CO129-590-23 Situation in Hong Kong 25-4-1905 - 25-4-1905 — Page 155

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to clear out or Hongkong, but the Japanese will not allow any of the

better class Chinese or a foreigner to get away although some of the former are making good their escape. Such is the situation as it stands at present there. I will hold up this letter for a few days to see if anything else comes through. it is only Feb. 27 today. More reports

ave come in and I am afraid they paint a terrible picture of conditions in Hongkong. The foreign women are undergoing wicked abuse you can well understand what that means my informants will not call a spade a spade on the subject. And the men are being humiliated in every possible manner. They are kept busy doing coolie work; sweeping the streets and clearing up the garbage is probably the least of their troubles. I understand that the Japanese gave people living up the Peak who had not been rounded up a time limit in which to report themselves. Some either refused or couldn't make it in the time prescribed, anyway, when the Japanese eventually got them they were all killed, one man in a particularly gruesome way, it is said. This man is an American journalist and quite well-known here. So, my dears, you can well imagine my state of mind- incidently, our flat was on the Peak. I fully realise that there is nothing for me to do but to learn to take it, but it is awful difficult.

My heart and mind are down there in Hongkong. Common sense told me long ago what would happen if the Japanese started something, but it proved of no avail. My letters to you after correspondence with Kitty and Peggy ceased also gave you some of my views of the subject. I have tried to believe I might be wrong in my ideas, but I've known along that I was only kidding myself. Well, I have to stick it out until the end. There is still a faint hope that they will eventually be restored to me. I am in close contact with influential people here, and I would be very chary about giving you news that was not reliable. Besides, I have had sufficient experience of Japanese troops not to know what it means when they control any situation.