China and the West

Letter from Evelyn Dewey to Alice Chipman Dewey
Sunday, [July 18, 1920?]
Dear mamma,
Lucy is going to Peitaho to-night after all with the Cranes of course. I think dad would have liked to go along but they did not have room I guess. Rich Chinese are fleeing the city the Wagon Lits is crowded and any one in the quarter can get rich renting rooms. The North East gate is closed and every one has laid in a few extra supplies of food. But of course everything is a peaceful and quiet as can be. The trains to Kalgan are not running to-day, and soldiers and ammunition supposed to be coming from Mukden, we saw some soldiers coming in from Nan Yuan this morning, but there are not many around the streets, there is martial law and everyone is supposed to be home by mid-night. There are 150 sailors at our Legation "on a sight seeing tour". The paper says there will be fighting in Soochow and maybe Nankin, but you probably have your own batch of rumors and news there. Yesterday we went to a temple in the Western hills, but didnt see a thing, the barracks by the summer palace seemed more deserted than usual. We have given up going to Tan Che Sse, partly because the trains arent running there as the station is one of the places where they are concentrating troups, and partly because if anything is going to be here we wanted to stay and see it. It is hot and Dad seems to mind it, but I dont nearly so much as when it is damp, it is clouding up now and looks like rain again, there is some breeze in the house and we have been able to sleep, but there is no denying that it is very hot, We havs had only one short letter from you., but suppose we will hear shortly. The last letters to Kalgan have not brought any news yet. We had dinner with the Cranes Friday night and they were coming here to night.
My ticket home was gotten thru Yokahama which is why there is no record of it in Shanghai.
There was no more news from home except Freds letter which we sent you.
We are going to send word to Suh Hu to have his wife brought here if trouble should really start, and George has already asked if he can bring Susan [Wan], so we may have a maternity hospital in our own little tenement. Somehow it is quite impossible to belive that anything will happen.
Remember that Richard Smith has gone to Nanking for the summer, and Mr. Crane says a U.S. gun boat will go up the river to take people out if the trains stop or fighting begins. I only hope nithing happens to prevent your getting away when you want to.
Much love Eve