Page 109 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
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GFA – A Different Drumbeat 109
CAPTAIN CHARLES BAKER
Around the same time, GFA and the Flood Relief Commission were asked to try and secure
the release of Captain Charles Baker, an American skipper of a merchant steamship, who
had been kidnapped in January by the Communists, and held for $25,000 ransom. It is
another fascinating story, but it seems that GFA did not write about it himself apart from the
letters which you will see below. However, the Singapore Free Press in its 29 June 1932
edition had a column about the capture of the Captain. This is a portion of what was in the
report, and you can read the complete report in Book 2.
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser 29 June 1932
Captain Charles Baker, master of the Yangtse Rapids Steamship Company’s motor
vessel No. 2. kidnapped by Yangtse River communists on January 15, and released
on May 31 through the efforts of the Flood Relief Commission, is back in Shanghai.
He arrived from Hankow on the Poyang, of the China Navigation Company.
“The first I knew of my release was when one of the two engineers from the
dykes told me. He could speak English. But when he came it was to say that
he was being held prisoner while I could go free. Yes, they made prisoners of
those Chinese engineers who negotiated my release representing Mr. Findlay
Andrew and the flood people. They’re still held I guess.
When Father Hugh F. Sands, the Irish Catholic missionary was being
released he
came by my place. He had been held captive about a day’s journey from
where I was They brought him to me because he could talk excellent Chinese.
He was instructed by them to tell me that a foreigner at Chinling was working
for my release and for me not to fear, that I too would go free soon. I asked
them why the foreigner could not at least send me some word about it in a
letter or something. But it was good enough to have someone to talk to and to
know that I might at last be released. Lieutenant Commander William Morcott
and his ship the U.S.S. Pansy was at Chinling when I came out. He was sure
good to me, and the crew as well. I sure want it mentioned that I am awfully
grateful for what they, the river captains and the flood relief people did for me.
I was surprised when the American Consul at Hankow showed me a stack of
CAPTAIN CHARLES BAKER
Around the same time, GFA and the Flood Relief Commission were asked to try and secure
the release of Captain Charles Baker, an American skipper of a merchant steamship, who
had been kidnapped in January by the Communists, and held for $25,000 ransom. It is
another fascinating story, but it seems that GFA did not write about it himself apart from the
letters which you will see below. However, the Singapore Free Press in its 29 June 1932
edition had a column about the capture of the Captain. This is a portion of what was in the
report, and you can read the complete report in Book 2.
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser 29 June 1932
Captain Charles Baker, master of the Yangtse Rapids Steamship Company’s motor
vessel No. 2. kidnapped by Yangtse River communists on January 15, and released
on May 31 through the efforts of the Flood Relief Commission, is back in Shanghai.
He arrived from Hankow on the Poyang, of the China Navigation Company.
“The first I knew of my release was when one of the two engineers from the
dykes told me. He could speak English. But when he came it was to say that
he was being held prisoner while I could go free. Yes, they made prisoners of
those Chinese engineers who negotiated my release representing Mr. Findlay
Andrew and the flood people. They’re still held I guess.
When Father Hugh F. Sands, the Irish Catholic missionary was being
released he
came by my place. He had been held captive about a day’s journey from
where I was They brought him to me because he could talk excellent Chinese.
He was instructed by them to tell me that a foreigner at Chinling was working
for my release and for me not to fear, that I too would go free soon. I asked
them why the foreigner could not at least send me some word about it in a
letter or something. But it was good enough to have someone to talk to and to
know that I might at last be released. Lieutenant Commander William Morcott
and his ship the U.S.S. Pansy was at Chinling when I came out. He was sure
good to me, and the crew as well. I sure want it mentioned that I am awfully
grateful for what they, the river captains and the flood relief people did for me.
I was surprised when the American Consul at Hankow showed me a stack of
