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Dear Jane, You will all be feeling as we did yesterday: “It’s come at last” when you hear or read that Japanese bombers have reached Chungking. I hope you noticed they bombed the military air-field only. That is seven miles east of us, down the river. There’s a range of hills between the airfield and us, so we didn’t hear the bombs and knew nothing of it till the afternoon. At 9:30 a.m., nine planes circled the airfield, dropping eight bombs. One man killed. We all looked at each other and soon began to smile and joke about it— children, servants and all. I suppose it was the feeling that the suspense was over—they could get this far, and earlier in the day than we expected. It was strange, too, to think it had happened—so long dreaded—and we had not even known. There was an air raid practice on at the time but we don’t hear the signals from the city and don’t know till we see the people running out of the suburb near us. There have been several false alarms, with terrific panic jams, people killed in alleyways and in boats which were overcrowded, but I don’t think it was generally known this time that it was not merely a practice, though they wondered why the All Clear signal did not come for two hours. I hear the recent practices have been more orderly and the streets are cleared in a few minutes. Everybody is made to go into the shops and the boards are put up. Rickshaw coolies reap a harvest holding up those who wish to flee from the city. Little boats—the sampans—crossing the river also put up their prices. I was glad to find we could go on with our schoolwork after a few minutes talk about the news. We have put the last touches to the dugout, sandbags at the door, seats inside. I put some warm coats on the rack in the hall in the mornings. Jim and the children dug a shortcut path down the hillside this morning but I’m sure if I go that steep way I shall end by rolling in a lather of mud and ashes. (19 February 1938) 17 Wartime in Chungking 146 The first significant bombing of Chungking came a year later, early in January 1939. Afterwards Mary wrote a lengthy letter to her father, which included a glowing tribute to Madame Chiang Kai-shek. In view of how negatively the Endicotts later felt about the Nationalist government, this portrait is particularly interesting. I must tell you about the meeting of the Women’s Club last Tuesday. Madame Chiang spoke, in English of course, and I was sitting in the second row so it seemed almost like a conversation. She is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever seen or heard—perhaps the most fascinating when one considers her place in history. Part of her charm is her perfect naturalness , her simplicity, and her utter lack of any platform manner or grand style to impress people. I thought she was a splendid example of Künkel’s objective person, one who is so interested in life around her and her responsibilities to it that she simply doesn’t think of herself. If China survives this terrible invasion it will be, to no small extent, because of the type of personality she is. She is a queen in the best sense, not by birth nor by choice, but by her achievement. No wonder her people adore her.… She told us of the work training young women in Hankow to do war work, and how they had enlisted the help of all the women they could reach. She said the women of the leisured classes were the hardest to interest . They lived in the French concession, and felt themselves safe so they said what does the war matter and went on with their majong. She urged those in the meeting who were teachers to go back to their schools and tell their girls about that and to be a different kind of tai-tai when they left school.… Madame Chiang has invited Jim to join in the work of the New Life Movement, which is under her direction.…When I think of his being away from home a great deal, especially in these days of bombing—and, of course, the Generalissimo’s...

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