Evening star., 1938-05-05

their steel hats on. and whisked lin
gerers away. In . moment hardly q
person was to be seen, except the
coolies under the trees. Wearing blue
shirts, they looked like . lively group
OF smiling monkeys. They squatted
actually on the dugout roofs, waiting
for the planes to come. When the
raid did finally begin, they hoped
inside the dugouts, then, after each
explosion. hoped out again to
watch!
We were on the roof Barg, crack,
bang! The metal kept Changing.
There is very little defeatism in
Hankow now. Behavior Of the people
during the air raids shows this
sharply. The people laugh at the
raiders-or else get angry.
Hankow. like any wartime capital,
has its peculiar charms. The pres
sure on the northern front has been
greatly relieved following the Chinese
victories at Taierhchwang, but, even
so, Hankow knows that a war is going
on. Item A. Prices of luxuries.
Whisky Is $50 Mex a bottle. Item
B. Hotel rooms. They are scarce as
snowfiakes in July.
Hankow Nearly Isolated.
Hankow Is isolated from the world
except for two routes, the shuttle air
service OF the Eurasia Junkers (and
what job it Is to get place on those
planesD and the railway to Canton.
The rail trip is reasonably safe, and
takes two days. The trains are
jammed to bursting with supplies.
Some Of these are not military
supplies. So when a cargo of stun gets
through. the newspapers carry ad-
vertisements like this:
"Hankow Dispensary, Ltd. New ar
rivals.
Sun glasses, American cigarettes,
novels and magazines, Himrod's
asthma cure. rouge compacts, razor
blades, veterinary supplies. yeast
tablets and biscuits"
And some are nearer to the war in
hand:
China Automotive Co., Ltd.-We
have in stock 500 Benz Diesel chassis.
Truck bodies can be manufactured
to order and delivered to any place
where there is highway.
Chinese vegetable oils can be used
as substitute with unimpaired ef1i-
ciency."
The raid we saw did very little
damage. Some Of the raids have been
disastrous. A few weeks ago the
Japanese hit new Martin bomber on
the airfield-and it was chock-full of
bombs! The explosion destroyed 26
Chinese planes.
Celebration in Hankow.
People say that the Chinese are
placid. Unconditional. They also say
that no part of China cares what
other parts are doing. They should
have been with us a few weeks ago.
I was talking with w. H. Donald, the
Australian ex-newspaper man who is
the generalissimo's best friend, when,
just after lunch, We heard a peculiar
cracking noise. Donald looked up.
Hello" he commented, Its fire.
works-must be Chinese funeral.
Aucy Ic very noisy.
Within 10 minutes, we knew that.
If 1t was a funeral, a great many
people must have died. The noise
spread like an inundation. We went
outside to look. The news Of the
Taierhchwang victory had just ap-
peared in the noon papers. Spontan.
eously the people began to buy fire.
works and celebrate. Within an hour,
they were making more noise than
20 air raids. The celebration lasted
all afternoon. spluttering and detonat-
ing, and until well into the evening.
Then the heavens really began to
split. The show began to die down
around midnight-with 100. 900 cheer.
ing men and women carrying torches
down the Bund.
Hankow knows that the war isn't
over. Maybe it has only Just begun.
The generalissimo has warned the
people against overconfidence. But
Hankow Is not, like Shanghai, a city
OF gloom; the people have self-respect,
and they feel that they have earned
what pleasure they do get
The government and the foreign
embassies thought six months ago
that, If China could hold Harkow
till Christmas. it would be going we'll
Then they began to say February /.
Then Easter. Now Easter has come.
and Hankow, following the Shantung
victories, Is safer than before.
War Colossal Task.
Every one knows that it will be q
colossal task to win this war. and wars
are not won by spirit alone.
Meantime there are pressing BY
products OF the war to deal with, uues-
tions OF refugees and reconstruction
No fewer than 16 million people
twice the population of New York
City-were displaced from the Shang-
hai-Nanking area in autumn. The
migration of these refugees, most of
them denuded of any property or
money. westward toward Hankow and
beyond is one of the most moving and
tragic episodes in modern history.
Committees are meeting; Mime.
Chang Is active; desperate measures
are being taken to find food, shelter,
jobs. One idea is the creation of a
national toy industry to be worked
by refugees.
Economic reconstruction is another
major and clamoring problem. New
factories have to be created; old
factories have to be moved. The
wreckage of the universities is another
item. About 16 Chinese universities
have perished, and work is going on
to replace them.
Win, lose, or draw-no one knows
how the war will end But q great
majority Of Chinese are reasonably
confident and optimistic.
(Copyright, 1888. by the North American