Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-10-11
THUMB-FoREFINoER GRIP
They Carry no Firearms, But Are
Provided With Swords-consul Fu-
jita Explains How Well "the
Finest Work in His Country
Thinks Chicago Police Rude.

rude, ana he knows whereof he speaks.
He is the consul in Chicago for his
imperial majesty, the emperor Of ia
pan.
According to Mr.. Fujita they do
things differently in police circles In
his native country. Tie policemen are
never hauled up on the carpet before
the chief for beating innocent citizens
with clubs. When the Japanese consul
takes his walk abroad in Chicago he is
shocked and surprised to see every po-
Hceman swinging or tossing mighty
oak stick and evidently on the alert to
swat somebody with 1t. In fair Nip
pom, whence Mr.. Fujita comes, the po-
licemen are called 'peacemakers'' and
their mission is of far more pacific
nature than that of the police officers
here. They are not looking for trouble.
They try to prevent it. They do not
seek to arrest as many prisoners as
possible. On the contrary, they strive
TO quiet the angry passions of the little
men who occasionally engage In
brawls and quarrels and send them to
their homes.
But 1t must not be thought that the
Japanese police officers are without
means Of defense or in such position
that they would have to retreat before
a belligerent prisoner. They make ar
rests when necessary, but they do so
in very different way from the Amer
leans. There is an aria trick OF
wrestling-know to the police force of
the little empire which enables them to
subdue refractory prisoners without
breaking their skulls with an oaken
club. That method would be called
trough work. by Toshio Fujlta we're
he given to America slang, which he is
not. 1t is an art very difficult to ex-
plain to Chicagoan, but just as easily
used on Americans as on Japanese IL
only the Chicago police were instructed
In the methods
When disorderly man in Toxic or
Yokohama objects to accompanying
police officer, instead of beating him
into submission as though he were q
refractory horse or a dog, the Jap snese
policeman seizes him with peculiar
wrestling grip in which the thumb
and forehngers of the right hand
come into play and the prisoner
speedily finds himself on his back. He
is not hurt; it is not necessary to send
him to hospital He is merely over.
powered by superior cleverness, and in
few minutes he finds himself In the
patrol wagon started for the station
for they have patrol wagons in all the
principal japanese cities.
This at of handling prisoners is
taught the policemen in the gymnastic
course which they must undergo before
they are eligible for the force. AS in
the case in London. the policemen are
not passed physically merely because
of the possession of certain amount
of brute strength, because they lift a
certain weight or push an indicator to
required figure on dial. They must |
be agile. athletic and adept in manly |
exercises and the principal OF these is |
the method of handling prisoners so
they may be subdued without unneces-
sary violence.
John 7. o'Brien, former member of
the Boston police department. went to
Nagasaki, Japan, year or more ago
and was engaged by the police depart
ment there to instruct the officers in
certain branches of police work |
peculiar to the western peoples. He
was especially struck with the method !
of handling refractory prisoners with
the thumb and forefinger and picked
up the trick himself He has lately |
returned to Boston and In now engaged |
In trying to demonstrate to the police
commissioners how far superior to the |
club is the Japanese system. The COM
missioners have been favorably i'm |
pressed by the idea and may adopt It. |
II II meets with success there II will |
probably be taken up in other parts of
the country and eventually tho police
mans club-the most potent cause OF |
trouble for otileers-may disappear.
The Japanese policeman is armed |
with short sword. but he never uses
II except for self-defense. Even then
he is not permitted to use IL unless he |
is attacked by more than one man or
by a prisoner with weapon, which
occurs very seldom. A Toxic poliee- |
man would not last an hour on the
force II he drew his sword and as.
saulted a single prisoner or course
that is the theory on which the Chi.
cago police are supplied with clubs
and revolvers-that they may defend
themselves, but in nine cases o~t ~ 70,
they are used for offense instead Of
defense. II man under arrest shows
the slightest resistance. even though he
be one-third the size Of the policeman
out comes the club Immediately andhe
is beaten on the head as though the