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blankets and other small things. But what a sight met our eyes! The general scene was almost indescribable! Some of the rooms and especially the toilets were filthy. In the corridors, the portable altars still stood with their appurtenances as we left them Christmas morning. Strangely enough, the chalices were for the most part untouched; the vestments and altar cloths were intact but in many instances trailing or lying on the floor. And the floors of the corridors were literally filled with all sorts of things, papers, books, empty tin cans and bottles, broken boxes and what not. The rooms were in a similar state. Bureau and wardrobe drawers were pulled out, their contents scattered on the floor, and papers and books and all our minor possessions which the Japanese did not want were everywhere. One wondered where it all came from. In many cases the beds were missing or at least the mattresses. These we later found arranged in rows on the floors of the larger rooms, where the soldiers had evidently slept. The panels of most of the doors had been broken into and shattered strips lay on the floor.
The office was also a mess. This had been used for a dining room but, despite this fact, the floor was covered as the rest of the house was, with papers, files and everything imaginable. The safe had been broken open and what money we had, taken. Before the crash came we had placed the Blessed Sacrament in this safe, but very providentially before the Japanese got to it, the Chinese seminarian who had come with the Salesians opened the safe and consumed it.
The chapel upstairs was wholly unmolested, the Japanese seeming to have great respect for shrines, and later on a Japanese officer bowed as he passed our Chapel door. Report has it that one of the British officers was found hiding behind a statue in the Chapel! Poor fellow!
We noticed red splotches here and there on the floor and walls, but we surmised that these were for the most part caused by the breaking of innocent catsup bottles, though where the wounded soldiers lay, there were of course real blood stains. At the first opportunity, we tried to find our cassocks and breviaries. Most of these eventually turned up, but cassocks needed a washing before being able to be worn.
Obviously our food storeroom was the first object of attack by the famished Japanese, and there wasn't much left when we return-
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Page 91
THE MARYKNOLL MISSION, HONG KONG 1941-46
63
blankets and other small things. But what a sight met our eyes! The general scene was almost indescribable! Some of the rooms and especially the toilets were filthy. In the corridors, the portable altars still stood with their appurtenances as we left them Christmas morning. Strangely enough, the chalices were for the most part untouched; the vestments and altar cloths were intact but in many instances trailing or lying on the floor. And the floors of the cor- ridors were literally filled with all sorts of things, papers, books, empty tin cans and bottles, broken boxes and what not. The rooms were in a similar state. Bureau and wardrobe drawers were pulled out, their contents scattered on the floor, and papers and books and all our minor possessions which the Japanese did not want were everywhere. One wondered where it all came from. In many cases the beds were missing or at least the mattresses. These we later found arranged in rows on the floors of the larger rooms, where the soldiers had evidently slept. The panels of most of the doors had been broken into and shattered strips lay on the floor.
The office was also a mess. This had been used for a dining room but, despite this fact, the floor was covered as the rest of the house was, with papers, files and everything imaginable. The safe had been broken open and what money we had, taken. Before the crash came we had placed the Blessed Sacrament in this safe, but very providentially before the Japanese got to it, the Chinese seminarian who had come with the Salesians opened the safe and consumed it.
The chapel upstairs was wholly unmolested, the Japanese seem- ing to have great respect for shrines, and later on a Japanese officer bowed as he passed our Chapel door. Report has it that one of the British officers was found hiding behind a statue in the Chapel! Poor fellow!
We noticed red splotches here and there on the floor and walls, but we surmised that these were for the most part caused by the breaking of innocent catsup bottles, though where the wounded soldiers lay, there were of course real blood stains. At the first opportunity, we tried to find our cassocks and breviaries. Most of these eventually turned up, but cassocks needed a washing before being able to be worn.
Obviously our food storeroom was the first object of attack by the famished Japanese, and there wasn't much left when we return-
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