Page 17 - To Dragma May 1934

30 To DRAGMJ ANUARY, 1932 31

for even two people to pass. I went also to Hangchow, with its lov A nice leisurely way of "climbing"' to the top of the peak above Hongkong,
in China.
lake and hills and picturesque temples, and at Hangchow had the im
than the closely huddled sampans and junks, remains unchanged.
teresting experience of attending a Christmas party given by the Chinese From Hongkong I took an infinitesimal Chinese steamer, the good
Y.M. and Y.W.C.A. Tableaux of the Nativity were most quaintly and
interestingly presented, but no part of the program left me with as ship "Song Bo," to French Indo-China, on January 4. It carried only
strange a feeling as hearing "Holy Night," "O Little Star of Bethlehem," five upper-class passengers, and looked as if it might sink or be blown
"Adeste Fideles" and other familiar Christmas carols sung in the Chinese over at any moment. In appearance it was far and away the most dis-
tongue! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, incidentally, were spent in reputable looking craft I have ever been on—but we had meals on it
Shanghai, with three Christmas dinners by way of celebration! that would do credit to the best restaurant in Paris. For two days we
sailed through waters infested with Chinese pirates, but unfortunately
On my second morning in Hangchow I went for breakfast into the we ran into no excitement. Instead, we arrived safely and promptly at
dining room of the tiny semi-European hotel of which the city boasts, Haiphong, from which I took a train to Hanoi, the capital of Tonking,
and to my great surprise saw some Europeans there. I greeted them, and where I met my friends, who had sailed from Shanghai on an earlier
they me, and we began to talk across the room over our eggs and tea. boat than I could catch. By the time I arrived, the car (a great big
They were French, and had a French-speaking Chinese as a guide. When comfortable Renault with a chauffeur and boy) and everything else was
they found that I was alone, and strange in the city as they were also, ready, and after a busy and interesting day or two in Hanoi we set off.
they suggested that I might like to join them, and share the benefits of
their guide, which I was delighted to do. We set off in rickshas, and as [To BE CONTINUED]
we were riding along, they asked me by way of conversation, where I
was going from China. I told them to Formosa, and then to Saigon and Alpha 0 Wins Kodak "Prize
Angkor. "Was that all that I was going to see of French Indo-China?"
they wanted to know. "That's all I know anything about," I replied. (Continued from page 16)
"Well, that is too bad," they said. "We are sailing for French Indo-China
tomorrow to drive through the whole country in our own car. Perhaps dress over her head. But Fate smiled on us for the tenth of a second in
you would come with us as our guest."!!!! (The exclamation marks are ^nich the camera was registering the picture which later won the $100
mine!) I was dumfounded, to put it mildly—somewhat as I was in ^tate prize for Vermont, then $500 for the best child picture submitted
Paris on that memorable day in 1922 when the Macy's invited me to , n the United States, and then the $2,500 Grand Award for the best
go with them on that unforgettable trip into Egypt and the Sudan— amateur photograph in the United States.
and I remember suggesting they hold the invitation in reserve until
later, when they could have more of an opportunity to know me, for we My experience in snap-shooting has been gained largely in recording
had met less than an hour ago!! At the end of the day, after our return e babyhood of my two rollicking youngsters, though in college I gained
to Shanghai and a marvelous Christmas Eve dinner together at the xPerience as a member of the photographic staff of the Cornell Graphic.
Majestic Hotel, they hadn't changed their minds, however, and when
they repeated and urged the invitation, I , scarcely able to believe what
I had heard, said I would come.

My boat for Formosa was leaving the next day. I had engaged my
accommodations on it, of course, but because I didn't have my passport
with me at the time I made the reservation, I had not been allowed to
pay for it. Changing was therefore an easy matter, and I booked a pas-
sage to Hongkong instead on December 28, spending an interesting N c *
Year's Eve on the French liner on which I sailed, in company with 8
Hungarian professor, a young German merchant and a French radio
officer. From Hongkong I went to Canton, also open to travel for the
first time in all of my passings-through. It is a fascinating old city-'
and a center second only to Peking as a purchasing heaven for Chined
curios and treasures (for which, unfortunately, I had no pennies to
spare!). The city is being rapidly modernized, however, and broad, ne*
fine streets are replacing many of the dirty, narrow but alluring o l
twisting alleys. The crowded native life on the Pearl River and cana^i
where countless families spend their entire lives, knowing no other home5