ntly to be maintained, under fire
from the shore, and proved a dangerous task. Several vessels thus
engaged were sunk or damaged, though with comparatively few casualties,
through coming into contact with mines. Some German gunboats, however,
among them the _Cormoran_ and the _Iltis_, were apparently sunk about
this time, either deliberately by the Germans, or from the fire of the
Japanese guns. A torpedo flotilla bombarded one of the barracks,
moreover, to some effect, while Japanese aeroplanes were also active.
Von Pluschow twice attempted to attack vessels of the blockading
squadron, but unsuccessfully, and on one occasion a Japanese aeroplane
pursuing him gave a German balloon, floating captive above the town,
some critical moments before it could be hauled to safety. A few days
later, about October 7, the rope which held this balloon was, during the
spasmodic firing, severed by a shot, and the great bag floated away,
apparently across the bay in the direction of Kiao-chau town and the
railway line inland. In this quarter, indeed, over the line itself,
serious friction had arisen between the Japanese and the Chinese
authorities.

[Sidenote: Railway seized.]

[Sidenote: China protests.]

The line ran from Tsing-tao and Kiao-chau to the junction of Tsi-nan, a
distance of about 250 miles, passing through the towns of Wei-hsien and
Tsing-chau. It was German built and almost wholly German owned. From
some points of view it might reasonably be said to constitute an
adjunct, if not a part, of the leased territory itself. In any case the
Japanese claimed that, since the outbreak of war, the line had been
consistently utilized to bring reservists, supplies, and ammunition to
the town. The Austrian crew of the disarmed _Kaiserin Elizabeth_, both
when they left and later returned to Tsing-tao, had used this means of
transit. The railway, being still under German control, constituted a
menace in the Japanese rear, which the latter, upon consolidating their
position towards the end of September, took measures to remove. After
occupying Wei-hsien, they began to arrange for the seizure of the whole
line as far as Tsi-nan itself. Hints of such action drew forth protests
from China, whose Government, however, adopted too compromising an
attitude. The Japanese Government was firm. China's right to formal
protest was admitted, but the occupation was stated to be an urgent
military necessity, and without any prejudice to Chinese cla