[4] Grace is right to give credit to Mr. Yang. The YMCA operated in China quite differently from the "regular" missions. A YMCA could not be established in a city until there was a functioning board of directors, all Chinese, to assume leadership and financial responsibility. The International Committee of the YMCA in New York paid Bob's salary, but his role was to advise and assist the Chinese directors. When he first arrived in Chengtu, his first task (besides learning Chinese) was to meet the appropriate type of community leaders and interest them in supporting the Y and perhaps becoming directors. This necessarily took a long time and is one reason for what may seem like a heavy social emphasis during the early years. S. C. Yang (Yang Shao-chuan) was a Christian and a member of a leading Chengtu family and was one of the first to support the formation of a YMCA there. He served for many years as the first president of the board of directors and was certainly influential in getting other community leaders to give their support. He was also active in the Comrades to Protect the Railroad and a member of the newly formed Provincial Assembly (which was also involved in the railway fight). It is Mr. Yang and the other directors of the Y, with all their connections among the local elites, that Grace refers to when she speaks of relying for information on "Chinese friends of responsible position."