Evening star., 1945-07-08
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS.

MIS-. Ezra LOngWay, whose nus
band Is Seventh-Day Adventist
missionary in Chungking, China, is
in Washington after nearly four
years of, Japanese imprisonment
with her sons, Ralph and David
Here for a physical check-up, they
have received their first letter from
Mr.. Longway since their separation
from him. 1t was written in l943
and incloSed pictures of him.
Despite the rigors of their intern
ment and their loss of over 40
pounds in weight, the boys attended
school for all but six months of the
period.
Ralph, who is 18, nearly is ready
for admission to college. David, IA,
will enter the 9th grade this fall.
History, Geography Banned.
The japanese would not permit
the study Of history or geography,
so instruction in these subjects had
to be contrived by roundabout
methods. Laboratory experiments in
physics and chemistry were made
possible by the ingenious apparatus
built by American engineers. Oral
instruction in foreign languages was
frowned upon, but written methods
were ignored.
Stubs OF pencils were cherished
possessions. For paper they used
the backs of old vouchers and the
gray target practice paper which
had been left behind by the fleeing
Filipino ConStabulary forces. for
their first prison was the Constabu-
larry Training Hall at Baguio. sum-
mer capital of the Philippines.
Ralph had a note book which he
used as diary. In Qrder to make
it last, he had to make his entries
In handwriting so fine it almost is
microscopic. He managed to take
it out with him, and it now is in
possession of United States Army
authorities for inspection.
Meetings Were Rare.
Mrs. Longway, like other mothers
in the camp, only saw her sons at
meal time, or when they could meet
on the former tennis court which
served as the recreation center" for
the internees. A barbed-wire fence
separated them at these meetings.
Both Mrs. Longway and her boys
concur that the Japanese deliber-
ately practiced an attempted war of
nerves with the prisoners, for no
sooner were they settled in fairly
systematized life, than over night
they would be subjected to violent
change of procedure for no appar-
ent reason.
When two Of the men prisoners
successfully Jumped the wall,
their former associated were sub
jected to the water treatment, and
were strung up by their thumbs
until they either diyulged or pre-
tened to tell the plan Of the escape.
Weevils Infested Food.
Unground corn from which the
weevils had eaten the kernels was
distributed as their chief source of
food, with the weevils so thickly
encrusted upon the bags that they
appeared to be black.
But for the occasional peanuts,
bananas and coconuts which the
Filipinos brought, their dietary
plight would have been worse. A
tiny bit of rice -four, no matter how
mouldy and some coconut milk
mixed with shredded coconut made
a mixture, which when baked al
most resembled cookies.
American ingenuity outrivaled
itself at this camp Mrs. LongwayI
says. Pieces of bamboo cut at the
joint, and then split, made clothes
pins, while knotty strips of bamboo
laid lengthwise we're excellent make
shifts for waShboards. Dear to-
every boy in the camp was the
American engineer who evolved
sheath" knives for them out OF
the rear springs Of some junked
automobiles.
Moved to Manila Prison.
Their most trying experience was
their transfer in the crowded Jap
trucks from Baguio to the Bilibid
DTlSOll III Ndlllld llOill WIilCil IilCy
were rescued. The women were
forced to pile their possessions in
the center Of these trucks, working
along with the men. Then, the
families were packed into them,
with four armed Japanese to each
truck. Each family had its own
little kettle of rice as its only food
for this l50-mile journey which
lasted from O'Clock one morning
until ! o'clock the next. /
Mr.. and Mrs. Longway have a
third son, Delbert, who is with the
Army in China. A daughter, Mrs,
Karl Curry, the mother of their two
grandchildren, is the wife of mis-
s.onary in China.
The Longways have spent 26 years
In missionary service and were In
Thailand before Mr.. Longway went
to China. He had sent his wife and
the boys to Manila, when war
seemed imminent, hoping they
might reach America before hos
tilities started