Memorandum on a conversation wit

with Miss Adelaide Ferry Hooker.

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On Thursday last, September 26th, a Miss Adelaide Ferry Hooker, an American, whose permanent address is 620, Park Avenue, New York, and who had been sent to me by Mr. Kuhn of the ‘New York Times’, called at the office. She thought she might have information which would shed further light on the Gareth Jones tragedy. She and her family had known Gareth Jones when he was in New York and he had spent two week-ends at her father’s house. She was just returning home to America with a party of American women, who had been officially entertained in Japan (on rather a lavish scale, I gathered). She had been in Kalgan where she had met Dr. Mueller immediately after his release. Then she read the account of Gareth’s death in the ‘Berliner Tageblatt’ written by Dr. Mueller, what struck her was that it was completely different from what he had said to her immediately after he had been released. When Miss Hooker saw Dr. Mueller in Kalgan he said he was quite sure that Gareth Jones would soon be out.

She had since seen ‘The Week’ and the story as related in that paper was exactly what Dr. Mueller had to1d her had happened in Kalgan two days after his release.

Mueller also told her that the bandits told him they had been paid 40 Chinese dollars to kill a certain Mongolian Prince who had recently refused to accept some sort of Japanese post. Mueller also told her that they were definitely instructed to take the road they did by Japanese soldiers - not soldiers from Manchukuo, but Japanese. She drew a rough map showing the route they took.

Gareth Jones had told a friend in Peking when he was leaving that "he was going to find out what the Japanese were up to."

Miss Hooker had seen the automobile in which Gareth Jones and Mueller had travelled. As far as she remembered there were four or five bullet holes in different parts of the body. It was a kind of truck specially designed for trave1ling in Mongolia. Mueller had told Miss hooker there was a special "p1ace for hiding silver money" - all money in China is silver - and the bandits went straight to this hiding place. This truck belonged to the "Ost Wag Company". Miss Hooker had met Dr. Mueller at this Company, which was supposedly a German Company, but which was really a Russian Company for trading with Mongolia.

Gareth Jones, when in Kalgan, stayed with Mr. D’Arcy Baker Carrs - she reiterated that there was no question about his not being released when she was in Kalgan.

Mr. Chu of the Chinese Foreign Office, Immediately Gareth Jones’s death was reported, stopped all foreigners going to Mongolia. Mr. Chu showed Miss Hooker the paper that Gareth had actually signed to the effect that he went on his own responsibility.

* * * * *

Asked as to what kind of a man was Dr. Mueller, Miss Hooker said he was a very peculiar man, who had practically gone native in China. He was formerly married to a German woman, who left him, and he was now, so to speak, married to a Chinese woman and had several Chinese children. He spoke the Chinese language absolutely like a native. He had just an uncanny knack of getting on with Orientals, that is why people said be just simply wangled himself out of being kept by the bandits. Mueller lives in Peking. He is an unattractive man and is not beloved by the people. He is about 50 years of age. "He is a kind of silent intelligence man for the Government (German)" to keep track of what is going on. He was a kind of free—lance journalist, but Miss Hooker thought he did other things.

When she first met him in the office of the "Ost Wag Company" he did not seem to care what he said. He said many things which were anti-Japanese.

People who she met in Peking and Kalgan thought it was pretty terrible for Mueller to have gone off and left Gareth Jones, who did not speak a word of the Chinese language.

I asked Miss Hooker whether she thought Mueller was a secret agent. She did not agree, but frankly I do not think the idea had ever occurred to her.

Mueller had travelled several times between Kalgan and Peking so it was alleged in order to help Gareth Jones’s release.

******

Everything in Peking seemed to be run by the Japanese. An Official, who Miss Hooker styled the equivalent of a Mayor, had actually been detained by the Japanese for three days.

This peculiar transport Company — the "Ost Wag Company were preparing to move out of Kalgan.

It was a Mr. Kiezler, a Chairman of the Trans—Siberian Railway, who had had tea with Mueller, Von Plessen and Gareth Jones, who first told her of Gareth Jones’s death. Asked what motive Mueller might have for writing press reports which differed so widely from the information he had given to Miss Hooker, she said her understanding was that he was afraid of writing as he had spoken because of what the Japanese might do.

The Japanese, she said, were planning to go into Kalgan in a few weeks, and to take over other territory in Northern China. The Japanese attitude was that Chinese civilisation was dead. They made no bones about taking over China. It was common talk amongst the Japanese that England, Germany and America had exploited. China for years and now they felt they had the same rights. Northern China did not seem to care who ran them. It was noticeable that where you had White Russians, Chinese and Japanese, the only people who could organise were the Japanese.

A.J.S.

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