__ Poem written on the arrival of the Chefoo group in Weihsien

Hooray! the Chefooites have all arrived at last!
Right heartily we cheered them as through the gates they passed.
They trudged up Guardhouse Hill, their baggage in the lead,
We 'Servers' nudged each other, "Great Scot, more mouths to feed".
That's not a nice expression, but our rations were so low,
And they had come from what we'd call luxury, you know.
They joined the Tsingtao Kitchen, school children big and small.
We fed them on bread porridge, and they ate it, one and all!
We felt sorry for them when we filled their cups with bitter tea,
But they said, "If you can drink it without sugar, so can we."
Then came a real calamity, the camp ran out of yeast.
Our manager said, "Doughnuts! Make twelve hundred at least"
The boys soon took to pumping, and others hard work too.
Some girls became dishwashers, other joined the kitchen crew.
We've grown fond of these school children, who bravely stood the test
And should they ever need our help, we'll gladly do our best.
___________________________Grace E Norman