Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1926-05-27
A TRIP TO SOOCHOW, CHINA

| NCA AhbSA NSNAS'
When he had finished it was nearly
time to ware away and be off on oul
way. We got up and stretched, re
arranged ourselves and at $3.50 we
pulled throttle and away we were of
at a rate of speed such as the solo
Ocilla Southern" train used to make
coming in and out of Fitzgerald
Remember? i hardly guess it was
that fast for everything in China
seems to be slow except the cabaret
and saloons, bar rooms, etc.
Just before the train pulled out
about five minutes, two strangers
came in our cabin and seated them
selves, because the rest of the first
class cabin space was full and our
cabin spared room for them. So we
welcomed them in and soon became
acquainted. While our conversation
, shifted from one subject to another,
the secret of who our strangers were
was revealed. They were travellers
as we were and going to 500 Chow to
see the sights, which was also our
desti n o n. Our conversation
brought on theirs and they told us
they were from Holland and at pres
ent were passengers on board the U.
S. Ship President Pierce bound for
America, their ship then was tied up
to the Stanley Dollar docks, on the
Whangpoo river at Shanghai, China,
The strangers had just arrived in
China from India, Australia, the
Philippine Islands and other foreign
ports, | did not find out. We ex-
changed foreign currency (of small
value) with them, more for the nov
city of the fact than anything else.
Our conversation really was interest
ing, especially to young, inexpe-
rienced lin the ways of the world) |
person such as | am. 1t was really |
educational, for learned many |
things that | did not before that time
know.
We had then began to pass through ,
small villages, at break-neck speed
of about 10 miles per. Our first viii
lage, Nansing, was passed up, as we
were on fast train, "The Express"
which did not stop at small places.
We arrived at our first stop at 1910
a. M, Anting, and departed five min
utes later. would have gotten out
and looked around but / could not
see anything that looked interesting,
from my window. We arrived at our
next stop, which was Kunshan, at
10:42 and departed at 10:45. At
this place there was hardly more than
a depot. We continued on our jour-
ney and passed through Weiting and
Kwantuli, arriving at our destination
at about II 40, 500 Chow, China.
The first thing to do, as our spokes-
man suggested, was to find out just
what time our train would return to
Shanghai, for we were not prepared
to stay over night.
When we had received the required
information we then had to force our
way out of the station and into a
carriage, because the Chinese were
so thick around US, through curiosity.
We had an awful time getting a car
riage, though there were more than
fifty around, every driver wanted to
take us to the city, so we just forced
our way through and seated in the
first carriage we came to. When at |
last we were in the carriage, which |
was of the old English style, horse
and a four wheeled rig, seat in the |
rear for passengers and seat for
the driver high up in front. Two
drivers are required-one to drive
the horse and the other to assist the
passengers in and out of the carriage,
as best we could we told the coolie
driver, "Nyi Tau tau Khak-nyui,"
which in English means, eve want
to go to a hotel" 1t is very hard to
speak the Chinese dialect because it
requires so much twisting of the
tongue and an American not accus-
toned OF the use of it has much
| trouble.
Upon arrival at the hotel the coolie
driver had chosen to carry us, we
discovered it to have an English
name, "The Railway Hotel" Here
we received some refreshments and a
sandwich or two, thus finishing we
asked the proprietor, who understood
English and could speak it fairly well,
what it would cost to hire a guide to
show us around the city in the least
possible time so we could see all that
was to be seen for visitors, and four
donkeys, one for each of we three
and one for the guide. eve chose
to ride donkeys because we were used
to riding in ric-shas and as all Ameri-
cans do more or less we wanted some
thing new. The proprietor spoke to
, we'll dressed coolie servant stand
ing near by, in Chinese, and then
made reply that he could get four
donkeys for six mex and guide for
two mex. (This is equivalent in
American currency to about $3.50 in
gold. Our money is known as gold
in the ORIENT. This was agreeable.
| so at 1900 noon our donkevs were