From Yunnanfu. The journal of his activities is going bit by bit to Hankow from where it will be forwarded to England. Last Sunday night they were nearing Haiphong [Vietnam] and since then they have been travelling on one of the most wonderful railway journeys in the world, passing through Annan [Vietnam] and into the Yunnan mountains. H B R is at present fifteen hundred feet above the highest Kuling peak, although it is on the whole a little warmer than Kuling. They travel by day and sleep at night in a French 'Annamite hotel'.
Emily can get a glimpse of morals in this part of the world from the following tale - 'we got into Hanoi at midnight and went to the Station Hotel; the proprietor was said to be asleep but the Annamite [Vietnamese] servant fixed us up in our rooms alright. Last thing my servant said. "Is there anything else I can do for you. Do you want a madame?" It was in French of sorts & not quite tumbling to his meaning I asked him to repeat himself, he pointed to the bed & said "a madame coucher, there are plenty". When I gave him an emphatic negative, he put the key on the inside of the door, and you can imagine I locked it & kept it locked...I found my companion had the same experience next morning...apparently these little comforts are provided there quite easily. It was a good hotel. This does not go into the journal'.
They arrived here on Thursday and have spent the last two days inspecting things. He preached in Chinese and English today and tomorrow they will be going on a picnic. On Tuesday they are going a few hours by motor car and will then be spending the next three days on the road. He anticipates being in Trug Chien next Sunday with [Frederick Walter James] Cottrell and family and the Sunday following will be spent with [William Harrison] Hudspeth and family.
H B R has been a little under the weather with tummy trouble caught in Haiphong but is very much better now. It is a little awkward to catch something like that with three or four weeks of hard travelling ahead.
The Methodists have only one missionary, Alfred Evans and his wife, in this town. It is an outpost of Chao Tung, but the coming of the railway has altered things as the town is now the business centre for the area and needs more Methodist presence.
China has many needs, which can only be met if there is a sustained economic recovery in the world. Without such a recovery the Methodists will simply have to sit down and think.
Last week H B R read H. G. Wood's book on The Truth and Error in Communism which really destroys his opponents.
The countryside here is terribly in the grip of opium. Even the cook at the mission is a smoker and will have to either give it up or leave. All the coolies smoke it on the roads and the fields are full of poppies.
Notes
- Alfred Evans (1879-1967) was born in Bournemouth. He trained for the Bible Christian ministry at Shebbear College and after two years in a home Circuit, was appointed in 1906 to serve as a missionary in China. Except for periods of home furlough, Evans remained in China for the rest of his life, rising to the position of Chairman of the Yunnan District. He superannuated in 1943 and moved to Hong Kong in 1951 after the Communist take-over of the mainland. Source: Minutes of Conference 1967.
- Frederick Walter James Cottrell (1900-86) was born in Bristol and was educated at St George Secondary School. He served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War 1 and entered the United Methodist Church ministry in 1923. Cottrell was stationed in China for nineteen years until 1942 when he became an armed forces chaplain. In 1945 he was appointed Secretary of the Missionary Society after which he worked as a circuit minister until superannuation in 1963. Source: Ministers and Probationers with Circuits etc (1963) and Who's Who in Methodism 1933.