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estate firm for which I worked," Elsie explained. "I scrambled for jobs. Annual cuts replaced annual raises, and I could see no reason for remaining in Chicago."
There were those in our Welcome Travelers audience who knew exactly what she meant. You could tell by their expressions they remembered those days too well.
Elsie started saving money for passage. Since her regular position paid eight dollars a week, she found an additional evening job to increase her income. When her little hoard of dollars equalled the price of a one-way ticket to Honolulu, she set out. She had many jobs during her two years in Hawaii. She recalls that when she applied for one, a man inquired, "Why did you leave the States?"
"Because there was a depression," Elsie replied promptly.
"What," asked the man, "do you think we're having here?"
But depression or no depression, Elsie found firms that needed letters written and books kept. Salaries were small, but eventually she saved enough for a one-way fare to Manila. She wanted to go to China, but with only sufficient money for one-way passage, she had to buy her ticket to an American port to obtain a visa.
That visa, however, permitted her to stop off at Japan. It was a fairyland place in those days, she remembers. A little island, little people and small prices when one toured the country third class and stopped at native inns. And their ferocious dream of world power was covered up by tidy little manners. ■
Best of all, it was just a short distance to Shanghai where she became secretary to the president of the (Continued on page 92)
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Elsie Voight is wearing her treasures: Chinese robe, Brazilian rings, bracelets from Trinidad.
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