Page 231 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 231
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
When we lay down for the night, our seven girls, the two children and ourselves, all tried to sleep with
our heads against the partition and our feet pointing out towards the Chinese who were doing the
same thing against the opposite partition. It was difficult to keep our feet from touching theirs. For
meals we had brought supplies sufficient to last us for the two or three days we were to be on the ship.
Everybody had done the same. In other sections of the hold there were some Chinese, some
Russians and some Japanese and, at the end nearest the stairs, was piled mountains of luggage - our
own presumably amongst it.
We were overcrowded, far from comfortable and lacking all sense of privacy, but worse was to follow.
A storm blew up as often happens in the China Sea and we had to keep the portholes shut to prevent
the waves coming in and the hatches above us were all battened down. It was stifling and then as the
ship rolled and tossed, people were being sick everywhere. The floors of our ‘cabins’ (sleeping areas)
were only inches above the corridors, and most people, as they felt sick, just leaned over and vomited
into the passage. If we wanted to get to the toilets, we had to pick our way through the mess. We all
tried to hold out as long as possible, but it was no use trying to explain that to Alan, and it seemed as if
all too often he wanted to go to the toilet.
With all the mess, I dared not let him go alone, so each time I had to go with him. The rolling of the
ship and the awful mess in the passages and the smell that pervaded everything was bad enough, but
when we reached the washrooms and toilets, it was even worse. The wash basins were full and
overflowing where people had been sick, and the toilets in such a filthy mess that I had to carry Alan to
find a reasonably clean place. Then we had to go back through it all again! Percy was feeling so
nauseated that he dared not move. The new girls were horrified at this their first taste of life in China,
and I couldn’t ask any of them to take Alan for me, so each time he felt the urge, I had to steel myself
to face it all again. Fortunately I am a fairly good sailor and was thankful I was not feeling nauseated
myself.
On one of these trips, I noticed two girls, one about twenty and the other probably sixteen or
seventeen, obviously sisters and clinging together as if they had not a friend in the world. I found out
later that they were two white Russians who had escaped from communist Russia but had no
passports. Though they had managed to get on the ship, they could not get off as no country would
take them without passports. They had already been to Vladivostock and down to Shanghai and been
refused entry at both places. Now they were on their way back to Vladivostock, but had no idea what
would happen to them there. I knew something of the plight of these refugees from communist Russia
as many of them had passed through north west China, but no other had quite touched my heart as
these two lonely girls did.
QINGDAO & THE BEGINNING OF THE CROSS CHINA JOURNEY
We reached Qingdao safely at last and found Mr. Glittenberg, our business manager, there waiting for
us. He took charge of us and our luggage, got us through Customs with nothing to pay, and then took
us to where we were to stay. Percy and I and the children were to stay in the Mission Home where my
first senior missionary, Miss Kitty Cooke was in charge. The girls were taken to the home of the
Scotts, Betty Stamm’s parents. They were on furlough and the CIM rented their house for the year
they would be away.
While in Qingdao we received a card from Ailsa Carr written on board the ‘Shengking’ on which they
and Raymond were travelling to Chefoo. It was so welcome, as our hearts had been with our little boy
ever since he left us and we had no idea when mail would catch up with us, if at all, before we reached
Shaanxi. The card said,
231
Amy Moore
When we lay down for the night, our seven girls, the two children and ourselves, all tried to sleep with
our heads against the partition and our feet pointing out towards the Chinese who were doing the
same thing against the opposite partition. It was difficult to keep our feet from touching theirs. For
meals we had brought supplies sufficient to last us for the two or three days we were to be on the ship.
Everybody had done the same. In other sections of the hold there were some Chinese, some
Russians and some Japanese and, at the end nearest the stairs, was piled mountains of luggage - our
own presumably amongst it.
We were overcrowded, far from comfortable and lacking all sense of privacy, but worse was to follow.
A storm blew up as often happens in the China Sea and we had to keep the portholes shut to prevent
the waves coming in and the hatches above us were all battened down. It was stifling and then as the
ship rolled and tossed, people were being sick everywhere. The floors of our ‘cabins’ (sleeping areas)
were only inches above the corridors, and most people, as they felt sick, just leaned over and vomited
into the passage. If we wanted to get to the toilets, we had to pick our way through the mess. We all
tried to hold out as long as possible, but it was no use trying to explain that to Alan, and it seemed as if
all too often he wanted to go to the toilet.
With all the mess, I dared not let him go alone, so each time I had to go with him. The rolling of the
ship and the awful mess in the passages and the smell that pervaded everything was bad enough, but
when we reached the washrooms and toilets, it was even worse. The wash basins were full and
overflowing where people had been sick, and the toilets in such a filthy mess that I had to carry Alan to
find a reasonably clean place. Then we had to go back through it all again! Percy was feeling so
nauseated that he dared not move. The new girls were horrified at this their first taste of life in China,
and I couldn’t ask any of them to take Alan for me, so each time he felt the urge, I had to steel myself
to face it all again. Fortunately I am a fairly good sailor and was thankful I was not feeling nauseated
myself.
On one of these trips, I noticed two girls, one about twenty and the other probably sixteen or
seventeen, obviously sisters and clinging together as if they had not a friend in the world. I found out
later that they were two white Russians who had escaped from communist Russia but had no
passports. Though they had managed to get on the ship, they could not get off as no country would
take them without passports. They had already been to Vladivostock and down to Shanghai and been
refused entry at both places. Now they were on their way back to Vladivostock, but had no idea what
would happen to them there. I knew something of the plight of these refugees from communist Russia
as many of them had passed through north west China, but no other had quite touched my heart as
these two lonely girls did.
QINGDAO & THE BEGINNING OF THE CROSS CHINA JOURNEY
We reached Qingdao safely at last and found Mr. Glittenberg, our business manager, there waiting for
us. He took charge of us and our luggage, got us through Customs with nothing to pay, and then took
us to where we were to stay. Percy and I and the children were to stay in the Mission Home where my
first senior missionary, Miss Kitty Cooke was in charge. The girls were taken to the home of the
Scotts, Betty Stamm’s parents. They were on furlough and the CIM rented their house for the year
they would be away.
While in Qingdao we received a card from Ailsa Carr written on board the ‘Shengking’ on which they
and Raymond were travelling to Chefoo. It was so welcome, as our hearts had been with our little boy
ever since he left us and we had no idea when mail would catch up with us, if at all, before we reached
Shaanxi. The card said,
231
