Address by Mr. Timperley Before Rotary Club 'A. glowing account of an experiment in. community service ing which appears to be succeeding extremely well was given by Mr. H.
Timperley, correspondent for the Manchester Guardian," at the weekly luncheon of the Rotary Club, which was held in the Metropole Hotel on Thursday. The speaker was Introduced by Mr. A, Morley, who said he frst jet Mr. Timperley some fifteen years (0, when he arrived from Australia to join a rival newspaper in Hong-(Ong, as a result of which they yeeame the best of friends." "He has been in Pel he concluded, Is one ofthe best informed news papermen In this part of the world."
<2ir, Timperley said he would tell of the Peiping experiment, which had been initiated by an organization of what was known as the Men's Brotherhood of the Peiping Union Church, although many of its members were rot members of Une church. At first, it was merely a forum for discussion and fellowship, but when, by some process he had as yet been unable to unravel, he became president, he was instructed to get some conerete service project under way.
Survey of Conditions survey was made by four trained students from the Department Sociology of a Peiping university of conditions in a very poor neighbourhood in the close vicinity of Peiping, when It war found that two-thirds of the 51 families coming under the survey were illiterate, and that only two women above the age of ten could rend, In one case, 9 persons. were found living in a room 8 fect by twelve: the average was three oF four to a room. The average income per person was $1.05 a month, and the average expenditure §2.81, which meant that the people were all getting into debt, falling behind their Tent, and $0 on. As a basis of comparison, he mentioned, that Wellsmanaged Institutions in China, sum of $250 to $3.00 per person wag set aside each month for food alone.
Tt was decided that a community centre should be established, somewhat on the ines of Kingsley Hall, London, and a start was made with the children, who were running wild the alleyways, A playground was thought the best means of beginning the Work, and, in order to show that Shanghai was not unique in the matter of legal, political and_techhnleal dimeulties, he described the task that faced the sponsors of the play ground in Peiping.
disused courtyard in a Lama temple was chosen, and negotiations were started with the Lama in charge, In the course of which 'Mr. Timperley drank at Toast "46 cups of tea." 'Then application had to be made to the Bureau of Mongolian and 'Tibetan 'Affairs, following which it was discovered that there was a lama in each corner of the courtyard who hind' to be similarly approached. Finally, they came up against, their greatest obstacle, an old-style Chinese boxing teacher," who resented the intrusion on what he thought were his rights, and proved obdurate at frst, 'A "Double FU
Mr, Timperley remembered, however, that In the days of his youth he Was rather adept at doing "a double Hip." and to his inward delight, his faliempt at this feat in front of the boxing teacher and his class proved successful once more. "This gave him form of moral superiority and cleaved the way out of the dimeulty. "Tdon't think T could do it again," he went on, amid laughter.
'Later, school was established in a large' Chinese Rouse, and some 46 boys off the streets were now being educated, Lectures and entertain" ments on Fridays and Saturdays attracted crowds of 300, and 400 people, many of whom were not backward in volunteering assistance inthe matier of shuttle-cock—displays, theattieals, musical perfor ances, and other entertainments, It had been said that the Chinese were not grateful for what was done For them, and he was glad to be able refute this suggestion, producing in support of his contention book, covered with a magnificent embroidered dragon, which contained pictures of the community's activities, and had been subscribed for by the people, who gave what they could, from one to twenty coppers, in order to purchase it.
Shanghai's "industrial conditions, general illiteracy, and so on, might be grounds for pessimism, but, in view of what was already being done in the way of mass education and social centres, he did not feel very Gepressed about the matter. 'The Sac, for instance, had started 9 night tehool for boy' apprentices, and some 400 pupils were now on the rolls.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.