Evening star., 1941-11-17
Fourth of a Series.J
Ry LELAND STOWE.
Special Correspondent Of The Star and

BY LELAND STOWE,
Special Correspondent Of The Star and
Chicago Daily News
RUNNING. Southwest China fBy
Clipper Back in Rangoon they
talked about guest houses" being
available at strategic intervals along
the Burma road Unfortunately We
never asked for a precise definition
of guest house" Maybe they
were using guest in it's broadest
possible Interpretation. including
any sort Of living creature which
might take shelter under any kind
of roof. In that sense, how right
they were! Every night. save one,
between Lashio and Running We
had four footed guests which gall
loped across the floors above or be-
low our beds-and there were lots
of other guests about. those with
out any inhibitions concerning
whose sheets and blankets belong to
whom.
But the old Burma readers had
agreed that you must carry your
own folding cot. blankets and mos
quito netting, so we were prepared
to certain extent. You may Won
der how one fares while travelling
the Burma road. If there do really
exist actual guest houses" built
and maintained for only one kind
of guest and he a fussy Occidental.
We couldn't tell you anything about
that because we never found any
such hostels. Nevertheless, We
learned great many more hard
facts about Burma road accommo-
dations taking things the way ordi-
nary travellers in Yunnan are bound
to find them. Very instructive
yes. and quite a bit of fun. In
retrospect, anyhow.
Our first night. in Mangshi, the
three of us wound up in dilapi-
dated, two -storied affair which was
supposed to be hotel a hostel or
something. 1t proved to be some
thing" You entered a low-celllnged
room. filled with plain wooden
tables and chairs: its walls COW
cred with frayed, faded wallpaper,
The only bed space available was
located in a ramshackle kind OF
dormitory, dirty floors, eight crude
beds and a Kerosene lantern. The
Red Cross man and l put up our
cots and nets-just room to squeeze
them in the aisles-but DR.. HUI, the
home coming veterinary, had left
his in another car AS he started
to settle back on the soiled pillow
he turned his flashlight up into the
netting above him. and there were
two fat guests" which had obvious
" been enjoying the Burma road
boom. 1t did no good to cut short
their prosperity. A dozen of their
cousins demonstrated fierce affec-
ton for the doctor and kept him
awake and active most of the night.
In this acutely malarial region the
mosquitoes, we still hope, remained
thWarted.
No Tea or Coffee Available.
In the morning We threaded our
way through the parked trucks
which jammed the narrow street,
until we found tiny cefe Of sorts.
very much of sorts. They had no
coffee and-right here in a Chinese
town-they had no tea. BY chance
we located some cocoa and I still
had some dried sandwiches left
over from the dav before. That
night the only Chinese food We
could find didn't look like the kind
for an unaccustomed stomach to
be broken in on-not at all. Beans,
eaten cold right out of the can,
tasted very good. But we had great
luck Cthat was in Paoshan), for
we slept in a modest but attractive
| old building, with rooms all giving
on square courtyard filled with
flower pots and large plants. With
its sway-backed ridgepoles. ends
curved jauntily skyward, the house
had an old Chinese atmosphere. and
ii seemed catered only to one kind
of guests
Our third night was spent at
Hsiakwan in roomy and compare
lively clean garage. Quite COM
Portable, even though the rats GAL
loped a lot around the second floor.
But no place to wash or shave in
the morning Crackers. cheese and
cocoa for breakfast helped lot.
In Chu 'Hsiung. the fourth night, we
had no other choice than an alleged
hostel which somewhat surpassed
that at Mangshi in primitive squalor
but was operated by cheerful, most
hospitable people. They heated up
cans of tomato soup and baked beans
for us and. as We gulped the con-
tents down joyfully. we had dozen
Chinese-half of them bright-eyed
little shavers-for an audience. The
youngsters all watched the cans
being opened, fascinated and also
with appraising eyes None of them
looked me than 7, but they knew
the full value of an empty tin can
In China. They sampled the beans,
at first tentatively, then with gusto.
Rats Chew Up Socks.
One sturdy 4-year-old boy had
all the earmarks of chap who was
going to get along in life. When he
got his empty can he tucked it
behind Chinese wall scroll where,
I discovered, another can had al
ready been hid. In no time at all
he was reciting 'Eeenie, Neenje,
Miney. Mo" with me and after each
word he ShOIHed with oloo Xybar