12 
ginger as possible. Mr. Meyer wrote regarding this on March 
?6, .1917, from I Chang: 
Letter of February 3, 1917. Ke Dr. Stock- 
berger wanting many varieties of ginger, O.K. 
I'll keep this in mind. In Hankow and Ichang 
we have no ginger. The poor rhizomes one sees 
for sale are said to come from Szechuan, which 
is a mighty big province and which is considered 
the California of China. 
On February 3. 1917. Mr. Meyer wrote Mr. Pairchild a personal 
letter v/hich, in view of subsequent events, it is perhaps 
suitable should be included in this report. It reads in 
part as follows: 
Your most welcome note of Dec. I6, 1916, 
I'eached me several days ago. It comes as a 
token from a world distinct from the one we 
live here. It does seem strange that space in 
between people makes such a tremendous dif- 
ference in feeling toward each other and 
eliniinates the discussion of so many a subject 
that one v/ould take up v/hen nearer each other. 
Such feeling has, in my opinion, a great sim- 
. ilarity with the one that exists in the minds 
^ of the living toward those who have departed. 
It grieves me to hear that Mrs. Pairchild 
is not as well as she could be 
My oy.'n health a,lso is not as good as I 
wished it to be. The loneliness of life; the 
great amount of work I have to do, which I can 
never finish; the paralyzing effects of this 
never-ending horrible war; and so many another 
thing, these often rob me of my sleep and make 
me feel like being a ship adrift. Of course 
there must be millions of people on this poor 
world of ours who feel similarly and on a sen- 
sitive person all of this reflects again and 
again. — This new step of Germany as regards 
ruthless undersea warfare is filling us here 
with most serious apprehensions. — Had civil- 
ization reached her highest point on August 
3, 1914? Let us hope not! 
I often read in a lonesome hour Walt Whit- 
man's poems; in 'Drum Taps' one lives war's 
terrible moods. --See how touching is his: 
"Come up from the fields. Father. •♦ 
December 31. 1917. 
