Page 131 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 131
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
(Left) Captain of the cricket team 1926
(Below) A “House” picture. The three House leaders
are in the centre of the middle row: Gardiner, Best
and Moore
which was much nearer than Gansu, and made it possible for the school children to go home for the
winter holidays. Their parents sometimes came for the summer to Chefoo where they rented a house
that usually went by the name of “Moore’s Fort”, and where they could all enjoy living together as a
family. In later years, Percy looked back with gratitude to his parents and the way in which they tried
by all means to compensate for the fact that there had to be separations. He recalled that, no matter
how hard up they were (and school bills often came to more than their Mission remittance), they
always tried to see that their children never felt deprived of the things other children were able to have.
Some of those holidays on the beach at Chefoo, when the Moore and Andrew families with Granny
and Grandad George Andrew often there too, lived in Percy’s memory as highlights of his school days.
Some of the friends that Percy made during his years at Chefoo remained lifelong friends - people like
Arnold Lea, Henry Guiness, Wally Pike and others, and whenever their paths crossed in later years,
we would be sure to spend a hilarious evening as they relived the past. Percy’s love of peanut butter
(‘pean’) stemmed from his Chefoo days, also his dislike for such things as custard or sago (‘frog’s
eyes’), bread puddings or rice in any form except the traditional Chinese style.
I can recall one hilarious evening in the old CIM home at Coppins Grove in Hawthorn, Melbourne,
when Percy was already a Field Superintendent in Shaanxi, China, and the father of three children.
Jack Palmer (‘Biscuits’) was visiting from Sydney and a group of Chefooites had gathered round the
fire one cold winter evening. Inevitably the talk turned back to Chefoo days, and somebody
mentioned the periodical ‘stinks’ which blew up in the senior forms when staff felt there were letters
being exchanged between boys and girls. Jack mentioned a certain ‘May’ whom he had admired
from a distance and whom he considered as his, but Percy interrupted, “Hey! Wait a minute! She was
my girl!” Roars of laughter as Jack hotly denied this, and even louder laughter when Ruth Porteous
very solemnly pronounced, “I really think she was Percy’s”. When she could be heard she went on to
say that Percy had been very clever at persuading May’s younger brother to carry letters for him when
he was going to see her. May had just received one such letter when the warning went round that a
‘stink’ was coming up. Where could she hide it? The Girls School steps were being repaired so May
quickly lifted one of the stone slabs and secreted Percy’s letter beneath it. Alas, before the ‘stink’
blew over and she could retrieve it, workmen had cemented over the step, and the letter was sealed
there for ever!
131
Amy Moore
(Left) Captain of the cricket team 1926
(Below) A “House” picture. The three House leaders
are in the centre of the middle row: Gardiner, Best
and Moore
which was much nearer than Gansu, and made it possible for the school children to go home for the
winter holidays. Their parents sometimes came for the summer to Chefoo where they rented a house
that usually went by the name of “Moore’s Fort”, and where they could all enjoy living together as a
family. In later years, Percy looked back with gratitude to his parents and the way in which they tried
by all means to compensate for the fact that there had to be separations. He recalled that, no matter
how hard up they were (and school bills often came to more than their Mission remittance), they
always tried to see that their children never felt deprived of the things other children were able to have.
Some of those holidays on the beach at Chefoo, when the Moore and Andrew families with Granny
and Grandad George Andrew often there too, lived in Percy’s memory as highlights of his school days.
Some of the friends that Percy made during his years at Chefoo remained lifelong friends - people like
Arnold Lea, Henry Guiness, Wally Pike and others, and whenever their paths crossed in later years,
we would be sure to spend a hilarious evening as they relived the past. Percy’s love of peanut butter
(‘pean’) stemmed from his Chefoo days, also his dislike for such things as custard or sago (‘frog’s
eyes’), bread puddings or rice in any form except the traditional Chinese style.
I can recall one hilarious evening in the old CIM home at Coppins Grove in Hawthorn, Melbourne,
when Percy was already a Field Superintendent in Shaanxi, China, and the father of three children.
Jack Palmer (‘Biscuits’) was visiting from Sydney and a group of Chefooites had gathered round the
fire one cold winter evening. Inevitably the talk turned back to Chefoo days, and somebody
mentioned the periodical ‘stinks’ which blew up in the senior forms when staff felt there were letters
being exchanged between boys and girls. Jack mentioned a certain ‘May’ whom he had admired
from a distance and whom he considered as his, but Percy interrupted, “Hey! Wait a minute! She was
my girl!” Roars of laughter as Jack hotly denied this, and even louder laughter when Ruth Porteous
very solemnly pronounced, “I really think she was Percy’s”. When she could be heard she went on to
say that Percy had been very clever at persuading May’s younger brother to carry letters for him when
he was going to see her. May had just received one such letter when the warning went round that a
‘stink’ was coming up. Where could she hide it? The Girls School steps were being repaired so May
quickly lifted one of the stone slabs and secreted Percy’s letter beneath it. Alas, before the ‘stink’
blew over and she could retrieve it, workmen had cemented over the step, and the letter was sealed
there for ever!
131
