I THINK I MENTIONED that our raincoats and my overcoat had been stolen out of our hall at Brenan Road, and that my kind friend, Mr. G., had given me his own overcoat. I do not know what I would have done without it, but in reality it was rather small for me, and not very warm. So a great part of the time I lived in my dressing gown, put on over all the rest of my clothes. Now, it happened that with the first boxes from the Red Cross, a certain amount of clothing was sent into Camp, and applications were accepted from any camper who thought he was in need. There was an immense amount of jealousy as to the distribution, for there was not enough to go round, and most people were in need, or at least thought they were. Knowing the conditions, it never crossed our minds to apply for anything that had come in. You can imagine my surprise, then, when the lady in charge of distribution stopped me one day and remarked: "We have an overcoat for you over at the Canteen.”
“But I did not apply for an overcoat.”
“I know you did not, but somebody else applied for you."
"But I don't need one as much as some others.”
“You can turn your old coat in, and we will give it to someone else.”
“But however do you come to have one for me?”
"I won't tell you who applied for you, but I can tell you this, that it was the most unlikely man in camp, I would have thought, to do this for you; and he specified: 'He's to have first pick.' So you go over to the Canteen and see the one we have put aside for you, or else pick one out for yourself.”
How strange are the ways of God to provide for our needs!
I must try and tell you also about the parcels. We were advised before coming into camp to arrange with friends outside to send us in parcels from time to time, and some people had numbers of parcels wrapped and addressed to themselves, ready to be sent in by the Red Cross. However, what funds we had, we felt should be kept for the Chinese, so we made no arrangement whatever for parcels, nor did we expect that any would come in, apart from three or four we had ourselves packed, containing things we needed, and could not get into our boxes.
But, when the time came for the first delivery of parcels, there was an unexpected one for us. I do not recall how it came to be sent. Most of those that came in were prepared by my sister's dear child, Tien Chei. Nobody could guess the work that was involved. First, the money had to be provided, and this she did in various ways. Sometimes it was a case of selling something, as my bicycle. Then, on account of war, the shops were almost empty, and it was most difficult to hunt around and find something to send. Also, the packing had to be exactly according to regulation, and this made it harder. Then these heavy parcels had to be taken down to the city, and delivered to the Red Cross. Nobly Tien Chei managed all this, and time after time, when we did not see how it was possible there could be anything for us, a parcel arrived. One or more was sent by a German Christian we hardly knew. Our German brethren, through Mlle. J., on several occasions sent us parcels. On another occasion a very nice parcel arrived from a German gentleman, I believe a Christian, almost a stranger. Years before he had been in very hard circumstances, and had come into the Book Room, and I had taken him home for supper. It had been, evidently, a very great treat for him, and he never forgot it. Later he did quite well in business, and we lost touch with him; but from him came a parcel. One Christmas the Canadian Government sent us each a little parcel, and very acceptable it was. There was a big piece of cheese for each one, as well as biscuits and candies.
I think it was in the second summer, my wife decided to prepare calendars for her friends in Camp. She first chose twelve different subjects, one subject for each month; then a verse, or a combination of verses for each day was chosen, dealing with that subject; and all were then written out in very small writing, one month to a sheet of a small size writing pad. You can hardly credit how precious paper was in Camp. Each sheet was reinforced at the top with thin cloth pasted on it. Three holes were punched in it, and the twelve sheets of each calendar bound with red string, and hung from a piece of thin bamboo, obtained from pieces that fell out of the yard brooms, kept for cleaning up. I think I must give you a taste of this calendar that brought cheer and comfort to quite a number in camp.
Monday 1 JANUARY
Tuesday 2
Wednesday 3
Thursday 4
Friday 5
Saturday 6
Sunday 7
Monday 8
It was a big piece of work to get these all neatly written out, the dates put on, and bound ready to hang. Mrs. S. kindly made us a copy of the one she received, and we keep it as quite a treasure.
Towards the latter part of our internment, a most valuable institution was introduced. Once a week in "Room No. 7" was held "The Sale and Exchange". Anybody who needed anything, would search their possessions, find something they could do without, send it over to Mrs. B. of the Salvation Army, with a note attached stating what they wanted, and on Friday afternoon all would be displayed. No bargain-hunters' rush could compare with the excitement of that hour or two; and it was perfectly amazing what could be obtained. I got some drawing materials for a bottle of shrimp paste. But it was the children who needed this exchange most, or perhaps I should say the mothers of the children. The children would grow and grow and grow, and their clothes were not like the clothes of Israel in the wilderness which did not wax old.
Another terrible trial was false teeth. I suppose they always are a trial, but when plates break in an internment camp, with no hope of getting them repaired, it is even more of a trial. The first plate to break, was kindly sent to Shanghai by the Japanese for repairs, and was almost six or eight months, if I remember correctly, getting back again; and when it arrived it was worse than when it went away. Actually, within a few hundred yards of the Camp, there was more than one Chinese dentist who could have fixed them in a day or two; but the Japanese would not allow such a convenience as this to help us. There was one man who had brought with him a most complete set of small metal working tools, a lathe, drills, etc. He only used them at home as a recreation, but he had become very skilful in his work. This gentleman got the dentist in camp to take an impression of the lady's mouth. He found a silver shilling, and beat the shilling out until it exactly fitted the plaster-of-paris mold. Then, taking the old teeth from the broken plate, he prepared little strips of silver, and soldered each tooth on to the frame he had made. The new plate fitted better, and worked better, than anything she had ever had before. Many plates were repaired after that. But repairs were not limited to dentures only, but included a great range, such as watches, clocks, jewelry, etc. A little workshop was in time provided in the camp for this work, and a helper was needed to keep up with all that had to be done.
We had been in Camp some time, when a notice was posted, ordering us to pack our belongings, and be ready to move at any time, with twenty-four hours' notice. The other two Camps in Yangchow had similar orders, and they were both moved back to Shanghai, including our friends, Miss Dear and Miss M. I fear life was even more difficult for them in Shanghai, as quarters were more crowded than they had been in Yangchow. But the Japanese decided it was better to keep us where we were.