Fate is dealing hardly by us just! now. For the first time in a life of 00 years, our Chinese staff has been mist intimidated worthless we are strain' counteract that wwe lore by death in service on our repo Last Saturday we said farewell t Mr. W. R. Parkin, who had served for 25 years: to-day jwe have to record the loss of Mr.
Harry Lewis Pearce, who kad been with us for 14 years, Mr. Pearce had been feeling un-several days prior to the begining of the present civie trea-of those ur suffered from a long and he paid no more attention to this ere. He' happened to be in the ut hboarhoad when hooting affair at the New World oceurered and after acquainting hi elf with the essential facts of the matter ko came to the office to write his report. After but a, few minutes, he said that he was feeling very faint and that he must go home fcr a rest, iting his indisposition to the excitement of the hour before ecmizg on top of weakness resulting from lack of food, as he had not had the appetite for anything that day. He made another attempt to finish his work, but had to give in and get a colleague to carry on for him. Three days later he was taken to the General Hospital, suffering from double pneumonia. He passed the crisis and seemed to take a turn for the better but a daily rise and fall in temperature persisted until Sunday last, and eventually meningitis supervened. Never did a man make a more gallant fight for life..It was terrible to sit by his bedside waiting and watching in the hope of being able to do something for him, and to see him fighting for every breath. Yet it was typical of his very dogged nature, and unfortunately the best medical science was tunable to do more to help one who tried 40 hard to st ud he died shortly after seven o'clock Thursday morning.
Mr. Pearce was not given to talkig over mach about his personal affairs and even one who had worked with him for eighteen years knew little about him. He is believed to have been born in shire. After that preliminary provincial training which is regarded as essential for anyone who is to become a thoroughly reliable all round journalist, Mr. Pearce joined the now defunct London "News Agency and in that college of gruelling work he early disting-wished himself by @ capacity to do jail he was asked to tackle. He remained there possibly three years until on March 13, 1911, he was engaged by the editor of the "North-'China Daily News," then in Lon-}don, and sailed for Shanghai. On August 22, 1915, he returned Home land joined the Army. the character of the man asserted itself. He finished his period of service as a Lee. Corporal and when the writer, meeting him after the war, asked him why, seeing that it appeared to be easy for Shanghai men to get commissions, he with his education and training: had remained in the ranks, he replied, "Oh, I had the chance but I Idid not want it. I was willing to do my bit, but I had a notion that I should' like to get. closer to really One remembered then Tommy Atkins and cee him as he
that in his earlier days in London Mr. Pearce inclined markedly to the moderate section of the Labour Party (in a social rather than a political way) and evidently he was anxious to test his views regarding the working classes.
A first-class all-round journalist, also he was able to specialise in a variety of subjects. He had charge of our Book Review section from its inception as a regular feature and. this was a task he thoroughly Jenjoyed, for be was a great reader. Then again, if cross-word puzzles had to be accepted as something our readers really wanted, someone had tone put in charge of them. Pearce ]was given the job. He knew nothing whatever about them, but.they Jappealed to his-sense of humour and after assimilating the essential jhe -sot down with "hie first: puzzle and proceeded to alter. all the definitions until they were more Giffcalt than ary problem in Ouch "They eay_ this is training in de-Jduetion and general knowledge," jeaid he: "then let them show it!"
Mr. Pearee's gift of humour was Joutstarding. Indeed, his was a He might have he hail the a fact th mest delightfully hrs apparently he carld do it as often as required. With the our there was always perfect composition and never anything but Geod taste.
He was keenly interested in all sports, though he went in for little boyerd tenn's and bowls in a small way, a rot teo strong physique and fears of a ien. His din this Jeare it as biz modesty that robbed of public honours. Had ko he persuasiers of those shyriss or reserve ed his circle of personal there was that about which attracted clcervant peo-end his not like interruptions, but out of the cffce he sparkled with that wit which he #0 cleverly transferred to kindly cynicism mixed with punning which is something more than a mere mutilation of words. His colleagues grieve be-yord words to lose to able and attractive a man, whose place cannot
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.