The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-04-01

Japanese army. went On--1nI2nITy. Cavalry
ARTILLERY and the baggage moving with the
iaid around the outskirts MGs Of TOXIC to the
soldiers through cities IN a body. At ycko-
to 4 point where transports may be easily
reached. and at the beginning OF the war
that not one citizen in five knew that
movement was taking place.
The celebrity and the systematic way IN
which the Japanese handle their troops
Is the establishment and the admiration OF
all military men. went out on Tuesday
military station Regiments and detach-
menfs were found standing in line beside
tneir tran spo alton There was no stray
Cling no skylarking. The faces Of the men
splendid s i'd You Young fellows. stocky looking and
earnest They seemed to fill their trouser
legs and boots with muscle and flesh after
the manner of German soldiers one sees
in Berlin and the garrfsons along the Rhine.
The officers, in their fiat caps and long
skirted overcoats. looked very much like
sun-burned Germans. and the men, in their
blue uniformsy white legg1ngs and trim
mings of bright red and yellow, bore the
appearance of swarthy jack tars in tight
Trains came and went with absolute reg
ularity, and there was neither hustle nor
excitement The infantrymen, observed.
were armed with. the Japanese Murata
1ains the best features of the Remington,
the MartiEi-Henry, Mannlicher and all other
modern firearms IN combination. lnefe De-
ing no patent laws for foreigners here,
the Japanese can help themselves to the
best of all mechanical contrivances in sight,
and in this, in most things, they are
adapting and combining the most desirable.
The Imperial Guard, being the counter
very proud of itself. 1t is expected to
make a fine record for itself in the APP
Hroacning campaign i5 IN ar viewing L m nfa,Sa<
by the uniformity of size The men do
not seem to vary three inches in stature
AS they move in perfect step their fiat
topped caps look as though they had been
aligned with a spirit level. All the parade
till night with drilling squads and compa-
MES. observe that special attention is
xrne n II this q
work the little chicken-cock soldiers seem
Despite the Japanese desire for better
things, two things here strike one as sim
gular and incongruous. One is the wretched
other is the tenacity with which the coun-
try clings to the old, stupid Geographic
style Ct writing % from .ne
requires years of patient study and only then
ts II given to a few. even as music mus Is
inss . ago twas was handed an itemized bin in
feet. though the total As was only My 4 few
yen, and am sure that reasonably skill
drawn map s OF the Japanese. empire while
It was being made out
The Japanese language looks well in
Taught in the public schools. fifty chill
dren would become proficient in reading
20 enjoy I,s smastering. what q blessing it
would be to the vernacular press, too, TO
do away With the semi-chinese e, hero
are far IN advance OF the popular demand:
in the empire. TOXIC had seventeen daily
Journals at the last census and the strong
s tin anc boast 81 Of
than fifteen thousand copies The tedious
ness Of setting up a newspaper in zig,
gag. twisted, convoluted and triangulated
blocks Is more than painful In the first
place the compositor must be a more
erudition must excel that Of the average
editor of an American newspaper He must
thousand ideographs which constitute the
scholars vocabulary and he must have at
his finger. ends the four thousand char
The ONCE fl OF the Nichi Nichi shimbun, the
leading Toxic journal. is curiosity shop
About one hundred and fifty people are
employed, six of them being compositors.
But each compositor has q half dozen as, as,
and handed to the scholarly composition.
This individual wears a pair of google
He is prepared to drop any one of the four
thousand character blocks into his stick"
seven kama syllables wherewith he connects
the ideographs. Taking his copy the COM
to his bow cy's DsS These brght eows
go hunting about the office for the required
Chinese picture words. While doing this
arc looking for All is hustle, joliity and
noise. When boy has collected the char
them to the. scholastic. compositor. who
places them in order. along with the con-
s We9 made lnto forms the modern ster
eotyping process is employed and the. print
ing is lone on hand fed fiat
be Sea seem that Rfess the linotype M mus
chine, which Is quickening and cheaper
try, is not practicable here With the
Roman alphabet the Japanese newspaper,
cheap as It Is. would be still further cheap,
fold.
But the rulers of modern Japan Go not.
ing made common. These arts are only for
the few. The leaders guard with jealous
Yet they hey spend millions lilo on their public bic
schools knowing that without enlighten-
ment the empire cannot be great and strong.
As for the f0otgear, that is only explain
able upon the ground that leather is scarce
and dear, and that the Japanese house
calls for cleanliness and softly stockinged
The modern Japanese gentleman wears
ms , EHropsaH can suit OF clothes and his latest
in awkward digitated socks and wooden
slogs. Pretty women and children go mine |
Ing through the streets on wooden blocks,
which must have come into fashion with
Jimmu-Tenno, the founder of the present |
dynasty, making as much noise on a hard |
pavement as the same number of shod |
donkeys
But incongruities must be looked for here. |
The incandescent light swings in. front of |
the moldy Buddhist temple; the flare COW |
cred bull is led in barbaric procession past |
gaudy modern shops; the tram car driver |
boots the half naked coolie in his print /
tive cart in the streets Of the capital and /
telegraph wires enter the sacred precincts
of monarch who holds that he is Of /
divine origin. On all hands feudal stupid |
fty jostles modern methods and ideas, but
there Is no retrogression.