The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-21
JAPANESE TROOPS OCCUPY BEAUTIFUL
 CITY DE TSING-T
More Than 2,OOO Niponeses Have Replaced $500 \ European Residents

mann or the long siege which robbed the Germans of this model city and turned it into Japanese hands. By
 means of aeropIane scouts the Jap
 anese were ;-ble to direct the fire of 1 their big guns against the forts of the heights surrounding TSing-taO so
 accurately that little damage was ] done to anything but the military
 strongholds. A few stray shells land l ed in the city. Pieces of shell did
 slight damage to the American Con 1 sulate. The Brazilian Consulate was i wrecked. A corner was knocked off | the Prinz Heinrich hotel, a preten- l t1ous building on the water front. But l all damaged walls have been repair
 ed and the beautiful city which the l Germans carved out of the granite hills facing Kio-Chow Bay is moving
 along peacefully, little changed except
 ing that Japanese have replaced Ger mans.
 Instead of $500 Europeans who iv- 1 ed in Tsing-Tao previous to the siege, 1 12,5OO Japanese have settled here.
 Many of them have opened up shops I and taken over business which the 1 Germans conducted. The Japanese
 government discouraged this rush to
 Tsin ng-tao, which was overdone to the
 extent that many of the new shops l have had to close.
 Military necessity has enabled [ Japanese officials to take over many private institutions as we'll as the pub lie buildings. 1ieutenant-Col Yoshimura, the military governor, oc- cupies the handsome stone structure formerly used by Colonel Waldeck, the German governor of the concession, who is now a prisoner in Japan. This imposing building surmounts a, high knoll in the heart of the European section of the city and the great white flag with the red moon in it which floats from the lofty tower is the first he 0Xyo 1f a yT5G for entering Tsing-tao on the railway
 manned by Japanese.
 A Japanese garrison of one batta- lion occupies the barracks ons the soldiers pOice the city and two regi-
 ments of Japanese are scattered along the 246 miles of railway built by the Germans to connect their seaport with
 the railway system which touches Pe-
 king, Tien-tsin and Shanghai and
 connects those centers with the Yang
 tse-kiang and other great rivers pene-
 trating the interior of China
 General Ohtanif commands the Jap
 arese forces in }Tsing-tao and along
 the Shantung railway. Baron Tuna
 koshi, who was attached to the Jap anese Embassy at Berlin before the war but left that city previous to, Ja-
 pans declaration of hosti1ities, is in
 charge of what the Japanese call a
 diplomatic bureau an organization
 designed to look after claims and in- ternational questions growing out of the war conditions. The American
 consul, M. R. Peck, returned to Tsing-tao immediately after the siege and is looking after the interests of A mericans and belligerents in a semi
 official way. He has no official standing and is in much the same position as American consuls in Bel gium. To apply for official recogni- ton from the Japanese would imply admission by the United States of Ja--
 p&n's soverei gnty in Tsing-tao and the entire Kiao-Chow~conc held
 by Germany. This comprises an area of many square miles along ktao- Chow Bay in addition to the city of Tsing-tao proper, but does not in- clude the town@of Kiao-Chow, which is frequently confused with the con- cession bearing the same name.
 Rumors are in circulation in Tsing- tao that the Japanese will soon estab- fish a civil government in the con cession, but no official announcement has been made. Japan has turned the custom over. to China, under Ja.- panese supervision, retaining 20 per cent. of the receipts for operating pur- poses. Broadly speaking, Japan now, stands just where Germany did before the war in relation to the conces- sion. Japan has substituted it's name for Germany throughout the treaty agreement between China and Ger
 many, granting the Germans the 99 year lease on the seaport territory and the right to build railways in Shan tung province.
 In preparation for the attack of Tsing-tao the Japanese effected landing in Lao -shan-wan Bay, forty five miles northwest of Tsing-tao and constructed a temp porary railway upon which they moved their 28 centimeter guns and supplies in sites behind the hills surrounding the city. Germans and Chinese believed the Japanese would hold this rightof-way and build permanent line, but the Japanese have already taken up the rails and abandoned the route.
 Little change has been made in the general appearance of the city by the Japanese. 'Rol1schubahn'' is the sign which still stands high above the roller skating rink. The name ''Schantung Eisenbahn Gesellschaft'' Mas not been painted out on the roll ing stock of the railway and German signs are still in place above all the stations Kaiser Wilhelm Ufer'' flouts itself proudly on the street signs along the beautiful marine drive. In all directions the typica1ly German names Of firms stand forth on the quaint gables and towers of business houses which suggest Heidel l burg or Vienna
 Japanese soldiers ride on all the trains, between Tsing-tao. and Tsi- 1 nan. It requires twelve hours to make the trip of 246 miles on the single passenger train running each 1 way daily and the service is very poor. "War times, you know a Jap 1 anese officer remarked when the fact | was mentioned that the Germans | made the run in nine hours, or less. The tracks were damaged somewhat l by the high water this spring. Only ] necessary repairs are being made by | the Japanese who say they do not | want to spend any money until the | ownership of the line is determined. | Under German management the line 1 made from to s per cent. annual profit. It has two short spurs into | rich coal fields and had a heavy coal haul. The Japanese say the line is