hey began throwing shrapnel at our trench. For
about half an hour it was all over us, and I'm blest if I know why
nobody was hit. It was the overhead cover, I fancy, that saved us this
time. We came out like a lot of rabbits when it was over and proceeded
to get down below.

"The Japanese artillery was supporting us that night, as we were
working on the enemy's side of the river, within 200 yards of their
advance trenches. Never have I felt a more comforting sensation then
when watching those Japanese shells bursting just over our heads, a
little in advance, the shrapnel from them going slap into the Germans
every time. I must say it was a magnificent sight when the Japanese
guns were going, the German rockets, etc., and their machine guns and
rifles joining in when they could get their heads up. One had to shout
to make oneself heard, and those who saw it from the top of Heinrich
Hill in rear said it was very fine."

During the early days of the siege life in the beleaguered city went
on about as usual. A large part of the civil population had withdrawn
while there was yet time, but enough shops remained open to supply the
needs of those who remained. Cafes continued business and meals were
served without interruption at the German Club throughout the siege,
although toward the end the number of those who gathered at the
club's tables dwindled to a few administrative officers and civilians.

In a proclamation the day before the expiration of the Japanese
ultimatum, Governor Meyer-Waldeck had expressed the spirit of the
little garrison in the following words:

"Never shall we surrender the smallest bit of ground over which the
war flag is flying. From this place, which we with love and success
have endeavored during the last seventeen years to shape into a little
Germany across the seas, we shall not retreat. If the enemy wants
Tsing-tau, he must come and take it."

Few, if any, military men in Tsing-tau doubted the outcome of the
siege; but every resource was prepared for a desperate resistance. The
city did not lack food; and after the surrender it was found that
enough still remained to provision the garrison for more than three
months longer. The supply of running water ceased about the middle of
October. News from the outside world came in until November 5, and
invariably it told of German successes.

"I remember one evening," said the Tsing-tau correspondent of the
Associated Press, and the only foreign pre