The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-01-05
WAR REPORTING In CHINA.
Adventures of Julian Ralph in China
and Japan.


Julian Ralph, the keen-eyed correspond
emit of the Harpers, has got to New iork
safely from China and Japan. He WAS face
10 face with pestilence, foods and famine
and met the cholera in its lair. lie Was
very close to gentlemen who enjoy pulling
put the finger nails of foreigners with NIP
pers. and visited the haunts of the dreaded
Chinese fever, yet fortunately escaped
Them all. He is much thinner and lighter
Than when he went away, but returns with
health uuimpaired, and with head ana
tote book filed with interesting data. over
/ pipe of carved ivory he talked OF the war
and the contending people. and gave the
New York Recorder some most interesting
md hitherto untold facts regarding poth.
II am glad,'' he said. that the Recorder
loes not wish any more about the Gresham
Incident do not vast to be put IN the
position of a critic of the Administration OF
If Mr.. Gresham What did do was to crit
ioise the American Nation, which mas as
suned the position of d protector OF lhose
who mt themselves under its flag, and
which ought not to have turned those TWO
moor Japanse over to be tortured IN the
SorribIe manner which every Engllshman
and American In China knows they were.
WAR CORRESPONDENTS IGNORED.
..I suppose that every obdy is saying some
thing about the American correspondents
In front. and bordering how it is that the
Central News has beaten them SO tremend-
ousIy in the news of the war. Where the
Central News has got its news is mystery
which NOBODY over there can solve. L Will
tell you why gave up the attempt to be
war correspondent. ] went over, hoping,
as every body did, to see something OF the
war. When got to Yokohama, eighteen
hundred miles from Toxic, found that all
the other correspondents except Mr. VII
liers. WIN was with me, and who is the
most modest charming hero / ever met.
man who has been in every campaign save
the Too nuii one since the fIanco-GeIman
war, were at Toxic. Some OF Them haa
been there a week and some hve weeks.
They all wanted permission to accompany
the Japanese army on the same basis as war
correspondents in European armies.
Of was told by Mr. Villiers that in the lat
ter countries the war correspondents RANKS
as Second Lieutenant. He gets accredited
and detailed in a Generals staff, and then
has all the privileges of an omcer Oh that
rank, drawing rations, blan kets, &C., ana
entering or keeping out Of fights, according
10 his bravery or his foolishness. Ihat is
what ViIliers expected. what would nave
liked. and what all the other correspond
epts, Creelman, of New YORK; Dewltt, OF
London; Won Bergman. the German from
japan, and all the rest were trying to get.
But they could not get any recognition
from, the Japanese Government, VINO, oelng
unused to war, matter OF fact. anu
fearful of the people, who were on the
verge of revolution, were AFRAID TO nave
men at the front who would send back
truthful accounts. They did not expect
the walk-over which they have had, ana
were fearful, if accounts of defeats and
slaue hter of many Japanese came BACK TO
,Iapan. that the people would rise and drive
them into the sea. AS was there on my
own speculation, and could not AFFORD 10
cool my heels waiting for the pei mission
which seemed unlikely to come, went over
tu China. After left / understood that
Villiers and six or eight other were allowed
TO go to Corea without protection. the Jap
anese Government insisting on seeing what
they wrote and giving them little In the
way of facts to write about. Several Eng
lish correspondents who were not satisfied
with this meager arrangement, came to
China, and from there drifted to Corea. but
Ly the time they had got there the war had
shifted to Manchuria.'
And that is how it came to pass that the
war correspondents were lett all around.
PEACEFUL CHINESE. WARLIKE JAPS.
"Ieaye up the whole scheme" contin-
ued Mr.. Ralph, "hired house-boat and
went into the Interior of China with the
people to study them. l heard nothing
about the war there. The Chinese seemed
to take no interest in it. l saw plenty OF
soldiers. They were in every valley, hurry
ing down to the coast, and the people spoke
of them with the greatest contempt. They
were merely men of work, wretched poor
Coolies, in bad uniforms and worse equip
ments undrilled and without discipline,
simply securing their last chance to get
food. The people are not warlike and they
have no respect for warriors or fighting.
.sf spent two weeks in Japan, and found
everything there just the opposite. The
Japanese are a plucky, pugnacious, con-
GATED people. ugly in the little relations of
life, disputatious on the streets. The rick
shanen follow you about all day, pluck you
by the sleeves. insisting on your employing
them, and are ugly and saucy If you do not
get into their little carriages. The China
men. on the other hand, you can DISMISS
with wave of your hand. ! found on all
tbs book-shelves in Japan articles on the
government of soldiers, and it was amazing
to see what the volumes were. For instance,
there was one book about tho Three Great
Generals of the World Two OF them were
unneard-of Japanese, the third was Bona
parte, Another volume was entitled The
Two Greatest G enerals.' The first and
greatest to the japanese mind was Hidey-
ochi. the second, Grant. Their soldiers are
6rst-class, and compare favorably with
European soldiers. They look like French
soldiers, except that you would think that
every private had his own tailor, SO well do
their uniforms fit Them. The rifle they car
~ is said TO be the best in the world. and
their equipment is almost equally as good
The Emperor of China we'll described them
In his declars ton of war when he called
them 'wojen,' which means little black
dwarfs.' They are very SMALL and look
like lot of boys of the public schools on
parade.
'tJust before I left China made another
trip to the interior in direction new and