Page 82 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 82
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
After leaving Saigon the weather got worse and they suffered more than ever from seasickness until
on the 22nd George records that he went to the purser and asked for a change of cabin further
forward, where the motion of the ship would nor affect them so much. They felt much better after the
change. They reached Hongkong at 9:15 on the morning of the 23rd, and on the 26th they were
anchored at the South Manchurian Railway Wharf in Shanghai. Mr. and Mrs. Westnidge were there to
welcome them, and George's comment was 'lovely to be home again'.
BACK 'HOME' IN CHINA
He speaks of long talks with Mr. Hoste and that their "designation" was to be held over until a letter
from George Andrew Snr. was received at Headquarters. In the meantime, he and Fanny caught up
with many old friends in Shanghai including the Ballers, the Judds and the Herberts, all familiar names
in CIM circles.
On 12 March they left Shanghai for Chefoo taking with them the two Judd girls, Kathie and Maybeth.
They arrived in Chefoo harbour about 3:30 p.m. on the 17th and George recorded that "our ship was
immediately boarded by hundreds of coolies wanting passage to Vladivostock. Owing to these
crowds on the gangway, we were prevented from leaving the ship for an hour." There was a joyful
reunion with their own two children, Leslie and Aileen and with the Moore children and they found
themselves very quickly again absorbed into the life of the schools.
But life never remained uneventful for long for George Findlay Andrew! On Easter Monday, 28 March,
he received a telegram from Shanghai: "Griffith, Shunteh, ill could you go and give assistance?" He
briefly states, "Replied saying I would leave in a few days."
Leslie and Aileen were now living at home as day scholars at the Chefoo Schools and on the 30th
they had a picnic in the afternoon to celebrate Leslie and Aileen's birthdays as well as those of their
nieces Jessie (Meili) and Marjorie Moore which were also in March. On Thursday 31st at 8 p.m. he
boarded the SS Fengtien and by Saturday 2 April he was in Tianjin where his brother Arthur was
waiting to meet him. Arthur, though by this time 30 years of age, was still a bachelor, but he was very
soon to become engaged to the eldest of the Levitsky sisters, so while George was in Tianjin they
were both invited to tea with the Levitsky family.
George himself was staying at the CIM and a lot of his time was taken up getting passes to Beijing
and bookings on the train. He left in the early morning of Tuesday 5 April and Arthur went with him as
far as Beijing. There he went at once to the offices of the International Famine Relief Commission and
got a first class pass to Shende where he arrived at about 11 a.m. on the morning of the 6th to find Mr.
Griffith sitting up for the first time.
RELIEF WORK
He received a warm welcome from both Mr. and Mrs. Griffith and he started in straight away
distributing grain to hundreds of famine stricken folk. The story of the next two weeks was all the
same:
8 April "Another several hundred famine stricken folk received grain. Some pitiful sights
among them."
9 April "80 tons of grain arrived from Mukden."
82
Amy Moore
After leaving Saigon the weather got worse and they suffered more than ever from seasickness until
on the 22nd George records that he went to the purser and asked for a change of cabin further
forward, where the motion of the ship would nor affect them so much. They felt much better after the
change. They reached Hongkong at 9:15 on the morning of the 23rd, and on the 26th they were
anchored at the South Manchurian Railway Wharf in Shanghai. Mr. and Mrs. Westnidge were there to
welcome them, and George's comment was 'lovely to be home again'.
BACK 'HOME' IN CHINA
He speaks of long talks with Mr. Hoste and that their "designation" was to be held over until a letter
from George Andrew Snr. was received at Headquarters. In the meantime, he and Fanny caught up
with many old friends in Shanghai including the Ballers, the Judds and the Herberts, all familiar names
in CIM circles.
On 12 March they left Shanghai for Chefoo taking with them the two Judd girls, Kathie and Maybeth.
They arrived in Chefoo harbour about 3:30 p.m. on the 17th and George recorded that "our ship was
immediately boarded by hundreds of coolies wanting passage to Vladivostock. Owing to these
crowds on the gangway, we were prevented from leaving the ship for an hour." There was a joyful
reunion with their own two children, Leslie and Aileen and with the Moore children and they found
themselves very quickly again absorbed into the life of the schools.
But life never remained uneventful for long for George Findlay Andrew! On Easter Monday, 28 March,
he received a telegram from Shanghai: "Griffith, Shunteh, ill could you go and give assistance?" He
briefly states, "Replied saying I would leave in a few days."
Leslie and Aileen were now living at home as day scholars at the Chefoo Schools and on the 30th
they had a picnic in the afternoon to celebrate Leslie and Aileen's birthdays as well as those of their
nieces Jessie (Meili) and Marjorie Moore which were also in March. On Thursday 31st at 8 p.m. he
boarded the SS Fengtien and by Saturday 2 April he was in Tianjin where his brother Arthur was
waiting to meet him. Arthur, though by this time 30 years of age, was still a bachelor, but he was very
soon to become engaged to the eldest of the Levitsky sisters, so while George was in Tianjin they
were both invited to tea with the Levitsky family.
George himself was staying at the CIM and a lot of his time was taken up getting passes to Beijing
and bookings on the train. He left in the early morning of Tuesday 5 April and Arthur went with him as
far as Beijing. There he went at once to the offices of the International Famine Relief Commission and
got a first class pass to Shende where he arrived at about 11 a.m. on the morning of the 6th to find Mr.
Griffith sitting up for the first time.
RELIEF WORK
He received a warm welcome from both Mr. and Mrs. Griffith and he started in straight away
distributing grain to hundreds of famine stricken folk. The story of the next two weeks was all the
same:
8 April "Another several hundred famine stricken folk received grain. Some pitiful sights
among them."
9 April "80 tons of grain arrived from Mukden."
82
