Page 119 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 119
GFA – A Different Drumbeat 119
3. TV Soong, brother-in-law of Generalissimo Jiang Kai Shek had entrusted him with a
special mission, and that was to make sure the Muslims of Kansu remained loyal to the
Chinese Government. Japan had annexed Manchuria and, as TV Soong said to GFA, “We
have lost the north-east. We must take care not to lose the north-west.” The two men had
often met in Shanghai and had become good friends.
4. He had a scheme of his own to irrigate a well-populated plain thirty miles east of
Lanchow by laying a conduit through a five mile belt of sand to bring water from mountains
lying to the south. The problems of Kansu were still uppermost in his mind as he had
recently been entertaining the ‘Chairman’ of the Province who was rather disinclined to
return there. “I am trying to persuade him, and also to get the Government to insist on his
going.”
Scott was horrified by the rigours of travel in Kansu and marvelled at GFA’s skill in handling
difficult officials. He described him as “on close personal terms with most of the leading civil
and military men”, and remarked that his work in famine and earthquake relief had given
him “a very prominent place in the regard of all classes of people”. When they got back to
Lanchow many feasts were given in honour of GFA.
An interesting sidelight into GFA’s wide range of interests at this time involves his contact
with Sir Henry Wellcome and the Wellcome Collection:
Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853-1936): Pharmacist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and
collector had an early interest in medicine and marketing. The first product he advertised
was 'invisible ink' (just lemon juice, in fact). In 1880, he joined his college friend Silas
Burroughs in setting up a pharmaceutical company, Burroughs Wellcome & Co.
When Burroughs died in 1895, the company flourished under Sir Henry's leadership. He
went on to establish world-class medical research laboratories and amassed the world's
most impressive collections relating to medicine and health through the ages.
In the book “Pearls of the Orient: Asian Treasures of the Wellcome Library” we find the
following entry:
Wellcome developed a network of agents abroad, and sent those he employed, and
who were suitably qualified, to develop his collections on buying expeditions. When
travelling, he himself spent much time indulging his collecting enthusiasm. Wellcome
also encouraged his business agents to make suitable purchases as the opportunity
arose. His missionary contacts provided another source of acquisition as in the
instance of George Findlay Andrew of the China Inland Mission who purchased for
Wellcome, in 1933. the entire outfit of a Chinese medical practitioner.
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3. TV Soong, brother-in-law of Generalissimo Jiang Kai Shek had entrusted him with a
special mission, and that was to make sure the Muslims of Kansu remained loyal to the
Chinese Government. Japan had annexed Manchuria and, as TV Soong said to GFA, “We
have lost the north-east. We must take care not to lose the north-west.” The two men had
often met in Shanghai and had become good friends.
4. He had a scheme of his own to irrigate a well-populated plain thirty miles east of
Lanchow by laying a conduit through a five mile belt of sand to bring water from mountains
lying to the south. The problems of Kansu were still uppermost in his mind as he had
recently been entertaining the ‘Chairman’ of the Province who was rather disinclined to
return there. “I am trying to persuade him, and also to get the Government to insist on his
going.”
Scott was horrified by the rigours of travel in Kansu and marvelled at GFA’s skill in handling
difficult officials. He described him as “on close personal terms with most of the leading civil
and military men”, and remarked that his work in famine and earthquake relief had given
him “a very prominent place in the regard of all classes of people”. When they got back to
Lanchow many feasts were given in honour of GFA.
An interesting sidelight into GFA’s wide range of interests at this time involves his contact
with Sir Henry Wellcome and the Wellcome Collection:
Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853-1936): Pharmacist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and
collector had an early interest in medicine and marketing. The first product he advertised
was 'invisible ink' (just lemon juice, in fact). In 1880, he joined his college friend Silas
Burroughs in setting up a pharmaceutical company, Burroughs Wellcome & Co.
When Burroughs died in 1895, the company flourished under Sir Henry's leadership. He
went on to establish world-class medical research laboratories and amassed the world's
most impressive collections relating to medicine and health through the ages.
In the book “Pearls of the Orient: Asian Treasures of the Wellcome Library” we find the
following entry:
Wellcome developed a network of agents abroad, and sent those he employed, and
who were suitably qualified, to develop his collections on buying expeditions. When
travelling, he himself spent much time indulging his collecting enthusiasm. Wellcome
also encouraged his business agents to make suitable purchases as the opportunity
arose. His missionary contacts provided another source of acquisition as in the
instance of George Findlay Andrew of the China Inland Mission who purchased for
Wellcome, in 1933. the entire outfit of a Chinese medical practitioner.
Return to Table of Contents
