare, but after the killing of
Dr. Williams I was nervous and
thought it just as well to put things
away. When I had stuck away all
that I could I went into the nursery
and stood at the window with Shan
non and watched some cavalry out
in the fields conducting a hunt for
a poor Northern soldier that Shan
non said she had seen go into a hut.
About this time I saw my first Sou
thern soldiers. They were on the
run carrying their flag over by the
deserted "northern barracks which we
could see from the window. They
were evidently hunting Northern sol
diers. Then tiring of standing at
the window I sat {down at the sewing
machine and did a little sewing to
distract my mind. All of a sudden
I heard J. K. down stairs call "Get
your arms, men, we've got to run
"for it." Imagine the horror this
struck to my soul. It was 2 1-4 to
3 miles across country to the Stand
ard Oil house where we should have
to go, all open country tod. I rush
ed down stairs and found J. K. com- j
ing out of the office and he said, I
"Earl ? Mr. Hobart of the Standard
Oil ? has just phoned that they have |
looted the British Consulate, killed !
the Consul (they only wounded him
we found later) and are on their |
way to the American Consulate/ ' ;
J. K. could hardly bsar to leave the
Consulate, even though he could do
no one any good by staying there,
and even after we were ready to j
leave, said "You men take my wife ;
and the children and go on and I
will stay here.' But I said that if i
he stayed I would stay, and the
others told him it was simply mad
ness and useless sacrifice, so he Con
sented to come with us. 1 -PUM
sweaters as well as coats onv the |
children and myself in order tg have
all ' the warm clothing we/ cgjlld
changed Shannons shoes to a heavier j
pair suitable for cross country ?o
ing, gtdbbed a tin of milk and j , a
couple of apples for them, grabbed ,
a couple of dozen of handkerchiefs
out of a drawer, and went; down;
stairs. While J. K. was talking to !
someone my eye lit on a gorgeous^
bowl of violets that * it had taken
Shannon and me an h6ur the p re
vious afternoon to pick, and I
thought that if we bad to leave I
might as well leave with colors fly
ing, so to speak, so I carefully pin
>-o,l on a huge bun'ch and their fra
grance was with me throughout the
terrible day.
Start to Run
We had with us a nian who had t
i come into the Consulate the evening ;
j before and who- couldn't get out j
i when the j-out started, some Seventh |
I Day Adventists, who had run to the i
Consulate that morning early when :
I their place, which was nearer than
| other missions to ours, had been loot
j ed, our party of sailors and ourselves ,
' so that when we started we were a
: party of 24 people. I asked J. K. 1
if we should try to carry any suit .
cases and he said if any of the ser
| vants would volunteer to carry them ?
and when he asked old Lao Jong, ;
who had been with us for about 11 j
years steped forward and the gate- j
man attached to the Consulate, and j
said they would carry them. We took ?
a good sized American flag, and the 1
little party started through the
pantry for the back gate. When
. we got to the gate someone peeked
! out but saw some soldiers out there j
so we waited sometime before ven
jturing out. At last we got outside
i.the gate, turned our feet across
by the little winding foot path that
ll'had gone over a hundred times.
We had not bee a under way five min
j utes before we were spotted by some
| Southern soldiers about a block or so
; away and they immediately started
' to flank us firing at us constantly,
j We were running as fast as we
could, J. K. leading the way un
i armed since he knew the path, then
j the various civilians of the party
! with the armed sailors interspersed.
; Spencer had to be put down as the
men could not run and carry him too
land the dear little fellow ran with
' us without a murmur or outcry the
whole of that terrible 2 1-2 miles as
(did Shannon. They were perfectly
' wonderful and how they ever did it
1 don't know. After the first few
minutes of running I found myself
completely winded, for I was ter
ribly out of condition, not having
,takcn any exercise to amount to any
thing since I had come back from
America.
Intense Suffering
From thon on I suffered tortures
lmth mentally and physically. I
would glance ahead and sec J. K
"...imed leading the way across
thos:> unending h;!i> i.n.l valley. I'd
' -iv the little heads of mv children
bobbing along with the bullets whis
tling over them, and I would think
that if I should see nnf of them go
down that I should r.ot be able to
it.
I'hv-icallv. my tongue f"lt the size
..i a ioaf of dry bread, ard my heart
, .i lo 1 so that often I could no"
' , v.-t - '-.in- .v .?;!<! 1...
Mack bi:foro mo. I woiild stumtilc
I ;tiiii it would seem as though sudden
j ly I luul become a hunchback, for 1
. Wouldn't l>i' able to straighten up
for some time, but would have to do
it gradually still running? always
running with the sickening whine of
bullets around me. all the time, and
my eyes straining ahead for a sight
[of my children. The only way 1
| could keep up was by having some
lone on each side, of nn> to lean on
i as 1 ran, otherwise I could never have
| made it. Several times I thought I
! would have to give up that I: could
not go another step, and then I
I would stumble on, know I had to.
! The country was heavy ami we had
j to climb hills and go down the steep
j sides, slipping and jumping across
ditches. Raeh time I saw a little
i hillock or a steep one 1 would think
surely we shall have refuge, but as
soon as we would round one knoll
and be let alone by one group of sol
diers others in huts in the surrround
ing country would take up the chase.
Finally the cry, went up that one of
j our sailors had been wounded but
we had to press on and leave him ?
one of the hardest things that we
had to do. He was defending our
rear and it seems that three soldiers
got within 50 yards of us and one
of them shot him in the back. He
fell to the ground and killed two of j
those fiends after he fell, and the
others ran away. He was dragged in
to a hut by two Chinese farmers who i
afterwards took him up to the
Standard Oil hill where he was able '
to account for two more soldiers
later on when we had to defend that j
pla.ee.
We pressed forward and soon lost 1
an essential part of a Lewis gun I
that we were lugging along expect
ing to count on it as the last resort.
By now we were running down a
road wider than the path we had
been on anil suddenly J. K. cried 4ut
to climb a fence and get into a dark ,
banbo grove to the side of the road. I
It seemed that the soldiers were
gaining on us and that this was our
only hope. How we ever got into 1
this grove 1 don't know for it had
a stout woven fence around it, but
we managed to somehow, and were |
able to walk instead of run for a few
moments. j
When we came out of this grove
there was never as much firing on
us as up to that time, but there was
some and we did not dare stop for
we never knew what lay before us,
and we were only a little over half
way there.
A Rough Road
We ran on up steep hills and
down steep inclines and finally came
to a natural protection of a hillside
that was protected on three sides.
Here I found the children and most
of the party resting, and Shannon
ran up to me and insisted that I sit
down and was very solicitious about
me. Someone gave me a swallow of
water from a canteen and then we
went on finally coming in sight of
the steep hill on which the tandard
(Oil house was located. Here I gave
out completely and told the men
they would have to make a "basket"
of their hands and carry me up as
l^y heart was about to burst and my
knees, 'no matter how willing 1 was,
eruinpled up beneath me, ami. I
could not go any farther. I heard
J. K. panting beside ntc as ho gasped
Out; "I am about all in; 1 eoudin't
haw gone much farther. Ami one
of. the men was literally foaming al
the mouth and dead white, so they
say when we got to the top of the
hill. When wv reached the top and
had severM hundred yards to ,walk
before we reached the house 1 made
them put me down, for I said 1 was
not going to be carried in, and .so
they did, but I just managed to
reach the house, and one of the men
who met us there said he thought
surely I was dead, 1 looked so ter
rible.
We found at the Standard Oil
house quite a party also ? -the guard
of eight yr nine, the Hobarts- ? he is
the manager of the Standard Oil in
Nanking, and they are our best
friends there ? several Americans
and also several British who had run
up there from the British Consulate
in the valley below when the South
erners had started looting there.
Altogether we were just under ?>0
people.
And then commenced the second
part of our adventure which nearly
culminated in our death ? a death
that would have no doubt been a
horrible one for those who ..would
have never been contented to kill 'us
.mercifully, they were so infuriated.
Mrs. Hobart, the children and I.
were put upstairs in a small room on
the least dangerous side of the
house and two men were appointed
to stay with us all the time- ? various
of the men taking turn about.
It was very hard waiting at times,
but at first I was so exhausted that
I could only lie on a couch and try
not to think anyway. The children
rested on a pallet on the floor as we
had to keep down for fear of con
stant sniping that was going on all
the time; The men were down
stairs and some were at points of
vantage up staira while the signal
man whs up in the attic in constant
communication with the warships in
the harbor.
Various groups of soldiers kept
coming up to the house in constantly
increasing numbers, demanding
money.. J. K. had collected all the
money the various men had and had
divided it out into amounts of $50
ALL KINDS OF CAKES
We bake our cakes fresh every day,
but if you want anything out of the
ordinary we shall be glad to make it
in accordance with your wishes. In
our bakery we have every facility
for turning out the very best in
cakes and pastries as well as the
best in quality of bread and rolls.
There is no need to do your own
baking when we can do it for you.
PKILIPP'S BAKERY
or so tluit ho would he able io ke?p
the men off as long as possible, hop
iii); meantime for relief- tie was
trying frantically to net in touch by
phone with some responsible person
to get n guard sent up to take us out
to the water front, but without suc
cess. The soldiers grew more and
more insulted, snatching watches and
jewelry from the men and jtnkiiiK J
Iv.'s and Mr. Hobart's glasses away
from them. Time and time ajjuin
these two wonderful men risked their
lives for the rest of us by walking
out to meet these ruffians uniirmed,
and trying to parley with them nnd
get them to let us alone. Several
times they said to one another as
they went out to meet particularly
truculent soldiers, "Well, this is the
end ? tht>y will kill <>ne or the other
or both of us this time." They bad
; riflles pointed at their breasts many
: times and one of them nearly cut
Mr. Hobarts hand off. It would
have been death for us to have
started firing on these men for Jiey
I were so many more than we were
'and could pet thousands to come to
their aid while our nearest aid could
come only from the gun boats lying
several miles out in the harbor. So
J. K. had made them put away their
arms as he had done in the morn
ing and some soldiers asked if we
had any arms and demanded t<> have
them. J. K. eannily gave them a
few, but kept most of them of
course.
Finally those fellows got more and
more truculent and stopped demand
ing money and said they wanted to
get in the house. They were al
ready looting the empty Standard Oil
house across the way, and we knew
it would be but a short time before
they woud start on us and an end of
some sort must come.
1 J. K. had made superhuman ef
forts all today to get us relief and
| everyone says he was wonderful.
jOnce at the beginning when he first
- started talking to these soldiers he
: started to tell them that he was the
| American Consul, but they rudely
interrupted him and said "We don't
j care whether you are American,
British or French, we mean to kill ?
you all."
(CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK)
Fancy
Cakes
Brevard, N. C.
t
> * #'
Safety and. Convenience
?v
vv*:'
IT IS SAID that in some foreign countries,
in order to send money safely -from one
V ?
town to another, it is cut in halves.. .. Each
half being sent at different dates and both
halves being required for the money to be
valid. . - ! , 1
Such methods seem very crude in this
country where people realize the conven
ience and safety ,of a checking account,
and know the value of their cancelled
checks as receipts and records.
We cordially invite you to open your ac
count with us and take advantage of the
facilities we have to offer.
BREVARD BANKING CO.
? .j