The suburban citizen., 1900-02-17
YANKEES OF THE ORIENT
WONDERFUL MILITARY AND NAVAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE.

tho naval college on EtaJ INA Aslnuo-
Admirable Army Drill.
TN an address Mr.. Arthur Diosy,
at the opening meeting Of the
ninth session Of the Japan So
& ciety, in London, related some
experiences of a visit to the far East.
Among the things which filed Mr..
Diosy with admiration was the navy
of Japan.
Upon this topic he says: "There is
only one word for the navy of Japan,
and that is miraculous. 1t is, IN
deed, a miraculous navy. When you
think that thirty-one years ago the
navy of Japan consisted of two steam
ships, one of them about the size of
Citizen A on the Thames, the other a
very ancient American man -of-war,
which had been sold at very big
price to Japan, and when you think
at the present moment the ships of
the Japanese navy ara second to none
in the world in their power, in their
hardness, in their rate of speed, in
what may be called their fighting
efficiency. In all essentials the
ships of Japan are behind none in the
world.
"Even in numbers the Japanese
navy now stands eighth on the list of
navies of the world, and in another
two years time will probably stand
fifth, may be even fourth, but at all
events fifth, unless some very great
efforts are made to increase their
navies by the powers now ahead OF
Japan. Moreover, the ships Of the
japanese navy may be described, I
think, as being the most intelligently
designed warships in the world, be-
cause they are designed for the par
ticular work that they have got to
carry out, and for no other. The
Japanese know that their battles will
be fought near home, and that conse-
quently they need not have very large
spaces for carrying coal, and thus the
space which would otherwise be filed
by bunkers can be devoted to more
guns and more projectiles, which, as
we know by recent naval warfare, is
the chief point. The ship that can
pump the greatest weight of metal in
to another ship in the shortest time
will be the victor.
"That is as regards the material.
Now what about that which is much
more important, thesmen? The men
Of the japanese navy are simply per-
feet. The officers who command
them are frst rate; they showed it
not many years ago.
"On the Island Of Etajima, one o.
the most beautiful islands in the
beautiful, inland sea, thore lies the
Imperial Navy College, at wlich the
cadets are trained who atterward be
come officers in the Japanese navy.
L will not weary you with a desorip-
tion of what is one Of the most per-
feet naval educational establishments
in the world, will simply tell you
that the Russian Naval Attache at
Tokio, an authority who could not be
suspected of any undue prediction
for things Japanese, said to me. "Ha!
It is model for all the navies
in the world; it is absolute
perfectionw And absolute perfection
it is. There several hundred young
japanese gentlemen of splendid
physique-I have never seen a
finer body of young men between the
ages of fifteen and twenty than L saw
there-are trained in all that goes to
constitute an efficient modern naval
officer, that is to say, in every mortal
thing thaC you can think of. They
are trained there in the midst of the
healthiest surroundings. The island
is entirely given up to the Naval Col
lege; they can roam over 1t at will;
they can even go shooting deer in the
woods; they have their games, their
sports, their boating, their sailing, and
their life is an absolutely healthy Qnq.
Every care is taken to keep their
minds as healthy as their bodies. /
was taken into the battery, the finest,
most accurate experimentation Of the
fighting battery of first class battle
ship that 1 have ever Seen, q battery
containing every kind of the most up
to-date guns that are used at sea.
Outside on the greensward, we're 100
cadets-clad in their flannel singlets
and their whtto duck trousers, and
with those W, ite Japanese socks, With
a division fol tho white toe, which
sor, such excellent f0otgear on board
shaiA standing Of qttsntio1As solid like
q NsaNlA I-was ;'equeN d t0Ninspect
them. I1NIid 5OX never sawNa finer
lot of Young meH\5 my life.
cat one word spoken by the CHIEF
ounnerv instructor the 100 yOunglmen
fumbled into that battery. timed
them by my watch-twenty-e eight Sec
onds from the giving of the order ey-'
erv man stood to his gun. There was
absolute silence, most perfect order.
The officer of quarters came toward
Q and said: What would you like to
,?' I said, would like to see ex-
ise action. The words were hardly
!, Of my mouth before the bugle
ded, and can assure you--and l
In, as you know, with some tech
9ak. nowledge Of this matter-it has
al h cen my delight to see better
1