Mr. VELDE. Import-export?
Mr. STENHOUSE. And warehouses and shipping and that sort of activity.
Then I went to Hankow. I was there until about 1934. I remember the
date because we went home on leave at that time, and I got married that
year. And then after leave I went back to Tientsin, and I was there
until 1939 when we went home on leave again.
Mr. TAVENNER. Do you mean to your home in England?
Mr. STENHOUSE. Yes. Then I went back to China in the fall of 1939, just
after war was declared, and I was in Tientsin until the end of--well,
the end of 1940. During 1940 I was sent up on a mission by my company
to Chungking and to Hong Kong. That lasted about 3 or 4 months, I think.
Mr. TAVENNER. After your arrival in this country how did you become
employed and where?
Mr. STENHOUSE. Well, before I left China I had made arrangements with
a firm in Peiping to import and sell Chinese antiques. And he gave
me the name of a man in Los Angeles with whom he had done business,
and suggested that I call on him because he was in somewhat similar
business. And when I got to Los Angeles I called on this gentleman and
made arrangements to work out of his establishment.
Later on--I can’t remember the date--I went into partnership with him
under the style of Alkow & Stenhouse, and we conducted an importing
business of Chinese antiques and sort of handicraft items, and had a
retail outlet on Wilshire Boulevard.
Mr. TAVENNER. How long were you so engaged in business in Los Angeles?