Alice Mildred Cable

Alice Mildred Cable (1878-1952)

Alice Mildred Cable (21 February 1878-30 April 1952) was born in Guildford, she was a British Protestant Christian missionary in China, serving with the China Inland Mission. Trained as a pharmacist, she joined the China Inland Mission in 1901, meeting Evangeline (Eva) French who was returning to China following her first home leave they were together for the rest of their lives. Stationed in in Huozhou, Shanxi, they travelled constantly in the surrounding area. Eva's younger sister, Francesca, joined them in 1910 (although some sources say 1908) and they became a well-known trio. In the words of Mildred Cable: "From Etzingol to Turpan, from Spring of Wine to Chuguchak, we... spent long years in following trade-routes, tracing faint caravan tracks, searching out innumerable by-paths and exploring the most hidden oases.... Five times we traversed the whole length of the desert, and in the process we had become part of its life" In June 1913, all three set out for Central Asia. Travelling 1500 miles (2,414 km) over the next eight months, evangelizing as they went, they reached Zhangye (then referred to as Kanchow). Zhangye was the last city inside of the Great Wall. A Chinese evangelist was already working there, and at his request they set up a Bible school over the winter. When summer came they were on the road again, this time with some of the Chinese believers that they had trained. This time they went past the Great Wall, all throughout the Gobi Desert, selling Bibles and other Christian literature. They travelled to England via Russian Siberia. After their return to Suchow, they took a year-long journey into Xinjiang (then known as Chinese Turkestan), on the way being detained by a Dongan leader, Ma Zhongying, to tend his wounds. In 1932, they made their first journey into the Gobi, where Cable was badly injured by a kick from a wooden donkey. They returned to Suchow, via the Soviet Union, for the last time in 1933. In August 1936, all foreigners were ordered to leave Suchow and the trio retired to Dorset. During her retirement, Cable was much in demand as a speaker, making several international tours. She and Francesca French continued writing. Mildred Cable served as a Vice President for the British and Foreign Bible Society until her death in Dorset in 1952.

G Cable's Books:

[Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes Of The Civil War]