The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-10-14

two of a number of breath taking experiences which John Cox, son o1 MT. and Mrs, N. Hadley Cox ot Woodlawn avenue had in China, he told members of the Naugatucs Rotary club at Q meeting m the Salem Lutheran church hall last night. The talk by the former lo- cal man who for the past two years has been a member of the Yale-in- China group, was undoubtedly the most fascinating and interesting talk the Rotary club has heard in many months.
 MT. Cox thrilled the members when he recounted his narrow es- cape from possible death as Jap- anese bombing planes hunted for the train in which he was riding. He told his audience he had left Shanghai on an 'eight-hundred mile trip by train to Hong Kong. The Japanese Chinese fighting was well underway and when the train had gone 400 miles, 1t stopped. It was explained to the local man that Japanese bombing planes were look ing for the train, seeking to de- stroy 1t.
 The train was hid in a wooded area and soon the bombing planes were seen in the vicinity, searching for 1t. They scanned the area close- ly but the trees hid the train from view. However, they dropped sev- eral bombs, tearing Up the track in a number of places.
 When the train engineer and its five conductors refused to go farther, MT. Coz hired hand-car and some Chinese to operate 1t. He then pro- ceeded number of miles until The reached the spot where the track was blown to pieces for about e mile distance. Here the Chinese re- Ifused to carry the car over the de- stroyed area, and abandoned him ; theee.
 Ee walked several miles until he ! reached a place where he could se- cure more equipment. It took him eight days to travel the 400 more miSes to Hong Kong, he said. Lucky Miss
 Arriving there he booked passage lon the ship President Hoover. He beaSned the time of It's sailing and got there an hour ahead of time tn order not to miss 1t. When he arrived, he learned the liner had sailed two hours before.
 He was much disappointed at hav- ing missed the board boat, but learned a short time later that after the liner had got about 30 miles but of port, 1t had been bombed by h Japanese plane. He considers himself fortunate that he did miss | It.
 He then booked passage on the vessel, Empress of Canada" and presumed 1t would take him to Can- kda. After about five days, the local man was amazed to find the ship had proceeded to Yokahona, Japan where 1t made port. This move was bone in order to escape being bombed.
 E In Typhoon req
 Prior to this, he was in Hong Kong when the terrific typhooon hit that area. He said his hotel loom rocked back and forth and he thought 1t would surely collapse. He law more than 20 large vessels sink I'm the harbor. MT. Cox said words kould not reveal the awe-inspring Ind terrifying sensation one experi- knceS in a typhoon. Hundreds of thousands of persons were killed at Hong Kong, in this typhoon, MT. cox said.
 He had a number of funny stories bf his experiences. He told ndetail bf the sharp contrast between buy linz here and in China. Here one bays the marked or asked price for
 thing and the purchase is corll- bleted. 1n China Q detailed system bf barter is required, the local man Eaid.
 He gave as an instance his ex- berienceS in purchasing Q fine jade pendant. He entered the store and tpent 10 minutes exchanging the ordinary courteous greeting during which lie asked about the health of Inc store proprietor and his family. Then he inquired about the price bf an object he did not want and krgued for some time about this. He then left the store, pretending To be dissatisfied with the price. M Necessarily Barter
 The next day he entered again knd after the ceremonious greet Ing period, he and the store keeper haggled about the price until finally bought. Without buying the article khe proprietor offered 1t for two- thirds less than the original amount ought. Without buying the article bn which he had been bargaining
 dr Cox asked casually about the
 ugly jade thing near 1t. He was Informed 1t was valuable jade. and had been carried miles over the kountry by caravan. Again bargain Ing started. Then MT. Cox offered ln amount which was two-thirdG less than the asking price and the transaction was completed. He said
 this period of bargaining is not
 arried out, the buyer will pay much hore for the article than ig Ileces- .ary. This bargaining is necessary ven for the smallest things, he laid. Ss'
 He told of the trouble he had
 1 understanding telephonic conver. 'aticns fiji China. Many chinese kords have entirely different mean hgs, one word having about 50 dif- erent infections given 1t in pro. bouncing 1t. MT. Cox said over the Shone the intended infection 4 lard to hear, and very often 1t il secessary to talk lengthily and final. arrange Q personal meeting tc iscuss the matter.
 Tells of Aims
 He spoke of Gen. Chiang Kai. lhek who Is seeking to inspire in lhlnese the idea of loyalty to theii bIintry. The usual army chieftair
 content to take tribute from tha