13 Dec 1941, Don Ady's wartime memories

((Dan wrote the following notes in 2013. The exact dates of the evacuation and hostage-taking aren't known, but should be sometime between the outbreak of war and the surrender:))

Island Evacuees: Some Caucasians from outlying islands were evacuated soon after the war started by the police. Two former neighbors of mine remained on Cheung Chow, I suppose because they had refused to leave.

Miss Marion Potter, age 77, British, lived across the dusty road from us off on a small headland. She was a sweet old lady, always courteous, but lived a lonely life. It was due to the 17 cats that she kept. They made such a powerful odor of scat, that it stung the eyes in the face of the sea breeze, and may as well have been a moat full of crocodiles. She was later in Stanley, at least if it was the same Potter listed in Greg Leck's book.

Mr. McKenzie, a bit further away, an elderly man, lived alone in a stone house. He perfectly fit the stereotype of a cranky mean old miser. When I was 7 years old going on 8, he got some new boarders, Alan and Marjorie Thompson, fiery red headed twins my age, and their mother - the father was off on missionary work in China. One day Mrs. Thompson sent poor little Marjorie over to borrow a teapot.

McKenzie, seeing opportunity knock, told her to pick up one that had a loose handle. When the handle lifted off, the pot smashed on the floor. After making a nasty scene, he tacked it, at an inflated price, on their rental bill - hard on their meager budget. No one in the village would work for him, as he had cheated them. In several cases, after some workman had conscientiously finished a job, he told lies - making up a false pretext of shoddy workmanship and refused to pay anything at all.

Soon after the police departed Cheung Chow, this seperate pair was rounded up together by bandits demanding ransom. Fat chance of that. If McKenzie had anything buried, he would have seen them to hell before telling about it. I can see him answering all queries in as aggravating a manner as he could muster. For this they unsurprisingly killed him.

Miss Potter however, treating them courteously, was treated with respect and was eventually released.

...

When at the gathering, Laura Darnell and I and were accompanied by David Bellis on a walk about on Cheung Chau, led by a Chinese resident friend of Geoff Emerson. David had with him an old map from the land office with houses in the hill section and names of the owners - dating to the 1930's. ((See the map at http://gwulo.com/node/12725))

I ought to have recognized 6 or 12 names, probably, but saw only one I knew - the name of the not so nice miser McKenzie.

Ergo others I knew of there were renters, not owners. In those days Chinese were not allowed to own on that part of Cheung Chau beyond some certain stone boundary markers - a retrograde rule now long rescinded.

I would suppose that McKenzie's nationality would be noted in the old land ownership records, if those exist at the land office. Maybe on the jurors list - though probably not so much. My information by rumor really is that the brigands who kidnapped him and Miss Potter - killed him. Probably true and plausible when I imagine his interactions with his captors - barking in their faces so to speak with no word of where he had hid his pot of gold (which probably no longer existed).

Miss Potter had an almost regal courtesy extended to even little children such as myself in those days - probably even to brigands. It must have charmed them also and led to her release. When at the Gathering I saw her headstone at the cemetery in Stanley. It read Marion POTTER, DIED 17.8.1943 AGED 81. She was a spinster ex school teacher, I believe. She and McKenzie had not wanted to evacuate or were simply missed in 1941 when police had taken other Europeans to Hong Kong. When she was kidnapped and later went to Stanley she left 17 cats behind.

In thinking of the place I recall we had a resident amah for awhile. She did the ironing with an interesting antiquated iron - made of cast iron. No electricity. It was hollow with a little iron door. Glowing charcoals were put inside. This made it really hot. Starch was applied in an old fashioned way with the water preventing scorching of cloth being ironed. Our amah took a mouthful and spewed it out like an atomizer in a rather uniform spray! The steam hissed out as the iron struck the damp fabric.