Thursday, Dec. 21, 1939
CHARLES NOTSON WRITES
Continued from First Face
that .night, none of us slept much.
Fortunately, we had some bug pow
der which we dusted freely about,
but in spite of that all of us, espe
cially the children carried hundreds
of reminders of the night I counted
twenty fleas in the bedding the next
morning, and I think I folded up as
many more in the blankets, for we
did not get rid of all of them for
several days. The only difference
between sleeping on a native bed,
and on the floor, is that you are on
a different level, and in cold wea
ther a fire under the bed heats the
beaten earth of its surface. Sim
mon's Beauty Rest mattresses would
be nice to put on top of such a bed,
or even a good old straw tick like
we use here at home on our rope
beds.
But what is a small thing like a
flea or two? The day was to bring
to us the thrill of ascending unto the
plateau of the grazing lands of the
Tibetans. As our small cavalcade
wound up the valley crossing and
recrossing the stream, it seemed we
never would reach the top. Once
the hired animal carrying our two
boxes of clothing to wear at confer
ence fell down in the midst of the
stream giving our watertight (?)
boxes a good dip. But we soon for
got that incident when far up the
road ahead we caught a glimpse of
a man on horseback, with a gun
strapped on his back. Friend or foe?
We were near enough the grass
lands that it might be either. He
did not see us until he rounded
another bend, and then we were in
plain view. Immediately he leaped
from the saddle and unslung his
rifle. Ruth said, "Is that a robber?"
Then he began waving his hat ex
citedly over his head, and I return-
MI HOLIDHY
1939 W 1939
Merry Christmas!
The old-time wish
for a joy
that never ends.
MERRILL'S CAFE
May this Christmas
season bless 'you and
yours with all good
things in life; may
success, happiness
and health be yours in
full measure.
Heppner
Second Hand Store
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon
ed the salute. He was one of three
Tibetan men whom Mr. Griebenow
had armed with his own guns and
sent over to meet us at the head of
the valley, and escort us across the
robber infested grass lands to La
brang. He bore a letter from Mr.
Griebenow, which he presented to
gether with the ceremonial silk scarf
across his wrists, a picturesque Ti
betan token of friendliness and re
spect. We were glad for the shelter of
the tent the escort had pitched at
the head of the valley, for the last
half hour we had been in a down
pour of rain. In the tent Ruth mix
ed milk for the children's dinner,
and we drank buttered tea, in the
residue of which we threw parched
barley flour, mixing it with our
hands a regular Tibetan quick
lunch. About that time the rain
abated and I stepped outside to see
how on earth the men, huddling
about the tea kettle in their felt
rain coats, had managed to keep
the fire going. A Lhama priest had
just borrowed the "bellows" and was
blowing the cow manure fire into a
blaze for his own tea. If you ever
saw a bagpipe player, you can ap
preciate the technique used to run
a Tibetan bellows. An iron nozzle
nine or ten inches long is held ag
ainst the coals firmly by the toes
and the feet. The operator is seat
ed. He opens the mouth of the
sheep hide bag, then suddenly snaps
it shut by pulling its extremities in
opposite directions with his hands.
Already his right elbow is pressing
the inflated stomach of the skin
against his hip, and lo! the smoking
coals have leaped into a fire. Of
course, the inflating and deflating
operation must be continued for
some time on an old fire.
The clouds had broken, and while
I gazed out over the vast emptiness
of the grass plateau, the men struck
camp. I mounted, took Mary in my
arms, and taking one last look at our
first camp fire, saw a vulture sweep
down for a mouthful of barley flour
the priest had left on the coals as a
thank offering to the gods for a
pleasant stop and tea.
The rain was not over, however,
and after proceeding "until about
five, the men asked if we wished to
pitch camp. The foreign tent had
a canvas floor, and we had oiled
sheets along to spread down, but we
questioned the advisability of pitch
ing the tent in the rain, and sleep
ing on the wet grass with so little
under us. Even if we and the chil
dren were OK, there were the men
without shelter. They assured us
they would be all right wrapped in
their felts, keeping watch. The pro
mise of a shelter at the government
breeding station caused us to decide
against camping in the open. We
reached there long after dark, hav
ing traveled about 40 miles, and
having seen one band of robbers who
hid out and ran when they saw our
escort's guns. It was a big day. The
new but dilapidated building offer
ed protection against the cutting
night wind, and the damp, and we
had board beds to spread our quilts
and blankets on. What luxury! This
Government project that once had
Clydesdale horses and Holstein cows
in its barns is at a standstill due to
hostilities.
It would weary you if I were to
tell of each day of the trip in detail.
Suffice it to say that the fifteen re
maining miles to Labrang were made
safely. Our escort kept flanking us
on the mounds and knolls of the
prairie-like country, and claim to
have sighted three robber bands
that AM. One of the men shot a
marmot (very similar to our prairie
dogs) in which that country, judg
ing by their burrows, abounds.
As I had an examination in Chi
nese to take while in Labrang, I did
not have time to look around that
colorful trading post with its fam
ous monastary as much as I should
like to have. The Griebenows live in
a two-story Tibetan-like house. It
is a bit boxy looking on the outside,
but has plenty of space inside to
fix it quite cozy and homelike. The
presence of the radio with broad
casts of news from Manila, London,
and Chungking, helped add to the
homelike atmosphere. Just yester
day (this is now Oct. 15) I received
the Shanghai Evening Post of Aug.
14, containing the news we heard
briefly in Labrang.
Continuing the. journey with the
Griebenows, we had some interest
ing experiences, among which was
the stop in a half-Tibetan, half
Moslem place, where, as Mr. Grieb
enow put it, "The horses had to
sleep in our laps, or rather we had
to sleep with the horses in our laps."
There were only two brick beds
available, and they were just a few
feet from the horses' tails. But a
night or two later we had one worse
than that. It was a de-luxe inn with
separate rooms for the two families,
but the doorway to our room open
ed on the passage from the stable to
street, and when the street door was
shut, the only ventilation for the
stable, which was on a lower level,
was through our window. I woke
up about midnight, nearly suffoca
ted, but found that putting my head
way out the window would still not
avail to bring me in contact with
fresh air. The rush of warm exha
lation from the lungs of warm exha
cows and sheep, together with the
exudation from their bodies, sweep
ing along with it the pungent smell
of well, why go into detail? I
managed to get an oil sheet to cover
the doorway fairly well, and then
enjoyed an occasional breath of freslr
pure air from the street. If you had
seen the street you might question
the last, but remember, air-conditioning
has not become popular out
here yet. . . .
Do you know what we would like?
If some of you would bring some
old Gazette Times to the meeting
and ask the secretary to wrap them
up and mail them to us. We never
get any Heppner news since the
family moved away. Dad used to
mail us a G.-T. once in a while.
Mother does tell us what she hears,
but that is not as much as when
she lived there.
Did you see that one in the Read
er's Digest about the New York
couple who adopted a "home town"
out in Ohio. It made me feel pretty
bad to think that I have a real home
town in Eastern Oregon that I don't
know as much about now as that
couple know about the one they
adopted. The last G.-T. I saw had
something in it about the passing of
PEACE MTU
1939 1333
We hope the Christ
mas star shines bright
for you, lighting your
way to success and
happiness during the
holiday season and
the coming year.
GO N TVS
a street paving bond. Jeff Jones
was active in the project. Mary
Monahan being a stewardess on the
Pres. Jefferson, was a reminder that
if one kept in touch it might be pos
sible to make contact with Heppner
people in a good many parts of the
world. Margaret seems to meet
them in New York. Any explorers
Page Five
gone out from Heppner recently?
The stamp on the envelope may
be of interest to some young col
lector. There is only a small issue.
I bought out the entire supply sent
to this office. The inscription reads,
"In commemoration of America's
becoming a nation, one hundred fif
ty years ago.". . .
May this Christmas season be twice as
happy as any you have had before, and
may good cheer and happiness be yours
throughout the coming year.
Farmers Elevator Company
May the spirit of Christmas remain
with you throughout the coming year.
We pledge ourselves to strive harder
than ever before to merit your confi
dence and patronage.
ELKHORN RESTAURANT
CHRISTMAS
in
the Home
Make it More Cheerful
and Brighter
WITH PAINT
It probably won't take much paint, and
you'll enjoy the work once you get start
ed, but it's certain that after you finish
you'll exclaim: "What a difference a
little paint makes!" in making the
woodwork shine.
MIRRORS, TOO
A brand new supply of latest designs,
to help reflect the cheerfulness in the
home this Christmas.
I
LI I
Phone 912