The Lady and the Panda (52 page)

244
Under the sponsorship
“Baby Giant Panda Slated for ‘Personal Appearance’ ”; “Baby Panda Earns Lot [
sic
] of Money,”
Shanghai Times,
28 Jan. 1938; ad that ran in the local papers, including
North China Daily News
and
Shanghai Post and Mercury,
and
China Journal,
Feb. 1938, p. 97.

244
From 5 to 7
P.M.
All the ads said from 5–7
P.M.
, but
China Press
reported it lasted three hours—from 4
P.M.
to 7
P.M.
“Panda's Debut Here Attracts Large Crowd,”
China Press,
27 Jan. 1938. Later Harkness told an American reporter that the event was two hours, “Mei-Mei Entertains Self by Playing with Plumbing,” unidentified clip. Albuquerque paper, Feb. 1938.

244
Diana alternately sprawled
“Ruth Harkness Completes West China Expedition,”
China Press,
27 Jan. 1938; “Travel and Exploration Notes,”
China Journal,
Jan. 1938, p. 37; and
Shanghai Times,
28 Jan. 1938.

244
This time her visit
“Baby Giant Panda Invades Sanctum.”

244
Thinking of Smith's fiasco
“Second Baby Panda Leaves for America,”
China Press,
29 Jan. 1938; “Baby Giant Panda Slated for ‘Personal Appearance.’ ” Also Associated Press, 29 Jan. 1938, says Seattle, and that it departs on the 29th;
China Journal,
Feb. 1938, says Vancouver. It was a Canadian line; historical information about the ship suggests that Vancouver must have been the destination.

245
At 5
P.M.
on Friday China Press,
29 Jan. 1938.

245
Within minutes
“Sails with Baby Panda,”
New York Times,
30 Jan. 1938.

245
Out on the Huangpu
“Shanghai Experiences First Snowfall of This Winter,”
China Press,
29 Jan. 1938.

245
It would be good
“Season's First Snowfall a Happy Omen for New Year,”
Shanghai Times,
30 Jan. 1938.

245
The press was certain
Herschell Brickell, “How a Dress Designer Became the World's Best Panda-Catcher,” “Books on Our Table,” no publication on clip, but Brickell wrote for
New York Herald Tribune, New York Evening Post,
and
Saturday Review of Literature.
Clip has to be from January, by reference to Diana. Also “Lady & Pandas.”

247
After she docked
“Baby Panda Coming Here by Plane,” clip from an unidentified San Francisco paper; “Baby Panda Arrives—Beds in Tub,” San Francisco
paper, 15 Feb. 1938; and “Mei-Mei Entertains Self by Playing with Plumbing,” in unidentified Albuquerque paper, Feb. 1938.

247
before boarding
“Sought Pandas Because Few White Men Caught Them,” undated article stamped “New Mexico State Tribune Company,” Feb. 1938; “Mei-Mei Entertains Self”; and “Su-Lin Greets Sister with a Poke on Nose; Then 2 Pandas Kiss and Make Up at Zoo,”
Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938.

247
At every stop
“Sought Pandas Because Few White Men”; “Panda's New ‘Boy Friend’ Is a Girl!”
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
12 Feb. 1938; and picture from unidentified San Francisco paper, marked 14 Feb. 1938.

247
As the two sat
“Baby Panda in Chicago After 15,000-Mile Trip,”
Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938, Associated Press, dateline Chicago, 18 Feb. 1938.

248
Before the assembled crowd Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938; some details from photographs of the scene from Mary Lobisco's family archives.

249
During the course Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938.

249
That bound her to the Chinese
Ibid.

249
The group was soon
“Baby Panda in Chicago”; “Panda Hunter Tells Story of Patient Quest,”
Chicago Sunday Tribune,
20 Feb. 1938.

250
The newsreels covered
“Mei-Mei Entertains Self.”

250
Appearing with staff members
Robert Bean to Ruth Harkness, 5 Mar. 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

250
At first, Su-Lin Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938.

250
Su-Lin, known
Edward Bean to Harkness, 9 Dec. 1937, Brookfield Zoo archives.

250
By now Diana
“Giant Panda Expected in Colony Today,” Associated Press, 6 Jan. 1938; Associated Press report dateline Hong Kong, 8 Jan. 1938;
Hong Kong Telegraph,
8 Jan. 1938. According to
China Press, New York Times
(14 Jan. 1938),
North China Daily News,
ad, 25 or 26 Jan. 1938,
Shanghai Times,
27 Jan. 1938; “Panda Flies to San Francisco,”
New York Times,
13 Feb. 1938.

250
Taking a suite
“Panda Hunter Tells Story.”

250
Zoo life seemed
Harkness to Perkins, on Stevens Hotel Chicago stationery, dated “Tuesday.”

250
In light of his continuing
“Study Mystery of Su-Lin's Death,”
Chicago Daily Tribune,
2 Apr. 1938.

250
Harkness owned him Chicago Daily Tribune,
19 Feb. 1938.

250
When she swept
“New Trip Planned by Mrs. Harkness,”
New York Times,
27 Feb. 1938, sec. 2.

251
“a grand bedfellow”
Harkness to Robert Bean, 7 Mar. 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

251
She felt duty-bound
“New Trip Planned by Mrs. Harkness.”

251
If she was successful
Ibid.

251
After the endless nights
Harkness to Perkins, Harkness has marked “Tuesday,” and in handwriting, someone has noted “3/3/38” (which was not a Tuesday).

251
That Tuesday
Harkness to Perkins, “Tuesday” (must be 1 Mar. 1938). Invitation to Perkins to join her, telegram, 24 Feb. 1938.

251
She asked for a chance
Harkness to Perkins, Tuesday, or “3/3/38.”

252
Her patient friend
In ibid., Harkness says she will be moving into an apartment at 10 West Tenth Street. And when Perkie visits, Harkness is clearly doing the cooking and cleaning, but all correspondence afterward is on Algonquin Hotel stationery, and letters to her carry that address, such as her 7 Mar. to Robert Bean, and Robert Bean to Harkness, 13 Apr. 1938, Harkness to Edward Bean 20 Apr. and 3 May 1938; Edward Bean to Harkness, 18 May 1938.

252
As a host
Another letter from Harkness to Perkins, marked “Tuesday.” From clue in letter of 1 Mar. (invitation), likely 15 Mar. 1938.

252
In March she
Hedda Hopper, “In Hollywood,”
Washington Post,
25 Mar. 1938; “11 Women Are Chosen As the ‘Best Dressed’: Medals Awarded by Designers to Leaders in Various Fields of United States Life,” clip from unidentified newspaper, Harkness family files.

252
Alongside several exotic
“Lone Woman Explorer on the Trail of the Panda, Rarest of Quadrupeds,”
New York Times,
27 Mar. 1938, rotogravure picture sec.

252
She gave lectures
“Lewis Makes Plea for ‘Ivory Tower,’”
New York Times,
31 Mar. 1938.

252
The next day
“Books Published Today,”
New York Times,
31 Mar. 1938;
Washington Post,
“Book of the Week,” 5 June 1938.

252
The illness appeared
Robert Bean to Harkness, 7 Apr. 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

253
Mary Bean found
Ibid.

253
It had not been there
“Panda's Death a Mystery” Associated Press, 2 Apr. 1938: “The black and white panda, which died yesterday, was supposed to have been suffering from a throat infection after choking on an oak twig Sunday.”

253
His health deteriorated
“Study Mystery of Su-Lin's Death,”
Chicago Daily Tribune,
2 Apr. 1938.

253
Distraught zoo officials
“Pandas Galore,”
Time,
11 Apr. 1938.

253
On Friday the Beans
Edward Bean to Harkness, 14 Apr. 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

253
Telegrams of condolence Chicago Daily Tribune,
2 Apr. 1938.

253
color photograph of Su-Lin Chicago Tribune,
15 May 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

253
As his popularity
“Panda's Death a Mystery.”

253
But “of her countless”
“Su-Lin, America's Favorite Animal, Dies of Quinsy in Chicago Zoo,”
Life,
11 Apr. 1938.

253
Reached with the news Chicago Daily Tribune,
2 Apr. 1938.

254
“could not feel”
“Panda, Pet of Zoo, Is Dead in Chicago,”
New York Times,
1 Apr. 1938.

254
The Beans assured
Edward Bean to Harkness, 14 Apr. 1938.

254
A distinguished panel Field Museum News
9, no. 7 (July 1938), Field Museum archives.

254
The cursory postmortem
“Panda's Death a Mystery”;
New York Times,
3 Apr. 1938, p. 23.

254
The body
“Cause of Su-Lin's Death Sought in Post-Mortem,”
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 1938.

254
That meant that the altitude
Herbert E. Bradley, atty. and member of the zoo's animal committee, to Wilfred Osgood, Field Museum, 6 June 1938; and return letter from Osgood and D. D. Davis, 7 June 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

254
Analyzed sections
O. H. Robertson, M.D., Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago, to Wilfred Osgood, Field Museum, 11 May 1938; and Clifford C. Gregg, Field Museum, to Herbert E. Bradley, 10 June 1938, Brookfield Zoo archives.

254
The press was agitating
“Su-Lin Victim of Pneumonia, Museum Holds,”
Chicago Daily Tribune,
14 Apr. 1938.

254
In fact, it would take
Su-Lin discovered to be a male during dissection, reported in
Time,
1 May 1939. And in
Field Museum News,
n.d., but must be May 1938, p. 7;
Chicago Daily Tribune,
14 Apr. 1938;
Field Museum News
9, no. 7 (July 1938); and
Chicago Daily News,
rough copy dated 1 Dec. 1939, Brookfield Zoo archives.

254
A taxidermist Field Museum News
9, no. 7, (July 1938).

255
Elizabeth Smith was telling
“Four Giant Pandas Are Captured by Floyd Smith in Western China,”
New York Times,
4 Apr. 1938.

255
Papers everywhere
“Panda Market Wabbles [
sic
]; Four More Found,”
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 1938.

255 Time
magazine Time,
11 Apr. 1938.

255
The
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 1938.

255
And
The New York Times “Four Giant Pandas.”

255
Francis E. Manierre Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 1938.

255
The zoo had
“Panda Hunter Tells Story.”

255
Besides, the zoo
Robert Bean to Harkness, 13 Apr. 1938.

255
The first day
Robert Bean to Harkness, 23 Mar. 1938.

255
A poll conducted
“Diz and the Panda Tie as Attractions,”
Washington Post,
3 June 1938.

255
The zoo's slight
Robert Bean to Harkness, 13 Apr. 1938; and “Pandas Galore,”
Time,
11 Apr. 1938.

256
“turned cold”
Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

256
On previous occasions
Harkness to Robert Bean, 7 Mar. 1938.

256
Now she became
Harkness to Edward Bean, 3 May 1938.

256
“the very nature of pandas”
Edward Bean to Harkness, 14 Apr. 1938.

256
The zoo had
“Pandas Galore.”
Time,
11 Apr. 1938.

256
At a luncheon
“Mrs. Harkness to Hunt Panda,”
New York Times,
13 Apr. 1938, p. 27.

256
She was playing her cards
Young's May cable telling her that he had two pandas for her had to have been part of an already settled arrangement.

257
The Bronx Zoo
“Panda on Way to U.S.,”
New York Times,
20 May 1938; and “1st Giant Panda in City Destined for Bronx Zoo,”
New York Herald Tribune,
22 May 1938.

257
The animal, named Pandora
“City's First Panda Due Here Friday,”
New York Times,
7 June 1938; and “The Latest Panda News,”
China Journal,
“Scientific Notes and Reviews” July 1938, p. 60.

257
After all the wrangling New York Times,
7 June 1938.

257
a bargain-basement price
Pierce to Perkins, sometime in 1938.

257
Simultaneously
“Giant Panda Imports Look Up; Bronx May See Five at a Time,”
New York Herald Tribune,
5 June 1938.

257
Though there would be
“Mrs. Harkness Relates Adventure; Temperamental Panda Is Returned to Native Mountains by Explorer,”
China Press,
28 July 1938. The death of this little male is also mentioned in a letter from Harkness to Pierce on 16 June 1938.

257
Her pandas were
Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 25 May 1938, from aboard the
China Clipper.

257
Even her spirits
Harkness to Pierce and Perkins, 25 May 1938.

259
From behind the great
Harkness to Pierce, 16 June 1938.

259
A tame goose
Harkness to Pierce, 10 June 1938.

259
She could take a sip
Ibid.

260
From the theater
Harkness to Perkins, 22 June 1938.

260
“a certain peace”
Harkness to Perkins, 10 and 22 June 1938.

260
The flooding
Tuchman,
Stillwell
, p. 187; and Spence,
Search for Modern China
, pp. 424–25.