The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-08-09
Will Visit
Every Country
in World

VANCOUVER, b. u, Aug. 4
| UNITED Press. s.)-Charles w. Wood
New York newspaper man, is sched-
uled to sail today on the Empress Of
Russia" on one Of the most remark
able assignments since Jason set out
to find the Golden Fleece.
"Visit every country on earth and
find out what the people want" This
commission was given Wood by the
Centenary Committee of the Metho.
dist Episcopal Church. 1t may take
him 20 years. 1t probably will.
Wood was on the Sunday editorial
staff of the New York World when
given his sailing order. Twelve years
ago, at 27, he was a locomotive fire.
man and began his newspaper career
as a cub reporter on the Syracuse
Journal in 1909. His wartime inter-
views in the New York World were
later put together in book "The
Great Change"
Woods first stop on this trip will
be at Shanghai, China. From there
he will go up the Yang Use river to
interior China. His mission is not
emrely to "write up the missions" but
to interpret the needs of each coun-
try as expressed by its leaders in
every walk of life.
81 don't know where Pm going but
I'm on my way" is literally true of
Wood. He has never. been in any
foreign country before and speaks
no language except English. He has
no guide, no schedule and no definite
orders. He is accompanied only by
his wife, who is equally unacquainted
with foreign lands. Their immediate
destination, however, is Cheng- Tu in
Western China, which is about as
thoroughly foreign a city as any
white folks ever visit. There, rather
than in the cities familiar to Amer
ican tourists, Mr.. and Mrs. Wood will
begin to look at the problems of
earth, as far as it is Manhattanly
possible, through thoroughly Oriental
eyes.
81 don't know anything about
China" said Wood, before starting
on his unprecedented journey, "and
| have been doing my best not to
learn anything about it until / get
there. l have heard that it had 4O0,-
100000 people, and Ihave taken it
for granted that they all run laun-
dries. ! suppose was selected for
the job because they couldn't think
of anyone else who would have so
little to unlearr."
"Do you feel confident" he was
asked, ''that you can actually get the
Chinese way of looking at things
across to American readers?"
II don't know" he said. ~ don't
know whether there is any Chinese
way of looking at things. Maybe the
Chinese people are human. Maybe
they love and hate and aspire like
other human beings. Maybe they
have human differences and human
traditions and human prejudices. 1t
is possible that they live on the same
planet that Americans have been Gus
tomarily inhabiting and that their
problems may turn out to be our own
problems too"
II am most anxious to learn" he
added, "what the people of all these
countries want, and / don't know of
any better way of finding out than
20 ask them. Most Americans that
have met seem to go on the assump-
ton that we have certain advantages
here which The people of the Orient
do not possess. If that is true, we
have a wonderful opportunity to be
of service to them. l am not a mis-
sionary. ] am not churchman. But
I happen to agree with Jesus that it
is more blessed to give than to re-
ceive; and l may be able to discover
some new ways in which America can
be blessed.
"I expect to talk with political and
governemnt leaders, with leading
spokesmen of industry, business and
education, with labor leaders if | can
find them, and with the teachers of
other religious creeds. ! am about as
rank an outsider as could have been
selected for such a job, but the
Methodist seem perfectly willing to
let me find out everything | can."
"Where do you go when you leave
China?" he was asked.
81 don't know" he said. 81 haven't
any itinerary, and the world is in
such state of flux just now that it
would seem foolish to try and con-
struct one. Eventually we expect to
visit every country on earth; but !
am not war correspondent, and with
war still raging in so. many places
thnrn ,,rill hn ,nnn,, nnrrtr;nn r,,kinh 4