The San Francisco call., 1895-08-02
Vast Numbers March Over
land to the Scene OF
Strife.
REBELS REMAIN UNsUBDUED.
Additional Stories of Anti-Christian
Riots From Several Chinese
Provinces

nave IOunQ II necessary w dOeAiAOAA
original intention of landing troops IN the
south of Formosa to attack the BLACK
FLAGS. Such an operation would nave
been possible if undertaken IN May or the
early days of June, but after the setting IN
of the southwest monsoon 1t was out OF the
question. Transports carrying theSapan-
ese force did actually reach the Pescadores,
but reconnoissances made from there
showed the hopelessness of attempting to
land anv considerable body of men with
stores on an exposed shore where heavy
seas were constantly breaking. Even had
the landing been effected, communication
with the ships could not possibly have been
kept up.
The only alternative was to march an
army overland from KeIung and Taipeh
to Anping. The distance from Taipeh to
Anping is about $50 miles. The country
is rough and means of communication
are almost absent. 1t will not be an un-
impeded march either, for the villages en-
route are occupied bY Hakka and the hills
by the aborigines, who will doubtless re-
sist the invaders. Meanwhile, some MUIR
murs are heard from the little community
OF foreigners at Anping, who find the con-
slant vicinity of the Black Flags very dis
quieting, and are anxiously awaiting the
advent of the Japanese to re-establish Sc
curity and resuscitate trade, which is said
to have ceased, owing to the withdrawal of
the customs authorities, though it is diff
cult to comprehend why the absence of a
custom-house, or, in other words, the alb
sence of officials to levy duties, should in
4errr7rt he cO17rca of coro
When the public learned that the force
placed at Viseount Kabayama's disposal
for the subjugation of Formosa was
whole division of the Imperial Guards,
mum bering from 1900 to IA, 900 men, opin-
ions were freely expressed that no such
effort need have been made. But events
have amply justified the foresight of the
Japanese. The Chinese troops stationed
in the north of the island when the in
vaders landed are estimated to have been
10000. Of these about 10000 have been
carried to the mainland in Japanese YES
sells and liberated. The majority of them
were raw recruits from Canton, easy to
deal with. But the Hakka and the abo-
rigines are more Tesolute and fierce. To
repel the latter's raids it has hitherto been
necessary that the inhabitants of the vii
lagos in the plains should have arms and
ammunition, and these they now employ
to menace the Japanese commissariat
train and make attacks upon Japanese
scouting parties. Thus the invaders are
obliged to disarm the villagers and then
station strong parties of gendarmes and
police to protect them, and as the gen.
darmes and police originally sent to the
island do not suffice for these purposes,
drafts have had to be made on the troops.
In this fact is found one reason for the
seemingly slow subjugation of the coun-
try; the forces available for the southwark
march are unduly reduced by being
obliged to discharge unexpected duties of
occupation. A further body of 5000 men
has, therefore, been dispatched from Japan.
Ali this must tax the resources of the
country very severely. 1t must be remem-
bered that Japan is still holding Wei-hai-
wei and Port Arthur, and that a big feet
of transportsis engaged bringing back her
armies from Manchuria.
These circum stances necessarily add
materially to the difficulty of carrying on
the subiugation of Formosa, which, little
as the public think of it, is in itself far
more difficult task than the French have
to perform in Madagascar. The French
themselves ten years ago failed to make
serious impression on an island which the
japanese are now expected to overrun in
a few weeks, though its capabilities for de-
fense are much greater to-day than they
were in 1885. Meanwhile, the Chinese,
consistently with their habit of filling up
every interval of fighting with stories of
their own prowess and successes, are COM
piling very bad record for the japanese
in Formosa.
The Black Flags-who are not within 100
miles of any japanese encampment-are
gaining victories by ''ruse of war" Some
of them came disguised as aborigines to
the Japanese camps at Talwanfu, where
there are as yet no Japanese, and asked for
protection against the terrible Black Flags.
A japanese detachment of few thou
sand men, was dispatched. The savage
guides conducted them to a narrow pass
through the mountains where ''mines were
fired" During the confusion that ensued
the Black Flags stormed forward and cut
down all the Japanese. These are the kind
of tales served up for the delectation of the
Chinese public.
The celebrated northern squadron-the
Pieyang quadron-having been aDnihi-
lated in the battles of Phung-do, the Yalu,
and Wei-hai-wei, the great southern Vice
row Chang seem disposed to organize
or southern squadron, of SIM
liar lighting capacity. He is said to have
decided,to order two battle-ships of 5000 tons
each, two first-class armored cruisers of
5000 tons each, and four second-class pro-
tected cruisers of 5000 tons each, to be built
partly in Germany and partly in England,
as the nucleus of the new squadron, and to
have made arrangements for sending 15O
naval students abroad for practical study.
1t may be assumed that Viceroy Ii in the
north will also set about replacing his lost
ships, so that if China only gets time, a
new and far more powerful navy will rise
from the ashes of the old. But will she get
time?
On the 9th of July a terrible catastrophe
at the Komatsu coal mine, in
Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Owing to
long-continued rains large area of rice
land subsided, and the water pouring into
the mine engulfed forty-nine out of sixty
men working in the galleries ct the mo-