The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 183

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

183

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all the folks give Rev. Z. instructions about their
things when he comes down.

“We moved a sampan full of things this morn-
ing, August 5, to Mr. T.’s go-down, where they will
be safe and dry. This afternoon we shall try to
move some of B.’s and K.’s things. We got the
things in the sampan as far as the race-club en-
trance and from there moved them by truck. Of
course, we had trouble with the coolies, but we
managed to get the effects there. We can be thank-
ful that we have rescued as much as we have.”

Here is the other letter, written from Hankow,
September 11:—

“Without a doubt you are anxiously waiting for
more news from us concerning the great flood.

“Last Saturday morning Rev. R. and I again
went to the storehouse and decided

wide and about twenty feet deep. One man told me
that during a storm last week the waves were about
five feet high. We took a number of pictures out
there to be able to give the Mission Board an idea
what damage has been done to the houses. You
also will receive a number of flood pictures as
soon as we get to Shasi and have time to get the
pictures straightened out. This trip was a very
pleasant one as far as the boat-ride was concerned.
Only it is almost heart-breaking to see the nice new
homes in such a condition.

“Sunday morning Rev. M. and I attended
chapel service at two of our chapels. Even though
they had almost two feet of water in both places
we nevertheless held services. One of our evan-

Rev. R.

gelists conducted services at both places.

to take all our belongings to his
house. In order to speed up things
a little, we took off our shoes and
socks and started to work. First we
loaded about one hundred soaked
books, then some carpets and boxes.
We had quite a heavy load after
everything was on ‘board.’ Since
this manner of transportation is so
exasperatingly slow, it was noon
until we had the things unloaded.
After dinner we started our voyage
to the new houses. From the navy-
yard to the railroad we took a small
boat so as to make better time in the
heavy traffic. (The expression ‘heavy
traffic’ is easily explained when you
consider that there are 10,436 boats on the streets of
Hankow.) Having reached the railroad tracks, we
got into a larger boat and were finally on our way.
The first place we reached was our former home.
Instead of entering through the front door, we
climbed from the boat into the second-floor door.
From here we crossed over the large race-course.
What a wonderful lake it is! The large grand
stand and the high willow-trees almost cause a
person to forget that it is nothing less than a huge

disaster, that things are as they are. After about ”

one half hour of rowing we spied our houses.
What a sight! Only the roof and about two feet
of the second floor visible. Upon closer inspection
we found that house No. 6 was already a total
wreck and that No.5 will not be able to stand up
against the lashing of the waves much longer. You
can well imagine the force of the waves when you
consider that the little ocean is thirty or forty miles

S96 oe

Flood Refugees on the Railroad Embankment.
Still later the waters rose above the embankment.

preached at another chapel. Most of our chapels
are filled with refugees. Quite a number are Chris-
tians, but there are also no few outsiders. Mission-
work is being carried on among these people now.
In one chapel all the police of that district are
staying. Our Chinese evangelist is teaching them
and is losing no time in bringing the Word of God
to them. From Monday till Thursday we were
kept very busy gathering our things and trying once
more to get them ready for shipment. When the
various things have to be gathered from four places,
and this ‘by boat, it requires days. We have had
more than enough boat-rides during the last ten
days. However, there is no way out of it; if you
have no boat, you cannot even get across the street.
As soon as the water gets a little lower, many people
will be wearing rubber boots. ,

“Friday morning brought new hopes to the
people of Hankow, for the water fell about two