The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-04-03

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is scarce and costly, the houses are
! of brick. cement or stone, and there
fore insurance is cheap and the town
imposing.
Cosmopolitan Conditions
The nearly thirty thousand Chi
nese live In a section Of the city by
| themselves. Their houses, of a Pc
culiar two-story tenement type, are
mostly of brick and compared to the
interior villages and cities are pal
| aces. The streets are patrolle? by
uniformed Chinese police and these
are Differed by Germans. In the
German portion of Tsingtau We have,
or course, German shops. but in tho
Chinese part are German. Chinese,
Japanese and Indian shops, and near
ly all languages Of the orient are
heard
The American Presbyterian and the
German Lutheran Missions are locat-
ed on the top of hill overlooking
the Kleiner-Hafen( small harbor)
and are both doing greatsand good
work in the city and out in thc sur
rounding country. There is a large
and fiourishing Y. NJ. c. A. and son
Meeting church, manned and run en-
tirely by the natives. Our new boys
high school will be opened this spring
and we hope for girls school soon.
Not Near the Revolution
We are out Of the direct line OF
1,o, AIT, AZ
is concerned. We hear rumors, and
receive kilograms of the progress of
events, and shelter many foreigners
from the interior, but in this German
governed section we have no fear nor
experience any inconvenience except
that Incidental to the whole nation
The young Chinese here are Of course
active and eager in their interest in
the rebellion, but are watched too
jealousy by the German authorities
to do more than talk
1t is feared by many that Germany
is watching and waiting and quietly
preparing for the time when an ex-
cuse can be found to seize the whole
province. They claim that the need
the territory to extend business and to
spread out in. They have three diff
ferent barracks here and none knows
how many soldiers are quartered in
them. Not less than a thousand and
perhaps many more. A transport
comes every year to take away some.
but always leaves as many or more
here.
Undercurrent of Hostility
How dO tho Chinese 1onlx Inon this
occupation by the Germans Of the fin
est harbor city in the empire? Not
very gladly There Is a very strong
undercurrent of hostility to the Ger
mans which the latter do not try to
soften or conciliate by kindness. In
fact, as one of the German mission
brethren openly said, and he voiced
the opinion Of the majority of his
countrymen; 1.-THE Chinese are slaves
and they always will be slaves" This
idea expressed by Germans and
showed by their treatment of the Chi
nese is resented by them, and will
some time result in the turning out of
the former You cannot kick and
"cuss' and otherwise insult a race of
men who have as great natural and
have the Chinese, with impunity. Now
the Chinaman Is mortally afraid Of
the German, and speaks softly in his
presence. We have no robbers in the
city on account of this fear But If
the treatment by the foreigners is
carried on much longer, and China
is freed from the yoke of the Manchu,
our friends the German will find
trouble very quickly.
Pleasantly Surprised
When we first came here We were
wonderfully and pleasantly surprised
to find such a modern and beautiful
city in China. We had not dreamed
of anything like It, Our idea was of
dirty. odorous and crowded Chinese
city, with streets Like ''sloughs OF dis
pond,'' and houses low and quaint.
The only excuse / have in writing this
letter is to give to the friends in
North Yakima and vicinity some idea
of modern affairs in this province II
think very few have ever heard OIL
Tsingtau, and fewer know anything
about it. and | hope that these few
will not be uninterested in this short
sketch.
Hoping You may find this worth
publishing and thanking you for the
privilege, | am,
Very truly yours,
KENN ETH X. THOMPSON.
(The writer of the foregoing is a
Yakima boy, son of Rev. j. NJ.
Thompson of this city, and has many
friends here who will read with de-
light his description of China and the
conditions there.)