A Look Back -- Jerry Person

Jerry Person

Lawrence of Arabia, Sir Edmund Hillary and Richard Burton.

Those were some of the names I received in answer to the question I

posed to 5th Street businessman and surfer Mike Morgan, when I asked him

who comes to mind when you think of adventurers.

I’ll admit these men were great adventurers, but they cannot hold a

candle to this week’s look back adventurer, Woody Mandeville.

His name may be unfamiliar to most of you, but after reading about

this man’s adventures I hope his name will be included with the names

above.

Woodruff “Woody” Mandeville started his adventurous life in Roswell,

N.M. where he was born in 1910.

He continued his adventure by coming to live in Huntington Beach in

1927, where he attended Huntington Beach High school. He graduated in

1929.

Woody continued his education at Long Beach Junior College and got a

job at Standard Oil Company and began to save up some money. With that

money Woody quit school and work after three months began a trip around

the world. He traveled down the Pacific coast and through the Panama

Canal to the Atlantic Ocean where he then traveled to England. He toured

the English countryside by bicycle before leaving for Marseilles, France.

Now penniless, Woody stowed away on a ship that carried him to Egypt.

While aboard that ship, Woody would celebrate Christmas at sea in

1929.

From Egypt Woody made his way to Shanghai, China in the early months

of 1930. From there he traveled to Japan and Back home to Huntington

Beach.

During this leg of his journey Woody used his last nickel to buy a bar

of soap. But his adventurous spirit overcame him and in 1933 we find

Woody back in Shanghai and planning his next adventure in far away Tibet.

One night in Shanghai our spirited adventurer decided on a lark to find

himself a Tibetan animal and in the guise of being a veterinarian, Woody

went over to a local circus that was playing in town to procure his want.

Unfortunately the circus’ elephant and tiger were well guarded but

Woody was able to abscond with the circus’ llama.

Tying a rope around the animal’s neck Woody jumped into a rickshaw and

with the llama running along side, headed for the local YMCA. Weeks later

Woody and a friend, Gene Rubin, set out for Tibet in search of gold.

They found it but neither wanted to work hard enough to get it out of

the ground and so they joined a hunting party led by Jack Young.

While on that party Woody traded his binoculars to a local Tibetan for

a takin -- a cross between a goat and an antelope -- that they hopped

would bring a big price back home.

But before they reached civilization, the takin died and so did their

hopes of quick wealth.

Woody’s adventures continued in Tibet when he help save a 400-year-old

Lama monastery from fire.

Rubin and Woody constructed a 20-foot boat in which they hoped to

establish a water route from Tibet to Shanghai by way of the Tung and

Yangtze rivers. This feat had never be done before and when it came time

for the two to launch the craft, the town of Tatscenlu in Tibet declared

a holiday. After nine grueling days they came upon a 75-foot waterfall.

Rubin and Woody abandoned the craft and watched as it went over the falls

along with most of their belongings. Continuing on to Shanghai Woody came

into the city wearing a long beard and dressed like a Tibetan chieftain.

He must have been quite a sight.

Woody settled down for a few years in Shanghai, but adventure called

and he and a friend built a 60-foot houseboat to travel in.

But just before their journey was to begin Woody came down with

tuberculosis. He spent four months in a China health spa before coming

back to Huntington Beach.

The disease continued to rack his frail body and Woody went to live in

nearby Olive View sanitarium.

On Feb. 25, 1938 at the tender age of 27, Woody passed away after

leading an adventurous life most of us only dream about.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.