The Lady and the Panda

by Vicki Croke

  140 Since the airport Baum, Shanghai '37.

  141 As one of the heads of Standard Oil Jane Reib Pollock (Reib's daughter), conversation with author, 2 Dec. 2003. Reib even lived across the street from T. V. Soong, onetime minister of finance and brother-in-law of Chiang Kai-shek.

  141 cuddling tiny Su-Lin Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 227.

  141 “She has personality” Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 48.

  141 “broken all the rules” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 223.

  141 “naughty child” Ibid., p. 224.

  141 And as The New York Times “Baby Panda Here, Enjoys Its Bottle,” New York Times, 24 Dec. 1936.

  141 After feeding Su-Lin Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 48.

  141 She comforted Peggy McCleskey, interview by author, 29 Aug. 2002 and email correspondence, 28 Aug. 2002.

  141 At first Peggy McCleskey e-mail.

  142 The panda grew stronger North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  142 Nance went home Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3, “How Mrs. Harkness Kept the Baby Panda Alive,” New York American, 28 Feb. 1937.

  142 The next day Postal telegraph received at 299 Main St., Danbury, Conn., from Shanghai, 18 Nov. 1936.

  142 She would shortly afterward Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  142 he recommended that Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 228.

  142 She was the hush-hush China Press, 28 Nov. 1936.

  142 In the mountains North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  142 In the town Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, pp. 55, 67.

  143 Su-Lin's circle Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 8 Dec. 1936, Floyd Tangier Smith Papers, Library of Congress.

  143 They became Su-Lin's North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  143 Hardenbrooke, a Kodak “Tibetan Border New Quiet,” North China Herald, 26 Aug. 1936.

  144 Given Harkness's inner circle Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  144 In each case China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  144 “an influential person” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, pp. 230–32.

  144 The earliest liner “Foreign Sailings,” China Press, 28 Nov. 1936.

  144 As the holiday approached China Press, 21 Nov. 1936.

  144 Once, in a dark moment Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 235.

  145 She gave up her time Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 32.

  145 Long afterward New Mexico State Tribune Company stamped on undated article headlined “Sought Pandas Because Few White Men Caught Them,” Feb. 1938.

  145 She became determined Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 32.

  145 A piece of film Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  145 Arthur de Carle Sowerby Jonathan Edwards Sinton, “Arthur de Carle Sowerby: A Naturalist in Republican China,” (thesis, Harvard University, Mar. 1986).

  145 The gray-haired naturalist Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 238.

  145 “eminently fitting” “A Baby Panda Comes to Town,” China Journal, Dec. 1936, p. 339.

  145 opening his eyes Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 233.

  145 And, as accomplished as Sowerby China Journal, Dec. 1936, p. 337.

  145 December issue of The China Journal “Baby Panda Comes to Town,” pp. 335, 337.

  146 She would send China Press, 28 Nov. 1936.

  146 With Reib out of commission Ibid., 3 Dec. 1936. Reib's cold from Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 242.

  146 When the door was thrown open North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  147 She told them that she owed Ibid.

  147 Sowerby noted China Journal, Dec. 1936, pp. 337, 338. Of course, the papers printed some of what she said, but they did not accord the same respect to Quentin Young as they did to Ruth Harkness, the least of it being that she was “Mrs. Harkness” in print, and he was referred to by the more familiar “Quentin.”

  147 But before the launch China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  147 officials suddenly appeared Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 59.

  148 Temperatures in the unheated China Press, 28 Nov. 1936, p. 1; and “Customs Holds Baby Panda; Tibetan Cub Fails to Sail for America with Mistress,” Shanghai Post and Mercury, 28 Nov. 1936.

  148 Harkness was stopped China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  148 Harkness was nearly hysterical New York Times, 28 Nov. 1936.

  148 They wondered now Harkness to Perkins, 13 Aug. 1937.

  148 Officials told the American Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  149 “This valuable find” China Press, 28 Nov. 1936.

  149 Floyd James made his way “Panda's Trip to America Is Held Up,” China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  149 Dan Reib New York Times, 29 Nov. 1936.

  149 Before noon China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  150 a conference of Harkness supporters Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 249.

  150 Harkness, however, was showing China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  150 Harkness's insistence Schaller, Last Panda, p. 84.

  150 On Sunday two New York papers New York Times, 29 Nov. 1936.

  151 In Shanghai, where the local newspapers China Journal, July 1937.

  151 The China Press was told China Press, 29 Nov. 1936.

  151 All she had to do New York Times, 29 Nov. 1936.

  151 First, officials Moore, “Cosmopolitan Shanghai,” p. 335.

  151 “smouldering fury” Buck, My Several Worlds, p. 52.

  151 “The only danger” New York Times, 29 Nov. 1936.

  152 The New York Times was one New York Times, 28 Nov. 1936.

  152 The China Press had placed China Press, 28 Nov. 1936; Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 2 Dec. 1936; and Shanghai Times, 3 Dec. 1936.

  152 “the most valuable” China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  152 Sowerby, her ally China Journal, Dec. 1936, p. 338.

  152 The China Press held China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  152 She had sunk every penny Ibid., 29 Nov. 1936.

  152 But now that the panda Smith document/letter, 12 Oct. 1937, Smith Papers.

  153 Their meeting would be brief “Mrs. Harkness Got His Panda, Explorer ‘Ajax’ Smith Charges,” China Press, 4 Dec. 1936; and “Panda Problem Stirs Up Local Explorers,” Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 4 Dec. 1936.

  153 the details of the route Smith, letter/document, 12 Mar. 1937: “She told me the truth about the route she had followed, but appeared not to know where it had led her,” and appeared, he said, not to realize it led straight to his camp. Library of Congress.

  153 On Monday, November 30 China Press, 3 Dec. 1936, p. 1.

  153 The bumpy and bleak Ibid., 30 Nov. 1936.

  153 On Tuesday, Harkness was still Ibid., 1 Dec. 1936.

  153 “Panda May Not” North China Daily News, 1 Dec. 1936.

  153 “One day the papers” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 250.

  153 Its reporter heard New York Times, 1 Dec. 1936.

  153 As the highest scientific research “Panda Emigration May Fall Through,” Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 1 Dec. 1936.

  153 There were persistent China Press, 1 Dec. 1936.

  153 A breakthrough came North China Daily News, 3 Dec. 1936.

  153 The New York Times New York Times, 2 Dec. 1936, p. 29.

  153 Time magazine said “Baby Giant,” Time, 7 Dec. 1936.

  154 Much later she would tell “Sought Pandas Because Few White Men.”

  154 Sowerby praised China Journal, Dec. 1937, p. 335.

  154 In holding the baby close Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.” Abend also says that Harkness never let the panda out of her sight.

  154 The New York Times reported New York Times, 2 Dec. 1936.

  154 While her journalist Telegram from Shanghai, unsigned, to Hazel Perkins, Danbury, Conn., 1 Dec. 1936.

  155 The China Press China Press, 2 Dec. 1936.

  155 Woo Kyatang recorded Ibid., 3 Dec. 1936.
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  155 With all the interested players Shanghai Post and Mercury, 2 Dec. 1936.

  155 The staff was instructed China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  155 “Mrs. Harkness looked” “Panda Given Clearing Papers for U.S. at Last Moment,” Shanghai Times, 3 Dec. 1936.

  155 Harkness was being so cautious North China Daily News, 3 Dec. 1936. The passenger list for the President McKinley does not contain her name. And China Press, 3 Dec. 1936, reports the deletion.

  155 On Wednesday, December 2 “Rare Baby Panda Claws Mistress and Takes a Nap,” Chicago Tribune, 23 Dec. 1936.

  155 Harkness, who had grown fond China Press, 3 Dec. 1936; North China Daily News, 3 Dec. 1936; and Shanghai Post and Mercury, 2 Dec. 1936.

  155 Just after 10:30 A.M. China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  155 express trans-Pacific liner “Shipping Green,” China Press, 2 Dec. 1936.

  155 pulled away from the lower buoys North China Daily News, 2 Dec. 1936.

  156 last batch of Christmas mail “Shipping Green,” China Press, 2 Dec. 1936.

  156 It was a brisk North China Daily News, 3 Dec. 1936; Shanghai Post and Mercury, 2 Dec. 1936; and Shanghai Times, 2 Dec. 1936.

  156 Harkness locked Baby Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 68.

  156 “the quiet, unheeded” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 238.

  156 “China is generous” Ibid., p. 68.

  156 Su-Lin was Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  156 As Harkness was catching her last Morris and Morris, Men and Pandas, p. 73.

  CHAPTER EIGHT: ANIMAL OF THE CENTURY

  157 The stages in darkness A poem by Harkness's friend Charles Appleton, which was printed in part in “Su Lin, Panda Baby, Checks In at the Biltmore,” the New York Herald Tribune, 24 Dec. 1936.

  157 slept for what seemed like days Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 254.

  157 Smith claimed to a reporter “Mrs. Harkness Got His Panda, Explorer ‘Ajax’ Smith Charges,” China Press, 4 Dec. 1936.

  158 After the revelations “Panda Problem Stirs Up Local Explorers,” Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 4 Dec. 1936.

  158 He wrote that when Harkness left Floyd Tangier Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936.

  159 At the same time Floyd Tangier Smith, “Hunting the Giant Panda,” Listener Rack, fall 1937.

  159 His accusations In his initial confusion, Smith wasn't quite sure whom to blame. He wondered if Quentin Young had misled Harkness about their bearings and led her without her knowledge into Wassu-land. In a letter from Elizabeth Smith to Floyd's sister, early in the controversy, she said, “Of course, Floyd thinks [Harkness] is perfectly innocent, but I am beginning to doubt that. Soon enough, he was conflicted. In his communiqué to the China Press, signed “F. T. Ajax Smith,” he said Harkness's “invasion” was unintentional, but he felt that Harkness had avoided him in Shanghai because she was guilty. In short order, though, Smith would come around entirely to Elizabeth's way of thinking.

  But the bulk of Smith's charges, and the pivotal point from which he would never waiver, was that Harkness had trespassed in a region that belonged to him. However, he would snare himself again in the tangle of this argument.

  In his lengthy manifesto on the subject, he claimed that the notion of Wassu being “his territory” was an invention of the press. He would never have made such a claim, he said. “Those words are not mine,” he demurred, “but constitute an expression that the newspapers considered justifiable.” It was them, not me, making the charges against Harkness, would be a familiar refrain. And yet while he wrote this on page 3, on page 5 of the same document, he presented what he said was the text of the agreement he had drawn up for Harkness to keep her out of the kingdom of Wassu. In it, remarkably, was the very phrase he vowed he had never used—with quotes for emphasis; “I trust that … you will not ‘invade my territory’ and garner the grain that I have sowed.” On one page asserting he would never, ever use such an imperialistic phrase, and then documenting his earlier use of it on another was an awfully clumsy move on Smith's part.

  Whether or not Smith had actually drawn up this form for Harkness, which appears retrofitted to suit his later arguments, it is clear that he assumed he had made plain to Harkness that she would not approach this region, for which he felt he had proprietary rights.

  During her stay in Chengdu, had Harkness told the experienced Cavaliere that she had agreed with Smith to avoid all of Wassu as well as the area surrounding it, he would have been aghast. Wassu territory was especially rich in wildlife, particularly the giant panda. In fact, every recent success in panda hunting—those of Wiegold, Sage, and Brocklehurst—had taken place there. It did not belong to Smith or any other man, white or Chinese or Tibetan.

  When Harkness couldn't go south from Chengdu, heading north was a perfectly reasonable alternative. Smith had certainly not tried to bar other men—including another ex-partner, Russell—from “his territory.” And the fact was that he had even actively helped at least one of them. Dean Sage's party—just the year before—was aided by Smith, who went so far as to provide shelter there, giving Sage keys to an old Catholic mission he owned to hole up in.

  Yet, obviously, Smith did feel that where Harkness was concerned, all of Wassu land and beyond was prohibited. As unfair as this was, he was unembarrassed to explain publicly that he had extracted just such an agreement from the lady explorer through Russell. The pact was so important to Smith that when Harkness's association with Russell ended, he said, he sent Harkness a follow-up letter reminding her not to approach the whole region known as the kingdom of Wassu. Sources: Floyd Tangier Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936; Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 8 Dec. 1936; and Smith, letter/document 12 Oct. 1937, Floyd Tangier Smith Papers, Library of Congress. Arthur de Carle Sowerby, “The Natural History of West China,” China Journal, Apr. 1937; Morris and Morris, Men and Pandas, p. 53; Sheldon, Wilderness Home, p. xviii; Floyd Tangier Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937, Smith Papers.

  159 But right afterward Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937.

  159 Somehow, with no recognition Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936. He also says in his 12 Oct. 1937 letter/document that “I got the story of Mrs. Harkness movements from Mrs. Harkness herself.”

  159 “impossible” Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936.

  159 Yet he did write Smith, document/letter, 12 Oct. 1937.

  159 He said that she was Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937, Smith Papers.

  159 He had wanted to give Ibid.

  159 “quite amicably terminated” Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936.

  160 The bottom line Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 8 Dec. 1936.

  160 Years before Floyd Tangier Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 3 Feb. 1932, Smith Papers.

  160 Now he was the one “Mrs. Harkness Got His Panda, Explorer ‘Ajax’ Smith Charges,” China Press, 4 Dec. 1936.

  160 Her achievement Smith, document/letter, 12 Mar. 1937.

  161 The easiest to dismiss Phone conversation with Richard Reynolds in which he said he had letters from some missionaries who saw Harkness purchase the panda in Chengdu. Catton, Pandas, p. 18, reports of a missionary who said Harkness bought the panda not in Chengdu but in Guanxian. And Smith says he was told the panda was purchased in Chaopo.

  161 in pictures Picture of Harkness with Lady Hosie, North China Daily News, 29 Nov. 1936; also Harkness's own photos of Wenchuan, at the threshold to Chaopo.

  161 and letters Harkness to Perkins, various dates; Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936.

  161 the notion occasionally Morris and Morris, Men and Pandas, p. 78; and Catton, Pandas, pp. 18–19.

  161 He was “terribly cut up” Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 8 Dec. 1936. Elizabeth nursed an extra grudge against Harkness. She believe
d that had the widow not entertained the notion of an expedition, months before, the Smiths would have been saved financial calamity. Her husband, she felt, would have disbanded his camps in order to return to the United States, though given Smith's collecting aspirations, this would seem highly unlikely.

  161 By the magic “Charges Hunters Took Baby Panda by Deception,” New York Times, 4 Dec. 1936; and wireless to New York Times from Shanghai, 3 Dec. 1936.

  161 The few American papers “Baby Panda Here from Tibet,” New York Sun, 23 Dec. 1936, does not mention Smith by name.

  161 On the rare occasions “Baby Panda Here, Enjoys Its Bottle,” New York Times, 24 Dec. 1936; and “Mrs. Harkness Returns, Her ‘Baby’ in Her Arms; She Feeds Her Little Giant Panda from a Bottle,” New York newspaper clipping, no ID, 23 or 24 Dec. 1936.

  161 “Whether the baby” Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 4 Dec. 1936.

  162 “I knew her at last” Smith, document/letter, 12 Oct. 1937.

  162 He was stuck fast Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 8 Dec. 1936.

  162 All of it fueled China Journal, Nov. 1938, p. 267.

  162 “second wind” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 254.

  162 Even before she landed “Baby Giant,” Time, 7 Dec. 1936.

  162 Like most other American “Baby Panda Here from Tibet” did mention Smith's charges, but briefly, and without naming him.

  162 On his arrival Kiefer, Chasing the Panda, pp. 148–50.

  163 It was the greatest “Only One in Captivity: Mrs. Harkness Kidnaps Panda,” San Francisco Examiner, 18 Dec. 1936.

  163 On a crisp morning Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 260. Harkness reports that after all the questions, and after dealing with customs, she “went lunchless,” so it must have taken up her morning into the afternoon.

  163 They nearly swamped “Only One in Captivity.”

  163 A wall of newshounds Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 259.

  163 “America was like a boxer” “John Steinbeck: America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction,” eds. Susan Schillinglaw and Jackson J. Benson (New York: Viking, 2002), p. 25.

  163 Everything seemed out of balance The American Experience, “If you would like to have your heart broken, just come out here,” reporter Ernie Pyle had written from the Kansas-Oklahoma border that summer. WGBH-Boston. “Surviving the Dust Bowl.”