The Lady and the Panda (49 page)

176
So, in mid-April
“Su-Lin Likes It.” By now her exploits were important enough to lure along the wildly witty Alexander Woollcott, famous for lines such as the one in which he described himself as “always a godfather, never a god.”

176
That day, April 20
Ibid.

176
Tens of thousands
“Panda Becomes Gay Hostess When Guests Arrive,” Associated Press, in
Joliet [Ill.] Herald News,
18 July 1937, Brookfield Zoo archives.

176
World Series games Baseball Almanac,
http://www.baseball-almanac.com
.

177
The Bronx Zoo
H. R. Mitchell, manager of the New York Zoological Park, to Edward Bean, director of the Brookfield Zoo, 20 Feb. 1937.

177
Back in Shanghai China Journal,
Apr. 1937, p. 190, says Russell left Shanghai for America in late March.

177
Floyd Tangier Smith
Russell to Reynolds, 1 Apr. 1965, says he met with Smith before leaving the country.

177
Looking skeletal
Floyd Tangier Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 22 Apr. 1937, Smith Papers.

177
Russell found
Russell to Reynolds, 1 Apr. 1965.

177
Smith had been
From Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 23 and 28 Dec. 1936, we know it started at Christmastime, and from his own letter to his sister, 12 Mar. 1937, we know it lasted until then. Smith Papers.

177
Just before Christmas
Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 23 and 28 Dec., 1936.

177
“financially embarrassed”
Ibid.

177
“all gone phut”
Floyd Tangier Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 22 Apr. 1937.

177
Smith confided
Ibid.

177
Instead of continued life
Fragment of letter, Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, n.d. but by information contained in letter, it must have been written in fall 1937 from, most likely, London. Smith Papers.

177
From winter into spring
Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 22 Apr. 1937.

178
As if it hadn't
Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 23 Dec. 1936; and Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937.

178
After this
Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937.

178
The irony was
Ibid.

178
It is almost certain
Russell to Reynolds, 1 Apr. 1965, says he met with Smith before leaving the country.

178
But Russell had another
“Another Live Giant Panda,”
China Journal,
Apr. 1937, p. 190; and Arthur de Carle Sowerby, “The Natural History of West China,”
China Journal,
Apr. 1937, p. 202.

179
It was enough to daunt
Harkness to Perkins, 13 Aug. 1937.

179
As for Smith
Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 22 Apr. 1937.

179
One of the most important
Ibid.

179
Harkness and Smith
Harkness in Chicago on Mon. 19 Apr., according to
Chicago Tribune;
Smith writing of plans to sister Thurs. 22 Apr.

180
Captain Brocklehurst
“Captain Brocklehurst Completes West China Expedition,”
China Journal,
Apr. 1937, p. 190.

180
Even with an expedition China Press,
12 Aug. 1937, says Harkness completed both manuscripts before coming to China. This is the only reference I have to the actual writing of the books.

180
“I shall return”
Harkness,
Lady and the Panda,
p. 288.

180
“Again there were”
Ibid., p. 287.

181
Ruth Harkness entered
Harkness to Perkins, 11 Aug. 1936 (mismarked 11 July 1936); and
China Press,
12 Aug. 1937.

181
Harkness knew of the danger China Press,
Shipping section, 12 Aug. 1937.

181
Now, crowded up on deck
Dong,
Shanghai
, p. 252.

181
It had backup too North China Daily News,
12 Aug. 1937.

182
As her ship drew China Press,
Shipping section, 12 Aug. 1937.

182
Japan and China
Spence,
Search for Modern China,
p. 251.

182
the Japanese making North China Daily News,
12 Aug. 1937.

182
Outside the International China Press,
13 Aug. 1937.

182
The clash that resulted
Spence,
Search for Modern China,
pp. 420–21.

182
Just that past December
Roberts,
Concise History
, p. 240.

182
By deflecting
Tuchman,
Stilwell
, p. 168.

183
“numbers, hate”
Ibid., p. 161.

183
She scrawled
Harkness to Perkins, 11 Aug. 1936. Aboard the boat, she had been all good humor and jokes in her correspondence. At one point, she had responded to a cabled tease of Perkie's—“You are wrong. I wasn't having a cocktail when your telegram arrived; I was having a whisky with plain water.”

183
The next day, Arthur de Carle Sowerby
“Modern Diana Returns,”
North China Herald,
18 Aug. 1937, says tea was on Thurs. afternoon.

183
Despite the city's anxiety China Press,
11 Aug. 1937, with picture, “Returning.”

183
“Modern Diana Returns” North China Herald,
18 Aug. 1937.

183
“Pres. Hoover Brings” China Press,
Shipping section, 12 Aug. 1937.

183
It couldn't help but amuse
Harkness to Perkins, 11 Aug. 1936.

183
Through her correspondence
In her first letter home on 11 Aug., she expresses concern that Young is not around, but says she's not worried.
China Press,
12 Aug. 1937, says “her first move will be to get in contact with” Quentin Young. Even by Sept.,
China Journal
was reporting that Harkness “was to have met Mr. Quentin Young somewhere in South China,”
China Journal,
“Travel and Exploration Notes,” Sept. 1937, p. 145. And Harkness to Edward Bean, 24 Sept. 1937, Brookfield Zoo archives.

184
Among all the cards
Harkness to Perkins, 11 Aug. 1936.

184
“I can't find”
Ibid., 13 Aug. 1937.

184
She was in the dark
Ibid., 11 Aug. 1936.

184
Many years later
Quentin Young, interview by Michael Kiefer, in “I Need Time to Recuperate,”
San Diego Weekly Reader
19, no. 47 (29 Nov. 1990), p. 16.

184
As Harkness stepped ashore
“Ruth Harkness Completes West China Expedition,”
China Journal,
“Travel and Exploration Notes,” Jan. 1938, p. 37.

184
his already pregnant wife
Diana Chen had to have been pregnant because she gave birth in November (Harkness to Perkins, 10 Dec. 1937); and Young's presence in Hong Kong from Kiefer,
Chasing the Panda
, p. 150.

185
In June, hunters
“Second Live Panda Leaves China,”
China Journal,
Aug. 1937.

185
The young adult female
“Food Problems of Giant Panda,”
Shanghai Sunday Times,
3 Oct. 1937.

185
she boarded the
Andre Lebon “Giant Panda en Route to U.S.,”
North China Daily News,
25 July 1937.

185
There were rumors
Harkness to Perkins, 13 and 23 Aug. 1937.

185
He would admit
“Food Problems.”

185
He sailed eventually
“Mr. F. T. Smith Leaves Shanghai with Panda on Journey to London Zoo,”
Shanghai Sunday Times,
25 July 1937.

185
The poor panda China Journal,
“Travel and Exploration Notes,” Jan. 1938, p. 38, says the panda was dead
before
Singapore; and
Shanghai Sunday Times,
3 Oct. 1937, says she died before Saigon.

186
Harkness would hear
Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937, from aboard the
Aramis.

186
Pandaless, Smith continued
“Food Problems” says he is in London then.

186
Sowerby had amassed
Harkness to Perkins, 13 Aug. 1937.

186
“Such slander”
Harkness to Perkins and Pierce, 23 Aug. 1937. Sifting through the stories, she saw that some missionaries had taken “pot shots” at her too. Many of them were on Smith's side, as he maintained strong ties with their community at the West China Union University in Chengdu. Somehow, though, the missionary rumbling struck Harkness as comic, and she shrugged it off. “Notorious character you have for a friend,” she wrote home to Perkins.

186
An inveterate writer
The
Herald
was a round-up version of the
Daily News,
and Sowerby's letter, dated 26 July, appeared in the
Daily News
on 28 July, and in the
Herald
11 Aug.

186
With a tone of calm authority North China Daily News,
28 July 1937; and
North China Herald,
11 Aug. 1937.

187
Smith, in England
Smith, document/letter, 12 Oct. 1937, Smith Papers, Library of Congress.

187
Even though the writer-naturalist
“Giant Pandas in the News,”
China Journal,
“Scientific Notes and Reviews,” July 1937.

187
In September China Journal,
Sept. 1937.

187
He would point out
Ibid., Oct. 1937, p. 210. The text says “included” instead of “inclined,” a clear error.

188
“The whole story told”
“Ruth Harkness Here to Fulfill Mission She Holds ‘Sacred,’ ”
China Press,
12 Aug. 1937.

188
She disliked having
Ibid.

188
Her fortunes
Harkness to Perkins, 25 July 1937, mentions cable from “Jerry” asking her to wait for him in Chicago.

188
It would appear
In a later letter (10 Oct. 1937), Harkness reports meeting a missionary lady outside Chengdu who says that Russell received word of the captured panda, and had the hunters kill it and bring him the pelt.

189
In torrents
Dong,
Shanghai,
p. 252.

189
“Wide thoroughfares” North China Herald,
18 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 13 Aug. 1937.

189
The frantic refugees
Harkness to Perkins, 13 Aug. 1937.

189
Many could stake out China Press,
13 Aug. 1937.

189
The big North Station
Ibid., 14 Aug. 1937.

189
Settlement authorities
Sergeant,
Shanghai
, p. 297.

189
By Saturday morning North China Daily News,
15 Aug. 1937.

189
Relying on information
Harkness to Perkins and Pierce, 23 Aug. 1937.

189
under Chiang Kai-shek's orders
Spence,
Search for Modern China,
p. 422.

189
Chinese biplanes North China Herald,
dispatch dated 16 Aug. 1937.

189
After each raid North China Daily News,
15 Aug. 1937.

189
“Half-thrilled” China Press,
15 Aug. 1937.

189
In the late afternoon all hell
Dong,
Shanghai.

190
When the smoke lifted North China Daily News,
15 Aug. 1937.

190
Minutes later
Dong,
Shanghai.

190
In a flash North China Daily News,
15 Aug. 1937.

191
“Death from little bombs” China Press,
15 Aug. 1937.

191
“All told”
Dong,
Shanghai.
Number of dead also in “One Year of Undeclared War on China,”
China Journal,
July 1938, p. 6.

191
“I naturally”
Harkness to Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937.

191
“Do not worry”
Dan Reib to Hazel Perkins, 5 Oct. 1937.

191
A lights-out curfew China Press,
16 Aug. 1937.

192
By Tuesday North China Herald,
25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 17 Aug. 1937.

192
With heavy Japanese fire North China Herald,
25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 18 Aug. and 25 Aug. 1937, dispatch dated 19 Aug.

192
Harkness was not interested
Harkness to Perkins, 27 Oct. 1937.

192
Ever more determined
Sergeant,
Shanghai,
p. 301.

192
The “incessant bombing”
Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937. “Machine guns,” has a typo and reads as “machibe guns.”

192
And, yes
Ibid., though she more than once refers to “the 1941 belief.”

192
“I know that this War”
Harkness to Perkins, 17 Aug. 1937.

193 The China Journal
China Journal,
“Travel and Exploration Notes,” Sept. 1937, p. 145.

193
But weeks later
Ruth Harkness to Edward Bean and family, 24 Sept. 1937.

193
a burning North China Daily News,
21 Aug. 1937, features pictures of billowing black smoke coming up out of Yangtzepoo.

193
and battered
“Vessels Leaving,”
North China Daily News,
20 Aug. 1937.

193
The launch
Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” p. 10. We find out they are leather from the dispatch she writes from Vietnam after the train wreck, Sept. 4–6.

193
The horror would
Tuchman,
Stilwell
, p. 169; and Spence,
Search for Modern China,
pp. 422–423.

193
Harkness was scrambling
“Ruth Harkness Completes West China Expedition,” “Travel and Exploration Notes,”
China Journal,
Jan. 1938, p. 37.

193
Aboard the coast-hugging
“MM” is “Messageries Maritimes.”

193
While she had never
Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 23 Aug. 1937.

195
Inscribe on your heart
Juan Chi (210–263), “Poems of My Heart,” in
Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century,
ed. Cyril Birch (New York: Grove Press, 1965), p. 179.