IN THE BATTERIES AGAINST TSING-TAU: A JAPANESE SIEGE-GUN GETTING THE ORDER BY TELEPHONE TO OPEN FIRE.

We see here one of the heavy siege-guns which the Japanese brought up for the bombardment of Tsing-tau when about to open fire on the German fortress. The gun-team of artillerymen are standing in rear of the piece, and in the foreground, to the right, is one of the detachment receiving orders by telephone from the battery-commandant at his post of observation. Profiting by their experiences in siege-warfare at Port Arthur, the Japanese were fully prepared with a very large and efficient siege-gun train to undertake the attack on Tsing-tau immediately war was declared. The Japanese employed 140 guns in the bombardment, including 28-centimetre howitzers and 21 and 15 cm. siege-guns, firing respectively, 11.2-inch, 8.4-inch, and 6-inch shells.—[Photo. by Record Press.]

HAND-GRENADES SHOT FROM A GUN!—THE AARSEN GRENADE-GUN BEING LOADED.

One of the features of the present war which have been drawn attention to by "Eye-Witness" in his letters from the Front, is the resuscitation of fighting with hand-grenades on both sides. Particularly has this been the case during the battles in Northern France and Flanders, wherever the trenches approached one another within flinging distance. There also, on occasion, where the troops facing one another were further apart, and beyond reach of a throw by hand, an improvised catapult of the classic type has been devised by our men for slinging hand-bombs; utilising a metal spring bent back and held fast in a notch, to be released on the lighting of the fuse. An illustration of a catapult appeared in the "Illustrated War News" of December 23.

HAND-GRENADES SHOT FROM A GUN!—AARSEN GRENADES BURSTING IN THE OPEN.

On the page opposite we give a photograph of a Danish experimental gun, designed at Copenhagen, for firing Aarsen hand-grenades. The grenades are shown in the act of being introduced into the breech of the weapons, and the apparatus for holding each grenade in the hand is clearly shown. In the photograph above the shells are seen bursting at a certain distance from the firing-point. Our soldiers in the trenches in Flanders, according to "Eye-Witness," have made improvised hand-grenades for themselves, utilising empty jam-tins. These are charged with gun-cotton and fused, and on being lighted are flung across among the Germans in their trenches. What the jam-tin hand-grenades look like the "War News" illustration referred to shows, and how they are used with catapults.

READY FOR THE TURKISH ARMY SENT "TO DELIVER EGYPT"! A BRITISH ENTRENCHED CAMP ON THE SUEZ CANAL.

It was stated on December 23 that the "Frankfürter Zeitung" had learned from Constantinople that the Turkish Army sent "to deliver Egypt" began its forward march to the Suez Canal on the 21st. The Canal is securely held along its hundred miles of length. Our illustration shows one of the several British advanced-camps on the eastern bank (the Asiatic or Sinaitic Peninsula side), placed there to prevent a surprise attack. In all cases, our positions are well fortified, and, with the desert in front, present a formidable barrier to the enemy. In support of the entrenched camps, movable pontoon-bridges have been constructed at certain points. These, with the permanent railway along the western bank, will enable reinforcements to be thrown across the waterways speedily.

THE MOST POPULAR FRENCH HEROINE OF '70: JULIETTE DODU (WHO DIED THE OTHER DAY) PARDONED FOR HER GREAT BRAVERY.

There has just died upon her little farm at Clarens, Switzerland, "La demoiselle Juliette Dodu of Pithiviers," forty-four years ago a telegraphist who outwitted the German invaders, was taken prisoner, threatened with death, treated chivalrously by the "Red Prince" Friedrich Karl, released on the proclamation of peace, decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honour, and retired to the little farm, where she ended her days. The spirit of this romance of the Franco-German War of 1870-71 lives in the picture by E.J. Delahaye. Chivalry was not then dead, and the "Red Prince," father of our popular Duchess of Connaught, although Juliette Dodu had hindered the German advance on Paris, shook her by the hand and said that it was "an honour to meet so brave a woman."