Page 45 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 45
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
SHANGAI POLICEMAN
From life on the ocean wave, Arthur turned his attention to travel in another form. The next time we
hear about him is that he was in Shanghai as a detective in the Shanghai Police Force. In later years
he kept his children and grandchildren, and indeed many others, spellbound by his stories of that
period of his life. He told of chasing dangerous criminals in the underworld of Shanghai. He
chased two Chinese down one street and, when he caught up with them, stopped them in mid flight by
grabbing each by their pigtails while he sat down suddenly on the pavement behind them, dragging
them both down with him.
On another occasion a search was being made for a particularly dangerous criminal. Word was
received that he was in a certain Shanghai hotel. So late that night Arthur and two other detectives
went there to see the manager. He told them three men were occupying adjoining rooms but he did
not know which was the leader. The three detectives decided to take one door each and, at a given
signal, each would charge his door. At the signal, Arthur smashed through his door with such force
that he went right through the mosquito net covering the bed, landing on top of the man lying there.
He proved to be the man they wanted, and was so taken by surprise that he had no time to draw the
gun hidden under his pillow. In a very short space of time, all three were taken off to the Police
Headquarters.
The Police Force in Shanghai did not believe in "all work and no play", so they built up their own
Rugby team of which Arthur Moore was one of the most enthusiastic members. Every Saturday
afternoon, a match would be arranged between the Police team and any other team they could find to
compete with. Sometimes it would be a local Chinese team and sometimes one made up from the
ships lying in Shanghai harbour. The game was always held on the Shanghai Racecourse and
always drew a good number of spectators.
At that time, the world Headquarters of the China Inland Mission was centred at Wusung Road in
Shanghai, and Rugby fans at the CIM always took keen interest in the weekly rugger match. One
who never failed to attend if he was free was Mr. D.E.Hoste who had taken Hudson Taylor's place as
Director of the Mission. Himself a Cambridge "blue" nicknamed "the Tiger" in his day, his greatest
relaxation was to get down to the racecourse on Saturday afternoons to watch the match. He soon
began to recognise the members of the Police team and Arthur Moore, with his broad shoulders and
strong physique, early caught his attention. He delighted to watch him work his way through a scrum
or shoot a goal with force and precision. On one occasion he watched him break a goal post with the
force of his kick! He began to pray for this young man whose name he did not know, asking God that
He might commit his life to Him and use that strong body of his in His service.
CONVERSION
It was some time later that Arthur Moore, when walking along one of the main streets of Shanghai was
stopped by a young Australian and offered a Christian tract. He took it, but his first impulse was to
crumple it up and throw it in the gutter. On second thoughts and, perhaps a little curious to know why
a "decent looking chap like that" should spend his time giving out Christian pamphlets, he stuffed it in
his pocket. Later that night he read it and always looked back on that experience as the first step
towards his becoming a Christian.
The young man, whose name was Fred Arnott, was a member of the CIM. He had been brought to
Shanghai from the interior of China on suspicion of having contracted TB. While he was under
45
Amy Moore
SHANGAI POLICEMAN
From life on the ocean wave, Arthur turned his attention to travel in another form. The next time we
hear about him is that he was in Shanghai as a detective in the Shanghai Police Force. In later years
he kept his children and grandchildren, and indeed many others, spellbound by his stories of that
period of his life. He told of chasing dangerous criminals in the underworld of Shanghai. He
chased two Chinese down one street and, when he caught up with them, stopped them in mid flight by
grabbing each by their pigtails while he sat down suddenly on the pavement behind them, dragging
them both down with him.
On another occasion a search was being made for a particularly dangerous criminal. Word was
received that he was in a certain Shanghai hotel. So late that night Arthur and two other detectives
went there to see the manager. He told them three men were occupying adjoining rooms but he did
not know which was the leader. The three detectives decided to take one door each and, at a given
signal, each would charge his door. At the signal, Arthur smashed through his door with such force
that he went right through the mosquito net covering the bed, landing on top of the man lying there.
He proved to be the man they wanted, and was so taken by surprise that he had no time to draw the
gun hidden under his pillow. In a very short space of time, all three were taken off to the Police
Headquarters.
The Police Force in Shanghai did not believe in "all work and no play", so they built up their own
Rugby team of which Arthur Moore was one of the most enthusiastic members. Every Saturday
afternoon, a match would be arranged between the Police team and any other team they could find to
compete with. Sometimes it would be a local Chinese team and sometimes one made up from the
ships lying in Shanghai harbour. The game was always held on the Shanghai Racecourse and
always drew a good number of spectators.
At that time, the world Headquarters of the China Inland Mission was centred at Wusung Road in
Shanghai, and Rugby fans at the CIM always took keen interest in the weekly rugger match. One
who never failed to attend if he was free was Mr. D.E.Hoste who had taken Hudson Taylor's place as
Director of the Mission. Himself a Cambridge "blue" nicknamed "the Tiger" in his day, his greatest
relaxation was to get down to the racecourse on Saturday afternoons to watch the match. He soon
began to recognise the members of the Police team and Arthur Moore, with his broad shoulders and
strong physique, early caught his attention. He delighted to watch him work his way through a scrum
or shoot a goal with force and precision. On one occasion he watched him break a goal post with the
force of his kick! He began to pray for this young man whose name he did not know, asking God that
He might commit his life to Him and use that strong body of his in His service.
CONVERSION
It was some time later that Arthur Moore, when walking along one of the main streets of Shanghai was
stopped by a young Australian and offered a Christian tract. He took it, but his first impulse was to
crumple it up and throw it in the gutter. On second thoughts and, perhaps a little curious to know why
a "decent looking chap like that" should spend his time giving out Christian pamphlets, he stuffed it in
his pocket. Later that night he read it and always looked back on that experience as the first step
towards his becoming a Christian.
The young man, whose name was Fred Arnott, was a member of the CIM. He had been brought to
Shanghai from the interior of China on suspicion of having contracted TB. While he was under
45
