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THE VICTORIA HOTEL
CANTON

TEL. ADDRESS: "VICTORIA, CANTON."

TELEPHONE 13501

April 26, 1936 19


Miss Lee Ya Ching,
Park Hotel, Shanghai.

My dear Miss Lee,

Mrs. Dooley has asked me to write and beg your forgiveness for not getting in touch with you on our last day in Shanghai. I know that if could have seen us in our hectic last minute packing you would pardon me for not calling on you.

Getting our family off on a trip is exactly like moving a circus. Although we left all our furniture in America, it is remarkable what one can accumulate in a few years in China. We left with twelve trunks, fourteen suitcases, a bicycle, two canaries and dog. We were both exhausted when we finally made the eleven forty five tender. So won't you please overlook our seeming thoughtlessness?

Mrs. Dooley has explained to me about your flying experience and your ambitions for the future. I have also talked with Helene Tsang and Mrs. Chester Fritz about you so I think I have a pretty good idea of what you are like and what your hopes are. Your problem is not an easy one. The reason is obvious, of course, in that there is no private flying or commercial aviation permitted in China at the present time. That means that any connection you might make must be with the military or government officials. This would be a difficult matter and I am not sure that you would be happy in such a connection even if you were successful in making it. However, if this is your aim, the one way to accomplish it in my opinion is to obtain an interview with Madame Chiang Kai Shek. She is practically running the Chinese Air Corps at the present time. She takes a tremendous personal interest in everything connected with aviation in China and would be the best and probably the only one who could help you realize your plans.

Just how to meet her is difficult for me to say. Sometimes the simplest and easiest way is the most effective. I believe that if I were in your place I should find out when Madame is going to be at some place like Nanjing or Hangchow, both of which she visits frequently, and then go there and send a note explaining briefly who you are and requesting an interview. If Madame is at all interested in you and your idea I believe you will obtain better results in this way than you might by approaching her through complicated and devious political