The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 9

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER 9

Brigands Come Nearer.

Our General Conference was greatly disturbed
this year by threats from brigands. They never did
get to Kuling, and several of us felt quite safe.
But as soon as we could conclude our conference,
most of the missionaries heeded the warnings of
our governmental authorities and plunged into the
heat of the valley below. Some of the children
suffered from boils as a result. We and the Mueller
couple stayed until near the end of August. That
enabled me to finish printing the conference minutes
in the coolness of Kuling. Of course it was really
dangerous at Kuling; but tell me, where
has it not been dangerous lately?

We spent two shopping days and a Sun-
day in Hankow. During this time we had
our teeth looked after for another year, and
we bought the things we needed for the next
twelve months. For instance, we bought
a hundred pounds of butter. This, of course,
will last more than a year. During this time
we were the guests of our dear friend and
coworker Pastor McLaughlin.

We left Hankow on December 1 for Shasi,
our home, traveling on the S. S. Siang-wo.
We wish you could see this boat. The boats
on the Mississippi are mere tubs compared
with the boats on the Yangtze. The Yangtze
boats remind one very much of the finest
Pullman cars in America. There is‘only one
paddle-wheeler on the river; the rest are all
of the screw-propelling type and very large.

Back Home in Shasi.

We arrived in Shasi on September 4. From
Hankow to Chasi by river is about 280 miles.
Across country, as the crow flies, it is perhaps a bit
more than 100 miles. We arrived in the morning
and were happily unpacked, ready for business the
next day by three o’clock in the afternoon. Then
we heard a shot several blocks away. This was soon
followed by another and another. In fact, there
was incessant shooting for sixteen hours, rifles, and
machine guns. It was so close that one could hear
the bullets as they would go “zzzzzz” through the
air. If they would go through a tree in front of
our place, it made an odd sound. Well, we bundled
up the baby and her clothes and moved out. We
went toward the river, and the Japanese made ges-
tures to us to come aboard the gunboat, which we
did. We stayed there all night. Later I went back
home and packed several suitcases and trunks with
our more valuable goods as well as the conference

records and had them moved quickly to the gunboat.
There we were; the communists were coming, and
we did not know when we should get back home
again. The Japanese were indeed most kind to us.
They gave us of their food and served cocoa to
drink. The shooting continued all night and until
about 11 a.m. the next morning. However, at half
past six in the evening I went ashore and ehome.
At my home I collected the Chinese servants and
told them to get breakfast. We came home and
expected matters to go worse. Instead of this they
got better.

The China Mission of the Missouri Synod.

An Attack by the Reds.

This gave us much to think about. No one
knew but what the same thing would happen to
Shasi that happened to Changsha. Yet all knew
that so much of Changsha was burned and so many
people were killed. Our cook took ten gallons of
oil, which we had just bought, and hid it in some
weeds not far away, so that, in case the Reds did
come, there would be less temptation to burn our
house. ‘There were several passenger-boats in the
harbor, and the Chinese fled that night by the
thousands. From that day on several weeks every
boat leaving for Ichang or for Hankow took more
than its capacity of passengers. Until now very
few have returned.

We thought the Reds received a severe defeat,
since a number were killed, and that we would have
peace, but it was not so to be. Two days later,
on the seventh, a new, and much larger, group was
marching rapidly on Shasi from the same direction