Statements made to a *North-[China Herald" representative [Friday refuted the suggestion made In the correspondence columns of this paper recently that the behaviour! of foreign missionaries in the interior was in some cases "foolhardy" and "hardly Christianlike". Dr, Adolph, who has only' recently.returned from the area close to where ithe Red forces are now operating, gave hig opinion as to why the Bri-fish and American missionaries were now imprisoned in' Hungtung and "Just as these missionaries wefo getting themselves ready to evacuate," he declared, "the forces from Nanking arrived in the threatened area, snd. the missionaries naturally concluded that this would be ample guarantee of their personal safety. They were, of course, reluctant to} leave Hungtung and Linfen for the south, which is a "bandit-infested area,' when they would be ensured of protection by staying In these towns, which were being fortified by Government troops. heard of one man who actually went south from Hungtung to Linfen, thoroughly reassured after witness-Ing the arrival of the Government troops, and returned to Linfen, as ho did not honestly think that' the risk was sufficient to merit him leaving that area.
Dr, Adolph has had ample personal experience of both the towns] now said to be in the hands of Red forces, having spent altogether seven months in both of them. In 1930, he was stationed at Hungtung, and for a period from 1930 to 1931 ho was quartered at Lint "Linfen," he explained, "is a very well fenited town, and anyone inside would have quite a good chance spe, og there are high walls, very' few gates through which wycklag army could force an on the other hand, walls, and there are more sales, so it is really far more vulnerable, As a general rule, of] course, there are no Governmeni troops' stationed in either of these towns, but special troops were sent] up there just before I left in vi of the threat from the Red forces:
Missionaries Re-assured Dr. Adolph said that he knew all of the missionaries who were now] Said to be in peril in the two towns, and had actually received a communication from one of them to say) that they had received a wire from the consul warning them to leave in view. of threatening circumstances, and that a number of them had pre: fared to evacuate, but at that time!
Nanking troops started arriving, and they thought there was no further need to worry.
Dr. Adolph himself left Shansi_on March 6, having been stationed about 100 miles away from where the fate of the missionaries is now doubtful. At the time when he left, he stated, reports were being circulated that the Communists had crossed _'the Yellow River, and just before they left they heard that they had gone over to the other side of the river again. Dr, Adolph's party was actually cut off from the outside world for five days, the postal communication being entirely suspended owing to the buses being taken off the road to be used by Government troops} to what proportions a man might} grow under its influence. Then he went to "the longest bar in the! world" and overheard "Donald" and "Harry" arguing os {o which was the most Scottish, or whether either was) Scottish at all. After that he decided to remain a New Zealander, and he Joined the Light Horse. for military purposes. The radio and telephone communication was.also Interfered with, the excuse for the Interference in the telephone service being that the Government troops were: busy sending military mess age.
Dr, Adolph told of an exciting experience that he had while he was stationed in Linfen. "It was nothing to do with Communist disturbances, he said, "but took place in 1930, at the conclusion of the wars between the north and the south. A military) aeroplane belonging to the Government forces from Nanking bombed! the town, and killed a number of people, but fortunately none of the missionaries was injured. As a general rule, we always felt perfectly safe and' secure there, and there were no other alarming ' incidents) such as those which have been tak-Ing place up there recently."
Possibilities of Help telegram recently received by the "North-China Herald" from Pel ping, it was stated it was believed that aeroplanes provided the only method of evacuating the missionaries, but aviation ofleials had declared' that only an autogiro could land in the vicinity, of Pingyang.
Dr, Adolph recounted an amusing! story "illustrative of the methods employed by Communists in herd He had it told to him from a firsthand source when he was up in the] threatened area. Early in March, he said, a party of Communists peacefully took over a village, eight' miles from Fenchow, and one of them, representing himself as the village elder, then called up the county magistrate on the telephone. He asked the magistrate whether everything was peaceful in his district, whether they had any ammunition with them, whether the city were properly fortified, and also put numerous questions as to the condition fof the guns, the number of soldiers, ete, each question being faithfully] nsvered by the county magistrate. Every detail was discovered without the oflelal at the other end of the phone gaining the slightest idea of the hoax which was being perpetrate ed, and probably imagining that he was being called up by a peacetullooking, graybearded old gentleman:
Turning to the more serious side of the question, Dr. Adolph said that missionaries who went into the Interior of China knew well that] they were taking their lives into] their hands, and were acquainted] with all the diMieulties and dangers with which they would be. confronted, They took the risk of death in carrying out their duties. Xf, after the death of a missionary, the consul concerned should demand an indemnity, thea the China Inland Mission refused to accept it, and if} it were paid at all it was handed over to the consul authorities.
Dr, Adolph is now on his way to America to spend his furlough, and he anticipates going back into the Interior once again when his hol comes (o an end,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.