It you treat them humanly and are able to speak the language you get along famously with them, exchanging cigarettes and chatting. When forced to stop, " driver will find his car placed inthe shade and brushed off while he himself is considerately Airected to a teahouse where all kinds of refreshment are available, Other inveterate drivers, all of prominent business positions her were called in by telephone and em-Dhatically added their' weight in de-ouncing what they called a" very damaging and misleading report men who must have treated oficial with orders to carry out Ike bothersome coolies.
They all emphasized that foreigners tend to receive more courteous and lenient treatment. than Chinese rivers and that the officials or police are really trying to be nice to them to, encourage them to return.
"Certainly ears are stopped and inspected, but the matter is simply the carrying out of routine orders and similar to what takes place in cross-Ing State boundaries in the United States" When drivers cannot speak the language they should be all the more ready to comply with the orders of uniformed oMelais, On July 24, paid one man in the group, "he drove to Soochow and had dinner at the same Garden Hotel at which the maitre a'hotel and. restaurant proprietor were so annoyed by offciousness, He had a quiet pleasant dinner, strolled through a beautiful evening, no trouble whatever about passports 'oF any other formalities. Tt has always been the same, he said, at all the many litle hotels, teahouses. and shacks which he has" visited on the road.
Tt was pointed out that misleading reports of the conditions on the roads might easily prevent many from using them and' deprive them of the pleasure which a large number.of Fesldents here are enjoying regularly.
Passport Troubles Placid Soochow brought the party their last inconvenience, They 1 Bistered at the Railway Hotel carly fon the evening of July 2, ate a late dinner and retired, Much to their sur~ prise and trepidation at 11.30 three men in uniform, at Toast "one having a drawn pistol and accompanied "by the proprietor, forced entrance to their room and demanded to see their passports. The foreigners submitted all their docu: ments, and the proprietor interpret ing, they learned that the officers must take off their passports. The visitors acquiesced without argument, Insisting, however, that as they were Teaving at 7 am, (July 25). the pass ports must be in their possession by that hour, "We did not expect to see the passports at 7 o'clock" said the driver of the car, "but surprisingly enough they were returned exactly at the hour."
The trip from Soochow to Shanghai was made without untoward incident,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.