[
    {
        "id": 208664,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1979",
        "page_number": 121,
        "title": "RAS-1979",
        "content_text": "94\n\nREVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS\n\ngage left for town by truck. That begins to look as if the repatriation is an assured fact, though the British don't yet believe it. The Japanese authorities announce that His Imperial Majesty's government is going to make us a loan; that we are to receive an allocation of money for our personal needs. The sum is $300,000.00 Hong Kong dollars, giving each internee about $105.00 of which $30 is to go to the communal funds, the remainder being credited to the individual, for food and personal needs. Everybody is still hungry, and there seems to be very little activity around the Camp. Softball and other games have fallen off, and even the children seem listless. According to a medical report by the Camp doctors, 90% of the children are suffering from malnutrition. At the present time, milk is issued only for three year olds and under, and for nursing mothers. The quality of our food seems to have increased slightly but the quantity is still meager. Our one piece of bread, issued daily or every other day, seems also to be dwindling in size, and becoming darker in color. At present our piece of bread is about three inches long by about one inch wide. Incidentally, the bread which we have been getting is being baked at the French Hospital, and we are getting it through the good offices and hard work of Dr. Selwyn Clark, the former head of the Hong Kong Medical Department, who has been allowed his freedom, so far. Thus he is doing great work for the internees, though he is not allowed in the Camp very often. In addition to the food, clothing and shoes are becoming a problem. We have no facilities for the repair of shoes. There are several dentists in Camp, but only one has any kind of equipment. The others have repeatedly asked for theirs, but some excuse is always given, one of which is, \"you won't be here long enough to need it\" which, of course, gives us hope. When the Americans also ask for garden tools and seeds they usually get the same answer.\n\n14—At our morning meal, we received one boiled duck egg, rice, and carrot tops. Brother Thaddeus, in sorting over the soy beans for bean sprouts, finds a means to roast or toast the rejects, and we (his roommates) help him to eat them as peanuts. The Dollar Line officials in Camp are to be included in the repatriates already selected. The Canteen opens again under a new system, which avoids the long queues. Only two hundred tabs are issued and we draw lots for our share. The holder of each tab is also limited to the",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 208688,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1979",
        "page_number": 145,
        "title": "RAS-1979",
        "content_text": "118\n\nREVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS\n\n14-There is a softball game almost every evening now and that gives us something to look forward to, although swimming is also a good attraction during the day. Tweed Bay Beach is a very fine sandy one, but not very large. We learn that the Holy Father has given $15,000.00 HK to victims of the war, and each internee at Stanley will receive about $5.40.\n\n—\n\n15 Feast of the Assumption. Only one Mass in the Club Chapel today. We are hoping to receive our long-looked-for permission to leave Camp today, as hitherto something important usually happened on a Feast Day, but there is as yet no news from \"The Hill.\" However, we did have quite a surprise when the Sisters gave us a dish of ice cream for supper. How they manage these things is more than we can fathom. No show tonight, but a farcical game of softball between the Police and the Ladies.\n\nThe next few days are quite uneventful, with baseball the main feature of the day. As clothing is becoming quite a problem for the internees, flour sacks are being utilized for articles of apparel. On the 17th there was another death at the Hospital. The British are also having lectures each Tuesday for those who wish to attend. Rain kept us indoors at times and it looks as if we might have a typhoon. One of the patients who had been allowed to go to St. Paul's Hospital for X-ray treatment failed to return to Camp and as a punishment no more patients will be allowed this privilege for a month, no matter how sick they may be.\n\n20-Seven months in Camp today and at last the good news has come: we get our call to sign our papers on \"The Hill\" at 9:30 a.m. These papers merely say that we shall do nothing against His Imperial Majesty's Japanese Government if we are paroled, and we gladly accede to such a request. Accordingly, promptly at the appointed time, we 13 Maryknoll priests, Brother Thaddeus and two of the remaining four Maryknoll Sisters, Sister Dorothy and Sister Henrietta Marie, sign the required papers and are informed that we may leave in a \"few\" days. Fathers Meyer and Hessler, with Sisters Eucharistia and Christella, will remain in the Camp to look after the Catholics. At present there is only one other priest left, Father Charles Murphy of Scarboro Bluff, Canada. He is seeking his release.\n\n21 — Packing up our few belongings and Dr. Talbot gives us cholera shots. Softball gives us a good evening's entertainment.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1979.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938",
        "rank": 0
    }
]