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Thursday June 15, 1939
rters Court 4900 The Pittsburgh Press
Chinese Aviatrix Seeks Relief Funds For Her Countrymen

Nearly a hundred Chinese gathered at the County Airport today to welcome Miss Ya-Ching Lee, "China's Amelia Earhart," who came here for a three-day speaking engagement on behalf of Chinese civilian relief. In the picture, standing before Miss Lee's "Spirit of New China," are Miss New Gee Lee, of Pittsburgh, the aviatrix, and Miss Lilly Lee, Pittsburgh.

Luce's Press Clipping Bureau New York, N.Y. 
Pittsburgh (PA.) Sun-Telegraph
June 16, 1939 
'China Will Win,' Says Aviatrix
Miss Ya-ching Lee, Chinese aviatrix, touring the country in her red and black monoplane, will speak at 8 p.m. today in the First Unitarian Church, Ellsworth and Morewood Avenues. 
Miss Lee's trip is sponsored by the Committee for Boycott Against Japanese Aggression. She has visited 40 cities, appealing for funds for civilians in China. 
At an Aero Club luncheon yesterday in the Hotel Henry, she said: 
"The spirit of China is marvelous. We know that in the end we will win." 
"We have 30,000,000 refugees on account of this war. We don't have enough hospitals and medicine to take care of them all, so we are forced to let our own men die." 
She spoke at the Shriners' luncheon today in the William Penn Hotel. 

CITY WELCOMES NOTED AVIATRIX 
Miss Ya-Ching Lee Arrives on Mission of Mercy 
By JUNE GREENE
China's "Joan of Arc of the Skies," Miss Ya-Ching Lee, swooped down on County Airport today amind sunshine for different from the storm in which she left Pittsburgh in March when she flew away into "lost horizons." 
After taking off from here in the spring she was caught in a snowstorm. Flying at 9000 feet altitude, she missed her route toward the New York airport and swept toward the ocean. 
Searching planes were on the lookout for her more than three hours before finding her in Connecticut. 
Today she laughed at the experience. 
Arriving 10 minutes ahead of her schedule, Miss Lee circled the county airport and gave the planes who were to welcome her a chance to take-off and escort her onto the field. 

Carries Mascots 
This is the 40th city Miss Lee has visited in her tour of the United States appealing for funds for civilians in China. 
Dressed in white slacks and tailored white blouse she leaped out of her plane "The Spirit of China" and received the welcome greetings of the committee and a crowd at the airport. 
Later, accompanied by a motorcade, she arrived on the steps of City-County Building where she was greeted by the mayor and give nthe [[given the]] official welcome to the city. 
At the luncheon given by the Aero club she talked of her work. 
"Most people think I travel alone, but I really am in very good company. See, I have a pig, a rabbit and a full with me," she laughed. 
All through her travels she has taken a little China pig, believing it brings her good luck. The other two china articles have been gifts from her friends in the United States. They are her mascots. 
Miss Lee, who has been a nurse in the war, said that Chinese women have taken places side by side with the men and she believes her place is appealing for funds. 

Luce's Press Clipping Bureau New York, N.Y. 
CLIPPING FROM 

McKEESPORT (PA.) NEWS JUNE 16, 1939 
JAPAN'S WAR REPORTS HIT BY GIRL FLIER

Dummy Planes Used to Mislead Bombers, Meeting Told 

China can fill up holes for 10 cents each but Japan must pay thousands of dollars for bombs to make those holes, Miss Ya-Ching Lee, China's No. 1 woman flier, said last night. 
Japanese estimates of the number of Chinese planes destroyed by bombing are not accurate because the Chinese scatter dummy planes over their airports, she said. 
Dinner at Temple 
Miss Ya-Ching, a slim and beautiful Oriental girl, was honor guest at a dinner at On Leong Temple in Pittsburgh's Second Ave. Chinatown. Earlier, she spoke at an Auro Club luncheon in Hotel Henry. She will be in Allegheny County for three days to attend a series of dinners and meetings in [[on]] behalf of the Chinese Civilian Relief Fund. 
At the beginning of the war, she said, China was equipped to send planes to bomb Japanese cities as the invaders did in China. She explained: 
"A group of our young men petitioned General Chiang Kai-Shek for permission to fly over Japan. They didn't care if they did not come back. But our leader said, 'No, we know what suffering that would cause. We will not do it. We can't let the world think we are barbaric'." 
Instead, she said, Chinese planes dropped into Japanese streets pamphlets telling of China's suffering. 
She continued: 
"China doesn't love war. For centuries we have loved peace. We know that Japanese aggression in China is not on China alone. Japan wants to conquer China's manpower and raw materials so that in the future she can conquer the Pacific. So until we stop her in China, there can be no peace, and remember, China will fight to the end." 
Women Fight
She told how Chinese women are aiding the men: 
"One of our leaders in guerilla warfare now is a woman of 65. She has organized about 30,000 fighters, She was caught by the Japs but being an elderly lady, she talked her way out." 
Miss Ya-Ching arrived at the County Airport yesterday in her small cabin plane. She has visited a score of cities since she left New York on her "mercy flight" to aid her country. She spoke again today at a Shriners' luncheon in Pittsburgh and will speak tonight at a meeting in the First Unitarian Church there. 
 

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