Evening star., 1939-02-19
BY RICHARD HALLIBURTON,
written in Hong Kong Just prior to
Mr.. Halliburton'S sailing

II any one OF my readers wishes
to be driven rapidly and Violently
insane and doesn't know how to 70
about it, let me make a suggestion:
Try building a Chinese junk in a
Chinese shipyard during war with
Japan. From personal experience
I know this to be most effective
method. In fact, I don't see how
1t can fail.
From the hour signed contract,
here in Hong Kong, with Mr.. Fat
Kau to build me beautiful junk
big, but not too big: colorful, but
not garish"-until today, when my
Sea Dragon is ready to sail, I've
been through 50 many shipbuilding
battles and been so plagued by, the
superlative perversity of Chinese
carpenters that I'm a mental wreck.
Nothing that can happen on our
voyage to San Francisco can possibly
upset me now. In nearby waters
pirates are very real and constant
menace-wintry storms may play us
cruel tricks-most of our crew are
green hands, who are amiably plan
ming to mutiny if the work bores
them. But whatever dramatics may
come, they will be anticlimactic.
compared to the state of perpetual
crisis which we have endured while
building our Chinese Junk with
Chinese labor. If you finish this
narrowing story you'll understand.
When it became obvious that no
readymade junk suitable for a Pa
cific voyage could be had at
reasonable price, my companions
and I decided to build our own.
But We wished it to be designed,
constructed and decorated in strict
accordance with native custon-and
the work must be done by natives.
One shipbuilder, the worthy Mr..
Fat Kau, was recommended above
all others. So we picked an inter-
prefer and went to interview him.
The tram carried us along the
mountain-framed shore, away from
downtown Hong Kong, past the
British barracks. farther and farther
into the squalid Chinese waterfront
slums. Opposite high-smelling
soy sauce factory and between the
Peachy Garage and gentleman's
parlor for beauty was the place
where junks are born.
Welcomed by Fat Kau.
Mr.. Fat Kau welcomed us grac-
iously. We were clearly a group
of foreign idiots wanting to
build a junk and name it the Sea
Dragon and sail it to San Francisco
5000 miles away. But we were cash
customers, SO the generous man
agreed, finally, to accept only twice
what we offered. When We departed
we had contract, beautifully
sealed in red with Klaus private
chop. and the Sea Dragon-we i'm
agined-was as good as built.
From that day to this the cramped
little shipyard has been sort of
hired private madhouse for John
WEIGH, our captain; for Henry Won
Fehren, our engineer, and for me.
The Sea Dragon is now ready to
sail and I have no doubt it is
sound, seaworthy ship, but I have no
doubt either that its construction
violated every accepted rnle of ship
building known to man.
First there was the keel, mag
nificent log of jacal wood 60 feet
long. A sawmill could have squared
1t off in 20 minutes. I soon realized
that with Chinese methods this same
job would take week. The car
penters hacked at it with little axes
and sawed 1t by hand When I was
ready to tear up the contract because
of lack of progress, the workmen
smiled blandly and reminded me
that the Chinese have been hand
cutting their keels for 1000 years.
And what would I do, they asked,
with the six days saved by the mill;
and how would pay the carpenters
for the six days work which
machine saw would cause them to
lose? I must remember their wages
were paid by the day; if I rushed
things American fashion they would
starve.
I saw myself spending 10 months
In Hong Kong while the Sea
Dragon was expected at San Fran
cisco's Treasure Island in 10 weeks.
. I went to Mr.. Fat Kau to COM
plain, to threaten, to curse-as well |
as one can curse through an inter-
prefer He was perfectly calm, in |
vited me to lunch in his living quar-
ters over the shipyard Office. Here
he hoped would be more reason
able.
Still Illuminating, followed him.
Mr.. Fat Kau at Home.
Mr.. Fat Kau looked like middle
aged good-natured Buddha He
was very fat, very bald, and very
rich. He lived in domestic bliss with
four wives CHe had married five,
but the youngest, aged 16, the day
after the wedding had run away
with one OF his shipwrights. He con-
fessed to me his shame and humilia- |
ton. The other four wives, each |
with baby to care for, agreed that |
the errant bride was a mink and q |
hussy).
The Oldest wife who bossed the |
other three, took charge of the meal. |
We pitched rice, with chopsticks,
into our mouths, and flung shrimp
SHellS anu uuCk DOleS over our
shoulders into the corners AS soon
as was besodden and subdued with
food, Mr.. Fat Kau suggested that |
I could have my keel mill-sawn, but
I must pay the bill, and pay wages
to all his carpenters who would be
deprived of their labor.
And in my desperate haste to
get on with the job, I agreed.
The thousand bolt holes that had
to be drilled were my next problem.
Wooden pegs are generally used
to hold Chinese junks together. But
with 1900 miles of raging winter sea
to face, we needed iron bolts. For
drilling. the Chinese intended to use
their customary archaic drill-a
gadget like an Indian bow, with the
cfrip &c