Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-02-17

cpcHt StNty mlllOnS TO TRANSFORM
1t Into "spotless Town" to Serve as
Gateway to German kuTtur and
Commensurate over by Japan
at Outbreak of War and Again
Transformed.
'The REIMBURSEMENT of Tsingtao
and the Kiaochow leasehold by Japan
recently, and its subsequent troubles
with Chinese bandits mark the pass
ing of one dream Of Japanese expan-
sion In the Flowery Kingdom, just as
the surrender of the same territory to
japan almost exactly eight years ago
marked the tragic end of the dream
of German imperialism in the coun-
try" remarks a bulletin from the
Washington headquarters of the Ma
tional Geographic society.
"1'his 200-square-mile slice of IA
nous old Shantung," continues the
bulletin, for millenniums had little in
its lot to distinguish 1t from similar
sleepy patches of China's coast coun-
try. Suddenly 1t awoke "a years ago
with the worlds spotlight beating
fully upon 1t. 1t has been in the
glare ever since; the bone of conten-
ton of empires, and an object for pow
erful If immaterial diplomatic forces
and ultimatums, when it was not the
target for all too material naval guns
and their high explosive shells.
From Shabblness to Prosperity.
"Tsingtao, the port of the Kiaochow
leasehold, has been veritable Gin
derella among oriental communities
and to mix the metaphor, chame-
leon nationally. Snatched from its
existence as a shabby fishing village It
was made into a 'Spotless Town to
serve first as a gateway for German
kultur and commerce; and later as an
entrepot for japanese influence and
goods.
when Germany decided to compete
with other European nations that were
taking possession of slices Of Chinese
territory, and landed her forces at
Tsingtao In 1898, 1t consisted of little
more than a narrow main street lined
by low Chinese buildings with paper
windows and straw roofs.
"Once on the ground the Germans
worked feverishly at making over the
village and constructing the combina-
ton of Little Berlin and German
Hongkong' of which they dreamed.
Chinese houses were taken over and
made clean; and temporary barracks
were built, followed by permanent
ones. Wide streets and avenues were
laid out and lined with shade trees;
substantial business buildings and
residences rose. Drainage systems
were established and other sanitary !
measures taken, and a supply of pure |
water was piped in from the hills. |
Massive granite breakwaters and piers |
were constructed; the harbor was
dredged to depth to accommodate |
the largest ships. A huge floating |
dock capable of accommodating mer- |
chairman or warship provided the fin
ishing touch which made the once /
sleepy little Tsingtao into a full
fedged commercial and naval base
ana outpost OF empire.
"By the outbreak of the World war
TsingtaO represented a brilliant result
of German efficiency Sixty million
dollars had been spent in the trans
formation. An excellent railroad
tapped the interior of Shantung, mines
were being opened and shipping was
steadily increasing. Of the city itself
the Germans, who then numbered more
than 1000 shopkeepers, professional
men and other civilians, in addition to
the military, boosted with considerable
justification that 1t was "a paradise on
EARTH
From Little Berlin to Little Tokyo.
"The character of this most German
Of towns was changed in 1914 almost
as radically and as quickly as mo-
ton picture setting is transformed
from a representation of London to
one Of New York The German flag
came down in November and most of
the Germans were sent to Japan as
prisoners. Civilian japanese as well
as soldiers poured in; and while the
architecture of Little Berlin re-
NAMED for the most part unaltered,
the whole atmosphere Of the place be-
came that of Japan. On their part
he japanese displayed greater energy
even than had the Germans, to give
the city its second transformation.
There, amid the homogeneous German
blossomed the influence and
culture Of Nippon. Indeed the Japa-
lese were more thorough than their
BY the middle of 1920 ]
more than 2S.O00 Japanese had moved
o the city. Schools had been estab- 7
ished for teaching Chinese TO the
as well as the regular syss
EN- of lower and higher Japanese
public schools. Commerce through
he port grew amazingly, most Of the
hips, flying the japanese flag.
"Tsingtao is remote from America.
,ut through commerce 1t has les con- ]
acts with this country. When you ]
zee a suit of Shantung silk on a sum-
ner day, the chances are high that J
he fabric took ship at Tsingtao; and
ons of tho almost invieihla hair nets