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I enquired whether any message had been received for me, and was told that the Foreign Office has sent a message Ɖ #Tell her to keep quiet."
AS
I must confess I was a bit amused by that. though I hadn't learned in the eighteen years of being married into British Govertument life to "keep quiet.". it happened a reporter came on board that same day and enquired if there were my persons on board who had stories of interest to the British newspapers. 210 was taken to Mrs. Dobbs, who had very little to say, and I was not there at all, being at another end of the ship, and hearing about it later from drs, robbs. Just as well, perhaps,
Even Mr. Oda said one day, when in a bad mood, "Hum, I suppose you will go back to New York and write an atrocity story." I had just told him that help for the Blackburne was badly needed, and wouldn't he try to do what he could for them. He had been a bit snappy in reply, and I had come back at him with the remark that my husband had died, and if the Blackburns died also, and they certainly looked as though they had a pretty good chance, considering their state of health, that it would be the makings of a most wonderful atrocity story; two of the most senior British officials in China, a pretty good bag for the Japanese. Tie had some pretty lively sparring matubes, mr. üda and I.
And without his
But when he asked whether I was going to write an atrocity story, although I thought at the time, who has a better right? I assured him that I felt the greatest gratitude for the kindness show me by the Japanese. I said this with all honesty and sincerity. help I would not be alove today, his help and Mr. Kimura's. Strange people, the Japanese, they take a lot of understanding, and the quickest way to get under their guard is to like them and let them know it, and to show appreciation of their abilities and good qualities. They are so terribly anxious to be considered on terms of equality with the white races, and they resent so fiercely our attitude of superiority.
kimura told me, "we love sir Robert Craigie, he understands us, he likes
You should have sent more people like him to us, then this war would never have been. It is wrong, very wrong, we should never have fought you, we admire you, we did not want to fight you. we were forced to fight, you cut off our sources of supplies, everything that we needed, we had no alternative. we had to fight." That was during one of our long chats, before he went to reking.
嗶
And Mr. N. Amamo, the head of the liitsui Trading Co., who I met in Hongkong, he was special adviser to the Army Headquarters, told me the same thing. They did not want the war, and I think they fear its outcome. e had a very long talk on the subject.
One thing which offers a glimmer of hope for Hongkong, a crack in the tightly barred door which exists at the present time, is the establishment of a committee for the International Red Cros8. This was just under way when I left Hongkong. kr. Egle, the Swiss representative had arrived and the group consisted of Mr. H.A. Keller, the Swiss Consul, Mr. Egle, Swiss International
Red
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