Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-13

passing loneliness SCreCcheS before me.
The window is really balcony,
outdoor room. It is morning. The sun
is breaking through the clouds Of a
minor storm that has just swept back
over the Laoshan Mountain. Away
over to the right are jagged hills, breaking
through the mist, and to the left is a
high terrace of red-roofed houses, neat
and trim. Directly before me is the
harbor, that wonderful harbor that
Germany discovered and took, together
with a few hundred thousand square
miles of rich territory comprising the
Shantung Peninsula, some years ago.
Right in the center Of the scene, half
tiny island. wooded, with light
house on the highest point, in the CEN
ter. 1t is for all the world like "set
piece" It does not seem quite real:
This island is the true "Tsingtao,"
which means "Green Island" The
name was later given to the mainland
town that Hans built-and lost.
The slip of craft appears on the
horizon, coming into sight around the
left-hand promotory. Quick, the glasses!
Yes, it is a submarine, sliding swiftly
over the surface, headed for the inner
harbor, which lies around the point to
the right. Even as it is identified as
such, another comes close behind, and
then another and another, until eight
have lined up across the scene. And a
little while later come IS deStroyerS,
going in the same direction. American
ships, all of them, attended by bulky
craft, the BlackhaWk, tender to the
fleet of Uncle Sans little boats" in
this part of the world.
One of two "TT. 6. PortS~
Tsingtau is one of two North Asia
ports that the American Navy uses, the
other being Chefoo, over on the north
side Of the Shangtung Peninsula. There
Is little to choose between them, save
that Tsingtau is somewhat better pro-
tected from storms. They are both ex-
ceptional ports, that Of Tsingtau per-
haps having the advantage of better
layout for commercial purposes.
In my preceding letter I noted that
we had observed Independence day at
Tientsin. There was a gathering at
the American consul'S and another at
the Tientsin Club. Then we went to lun-
cheon given to us by the governor. of the
province in his yamen that might easily
have been made in Germany" even to
the porcelain stove in the dining room.
At that luncheon some diplomacy"
was worked by members Of our party
in respect to the maintenance Of the
freedom of the press in China, an
American journalist at Peiping having
just been put under the ban Of the Ma
tionalist government because of his
writings for very prominent and in
fluential New York newspaper, and
marked for deportation. Several of
our number engaged in the making Of
strong representations to such of the
rSI.Sw 4nIA 1AR>
luncheon was served, putting to them
the unwisdom of such procedure in the
sitting of free discussion of Chinese
affairs. Then at the luncheon one of
the members of our party made an
impromptu two-minute speech and
pledged the gathering to "a free press
in China" Later we heard that one Of
the leaders of the province, present at
the luncheon, was wiring strong rec
concentration to the Marking authori-
ties that the order of deportation be
rescinded. We do not at this time know
the status Of the case, but hope that
the seed sown at TientSin has borne
fruit.
Tsinan's Message Of Death.
Our train pulled into Tsinan shortly
after o'clock the following morning.
We were bundled out, for our special
CdI was W VIC OA1 dIld VIC "CAC
to proceed to Tsingtau by another line.
Later we were grateful, for the second
car was much better. We found Tsinan
deeply regretful for the brevity Of our
stay. For Tsinan had message for
us, which it hoped to present forcibly.
That message related to the deplorable
affair in that city a year ago last April,
when japanese troops attacked and In
the melee several thousand Chinese
were slain.
Tsinan did not need any longer than
the two hours or so that we spent there
to put over the bitter protest prepared
for us against the Outrage" of this
lamentable happening. It
had the railway stations-both of them
.plastered with banners relating to
the tragedy. It took us driving through
the scene of the attack and showed
us the scars of the fighting. It had
provided great album of photographs
Of gruesome scenes after the massacre"
a copy of which was given to each Of
us. It had other printed material
bearing on the matter.
Our specific entertainment at Tsinan
was breakfast given by the mayor.
His speech had been translated into ex-
cellent English and had been printed
on charmingly decorated fan, a most
attractive and difficult piece of typog-
raphy on curved lines. The fact that
each person present had one Of these
fan translations did not deter a young
from laboriously reading the
form a manuscript, and thus
about 10 minutes of the sup
posedly valuable time.
Pearl Fountain Is Seen.
After breakfast, we were taken out
to view the pearl fountain" which is
one Of the show features of the mayoral
establishment, a large basin, perhaps
so feet long by half as wide, fed by an
unfatling and abundant spring. The
water Is remarkably pure. It boils up
from the bottom and large bubbles Of
air also rise, which CLEAN like the pearls
for which the fountain is named. This
Is one of eight celebrated springs In
China, the Jade fountain being another
of the series.
Fish were leaping in the pool. Our
Chinese guides pointed them out and
noted for us some large ones swimming
about. They were very old fish, we
were told. It was estimated that some
Of them were 400 years old. I heard
one Of the officials tell a member of
our party that these fish ranged from
IL to 10 feet in length. He probably
meant inches, not feet, but nobody had
the hardness Of heart to correct his
statement. The biggest fish, we were
told, had been all killed by the Japanese
extent to which they will get mere re-