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were broken and the makeshift seats were few, so that many had to stand, but it was the same Mass, and even better appreciated. Every Sunday we carried down the loose boards of our beds to lay across concrete blocks to form seats.
In an old quarry a concrete slab was set up as an altar for Benediction when the weather was fine. There were also stone seats for meetings, retreats, etc. In bad weather, Club meetings were held in the rooms of Catholic families fortunate enough to have rooms to themselves. The authorities had assigned four persons to small rooms, six to the larger living rooms; there was little space left between the beds. But for our meetings, the beds would be taken up and as many as twenty or thirty could be accommodated not too uncomfortably.
Father Hessler was the very active Mary of our team, I was the Martha. He was most successful with the Clubs, and had twenty or more meetings weekly. I had the men's Catholic Action Group and some Study Clubs, and tried to see to it that Father Hessler took his meals and got enough nourishment to keep him out of the malnutrition clinic, which towards the end could give little but good wishes. About the only remedy they had finally, was bran, which had been brought to Hong Kong to feed the racehorses. But several ounces a day would help beri-beri.
Early in the Camp, Bishop Valtorta had been able to send in some Vatican funds monthly for charitable purposes, and I was able to buy eggs in the Camp canteen for the sick, until these became too scarce and eventually stopped coming in altogether. Then an order was issued that no one could receive more than 25 yen monthly from all sources. We were already receiving that from the American Red Cross as personal allowance, but officialdom was unwilling to distinguish between personal and charitable funds. So, we had to try to raise them within the Camp itself.
During the Camp each internee received, in all, eight Red Cross comfort parcels, the kind that went to prisoners of war in Europe every two weeks. The Maryknoll Fathers who left Camp had arranged in town for weekly parcels to be sent to us. The powdered milk and other foods in these parcels commanded a price in the Camp Black Market out of all proportion to their value, since there were some who had secured funds by disposing of
Page 165
Page 166
138
REVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS
were broken and the makeshift seats were few, so that many had to stand, but it was the same Mass, and even better appreciated. Every Sunday we carried down the loose boards of our beds to lay across concrete blocks to form seats.
In an old quarry a concrete slab was set up as an altar for Benediction when the weather was fine. There were also stone seats for meetings, retreats, etc. In bad weather, Club meetings were held in the rooms of Catholic families fortunate enough to have rooms to themselves. The authorities had assigned four persons to small rooms, six to the larger living rooms; there was little space left between the beds. But for our meetings, the beds would be taken up and as many as twenty or thirty could be accommodated not too uncomfortably.
Father Hessler was the very active Mary of our team, I was the Martha. He was most successful with the Clubs, and had twenty or more meetings weekly. I had the men's Catholic Action Group and some Study Clubs, and tried to see to it that Father Hessler took his meals and got enough nourishment to keep him out of the malnutrition clinic, which towards the end could give little but good wishes. About the only remedy they had finally, was bran, which had been brought to Hong Kong to feed the racehorses. But several ounces a day would help beri-beri.
Early in the Camp, Bishop Valtorta had been able to send in some Vatican funds monthly for charitable purposes, and I was able to buy eggs in the Camp canteen for the sick, until these became too scarce and eventually stopped coming in altogether. Then an order was issued that no one could receive more than 25 yen monthly from all sources. We were already receiving that from the American Red Cross as personal allowance, but official- dom was unwilling to distinguish between personal and charitable funds. So, we had to try to raise them within the Camp itself.
During the Camp each internee received, in all, eight Red Cross comfort parcels, the kind that went to prisoners of war in Europe every two weeks. The Maryknoll Fathers who left Camp had arranged in town for weekly parcels to be sent to us. The pow- dered milk and other foods in these parcels commanded a price in the Camp Black Market out of all proportion to their value, since there were some who had secured funds by disposing of
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