The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1948-04-22
Globe Trotting
Event Related By
Kitzmiller Woman


event to Tsingtao, China, and other
Pacific areas, has been received here
from Mrs. Isabelle f. Wilson, of
Kitzmiler.
Her husband Harvey B. Wilson, is
a chief petty officer in the Navy, and
she is a daughter of Delegate Jasper
c. Myers. of near Kitzmiller. They
left Washington last December 81
and travelled to the west coast by way
of Chicago and Denver, arriving in
San Francisco in January.
Parts of her account are reprinted
below.
1--WE went aboard the USS General
j. C. Breckenridge at 10 and the ship
slipped out of the Golden Gate around
2:30 with her bow pointed toward
Pearl Harbor, some 2100 miles to the
southwest. There were $40 Army and
Navy wives and children, 1900 SOL
diers and CTS sailors aboard. At Pearl
Harbor everything was green and
flowers were blooming. A chartered
bus took us over the island of Oahu.
Coconut palms were all over the place
and here and there we could see
banana trees with their green fruit.
On the far side of the island we APP
peared to be in an ocean of pineapple
fields, stretching for miles. The high
spots of tour in Honolulu were the
Royal Palace where King Kamaha-
meha resided years ago, Waikiki
Beach with it's snow-white coral, and
a trip through the Dole Pineapple
canning plant.
oahu has large numbers of Japan
csc. Most of these are American citi-
zens by virtue of their having been
born in the Hawaiian islands. There
is a considerable number of Ha-
waiians, Portuguese, Chinese an
Americans but they are all in a
minority.
"Enroute to Guam we had no goth
of January as we crossed the inter-
national date line. We travelled about
1850 miles from Pearl Harbor to
Guam Guam isn't much different in
size than Oahu. The Army, Navy and
Marines have units all over the place.
The entire island is a Naval reser-
walton. Most of the people are Cha
morros (Guamians) rather short in
stature, with dark chocolate
skin. The heat and humidity on Guam
are terrific.
Head for Japan
1--WE headed for the land of the
Rising Sun, arriving at Yokosuka
Naval base, 2060 miles from Guam
on January 81. We took a train to
Tokyo, 40 miles away, for a tour. The
ride took an hour and twenty minutes,
the train stopping several times to
take on and discharge hordes of
Japs We didn't ride the same cars.
The cars were shoddy but the speed
compared favorably with out inter
urban service. Highlights of the tour
were a Buddhist temple, the Emper-
Or's palace grounds, American en-
bassy, Japanese Diet building and
General MacArthur's headquarters.
Buildings close to the Emperor's
palace were not touched by bombing.
Here are several square blocks of the
most up-to-date office buildings,
hotels, etc. The streets were wider
than almost any l have seen in our
country.
THE rest of the city had ram
shackle buildings, with merchants and
their little portable shops lining the
streets crowded with Japs. None of
them looked overfed, but we didn't
see any who appeared to be starving.
All land that could be used was being
used as garden space. One thing you
see are cigarette butts lying on the
streets. Cigarettes are very expensive,
costing several dollars per carton.
1--WE arrived at Tsingtao, the end
of our trip, on February 6, after hav
ing travelled over 1000 miles since
leaving Washington.
"The rooms of our apartment are
large and comfortable and the furni-
ture ample. The kitchen was disap-
pointing, with a small coal stove. All
drinking water has to be boiled. No
refrigeration was available. Electrici-
ty-sometimes we have it, sometimes
not, and it can't be trusted to any
certain voltage. A Chinese houseboy
helps a lot He does most of the work
and some of the cooking, however, he
won't do the washing as he would
lose face. He makes about 81 a month
in American money.
thousands of refugees live in
shacks on the outskirts of the city.
They get along but | can't see how
they do it. Public transportation is
practically nil. Drivers have to pay
40 cents a gallon for gasoline and
have trouble getting spare parts.
China has a real runaway initiation.
A Chinese dollar, worth about 20
cents before the war. Now news
paper costs $4,000, trip to Peiping
by air costs So million and a barrel