Page 192 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 192
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
destitute, but we are so thankful to be alive and well ourselves, and to
have our little Treasure safe with us, that nothing else seems to
matter much.”
We continued on as we were to Shiquan where Miss Begbie and Myrie joined us, and then went on
down to Ankang where the Norwegian Mission was working. They were kindness itself and kept us
there for a few days’ rest which I for one appreciated, but news of the Red movements was not good,
and they too were preparing to leave and go further down the river. We heard while there through the
military, that Xixiang, Chenggu and Yang Xian had all been taken by the Reds, and Hanzhong was
surrounded and being besieged. True or not we could not tell.
We hired three boats at Ankang (Hsingan) and prepared to go as far as Laohekou by boat as that is
only two days journey from Wuhan (Hankow). All the Moore family and Fred and Marj were in one
boat, the single ladies in another and the single men in a third. There was not much room to move,
but it was more comfortable travelling than the sedan chairs with the carriers who were quarrelling all
the way along. I wrote home about the trip and told them,
“Raymond had been wonderfully well all the way and we are so
thankful for it, though I think his little brain must be getting weary with
all the noises going on round him all day long. Poor little Baby, he is
not eight weeks old yet, but has had a pretty eventful life already. He
was just five weeks old the Sunday we left Hanzhong, and since then
he has slept in dirty Chinese inns, travelled for a week at a time
without a bath or change of clothes, and yet he flourishes and looks
so well and bonny. I will be glad when we get him to some place
where he can live a normal life.”
It took us six days from Ankang to Laohekou by boat.
At Laohekou the Norwegian missionaries there could not do enough for us and they had a beautiful
little bassinet prepared for Raymond. I couldn’t help laughing at the blissful look with which he
cuddled down into the warm soft bedding. He went straight off to sleep and slept for hours. When
Percy and I got into the big double bed provided for us with feather mattresses and eiderdowns, I
knew exactly how my baby felt and I murmured to Percy, “Let’s stay here for ever!” We went on from
there by bus to the railway, a day’s journey, and then by train to Wuhan (Hankow).
At Wuhan railway station Mr. Owen Warren, the Business Manager, met us from the CIM. He gave
one look at us, dirty, travel worn, dressed in very countrified Chinese gowns, and as quickly as
possible, bundled us all into taxis and got us to the Mission Home and out of sight! Wuhan was a very
modern city and all foreigners wore western dress, so we must have looked worse than ever in that
environment.
WUHAN (HANKOW)
Grannie and Grandad were asked by Shanghai to go right on down river to them, but the rest of us
were to stay in Wuhan until HQ decided what we should do, and also how serious the situation in
Shaanxi might be. The Stranges had eventually reached Xi’an, not by the route they had started to
take, but by a little used back route, so they at least were safe, but there was no word of the
Frenchams at all.
192
Amy Moore
destitute, but we are so thankful to be alive and well ourselves, and to
have our little Treasure safe with us, that nothing else seems to
matter much.”
We continued on as we were to Shiquan where Miss Begbie and Myrie joined us, and then went on
down to Ankang where the Norwegian Mission was working. They were kindness itself and kept us
there for a few days’ rest which I for one appreciated, but news of the Red movements was not good,
and they too were preparing to leave and go further down the river. We heard while there through the
military, that Xixiang, Chenggu and Yang Xian had all been taken by the Reds, and Hanzhong was
surrounded and being besieged. True or not we could not tell.
We hired three boats at Ankang (Hsingan) and prepared to go as far as Laohekou by boat as that is
only two days journey from Wuhan (Hankow). All the Moore family and Fred and Marj were in one
boat, the single ladies in another and the single men in a third. There was not much room to move,
but it was more comfortable travelling than the sedan chairs with the carriers who were quarrelling all
the way along. I wrote home about the trip and told them,
“Raymond had been wonderfully well all the way and we are so
thankful for it, though I think his little brain must be getting weary with
all the noises going on round him all day long. Poor little Baby, he is
not eight weeks old yet, but has had a pretty eventful life already. He
was just five weeks old the Sunday we left Hanzhong, and since then
he has slept in dirty Chinese inns, travelled for a week at a time
without a bath or change of clothes, and yet he flourishes and looks
so well and bonny. I will be glad when we get him to some place
where he can live a normal life.”
It took us six days from Ankang to Laohekou by boat.
At Laohekou the Norwegian missionaries there could not do enough for us and they had a beautiful
little bassinet prepared for Raymond. I couldn’t help laughing at the blissful look with which he
cuddled down into the warm soft bedding. He went straight off to sleep and slept for hours. When
Percy and I got into the big double bed provided for us with feather mattresses and eiderdowns, I
knew exactly how my baby felt and I murmured to Percy, “Let’s stay here for ever!” We went on from
there by bus to the railway, a day’s journey, and then by train to Wuhan (Hankow).
At Wuhan railway station Mr. Owen Warren, the Business Manager, met us from the CIM. He gave
one look at us, dirty, travel worn, dressed in very countrified Chinese gowns, and as quickly as
possible, bundled us all into taxis and got us to the Mission Home and out of sight! Wuhan was a very
modern city and all foreigners wore western dress, so we must have looked worse than ever in that
environment.
WUHAN (HANKOW)
Grannie and Grandad were asked by Shanghai to go right on down river to them, but the rest of us
were to stay in Wuhan until HQ decided what we should do, and also how serious the situation in
Shaanxi might be. The Stranges had eventually reached Xi’an, not by the route they had started to
take, but by a little used back route, so they at least were safe, but there was no word of the
Frenchams at all.
192
