The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-09-04

Ana the warilke spirit was not confined
TO the troops. either. II seems 10 have
taken root among all classes Of the popu.
iHtion. every Jap seems TO he cmbucu
with an onthuaas ic and Intelligent IN
tersft In the army.
Tho people nockcd 10 tho manoeuvrc
territory hy the ton Thousands. some com.
Ing long distances and remaining NJ ionH
as .he troops notcCd the pupils or
many phcools, colleges and academies
wearing uniforms ard carrying iish'
arms. bird rifles and the like,
made tho acquaintance Of the Nj.
kndo's navy. or the best part Of ". az
review held ~ the Emperor In person In
the Bay Of Hlogo. skirting the Island OF
Houdo. whercon the wei known seaport
81 Kobe Is situated.
THE tralnload OF foreign attaches and
other invited guests arrived at o'clock
sharp. The sea was as smooth as ball
room floor. The s'lvery white hattleships
OF Japan were drawn up In four rows.
Sh!kishima, the mghtiest battleship OF
the world, with Its three glded smoke
stacks. held the place OF honor In the
first line. Seven other men-of-war, all of
in posing size, stretched alongside from
west to east.
Nine cruisers of the first class formed
the second row, torpedo destroyers pre-
dominated In the third The fourth, made
approached the coast of ono. There was
no sign of life on board Of either the.
giants or pigmics not a sound. not
yard of bunting was visible, scarcely a
wavelet breaking at the bow.
Suddenly burle calls on the Shlsishima,
repetition OF the signal on all the rest of
the ships. one after another And as1the
final blast d.ed away the decks and nhsts
suddenly became alive with hundreds OF
Ill eli ~
command now rang from bow to stern.
while the boss in blue, looking from the
4 stance Ike flock of imps, ran up the
masts and rigging, lay aloft and unfurled
a perfect rainbow of bunting, whipping
the air above the yards. There were all
sorts and forms Of standards. flags and
pennants, multi-colorod, and above all
foated the red, flaming sun of Japan on
white ground.
Puffs Of smoke now rose aZlly into the
air, becoming darker and blacker. grow
ing into clouds and finally enveloping the |
ships white BODIES in n thin veil. When
n Hack spot appeared in the direction of
Wada Point. from where the Mikado's
flagship Asama was expected the crack
cruiser Akashi at once FASTENED off to
conduct the imperial master. She return
ed half an hour later plotting the Asama
and three other warsh!ps.
The extraordinary stiffness prevailed up
to the very second when the flagship hove
into full sight. Then suddenly the i'm
perial salute beloved forth from all the
vessels at once, making the air tremble
with the thunder. There were the sharp,
shrill crack of tire small guns, backed by
the full metallic base of the 13-inch cam
mona powerful combination.
Twenty-one times-count them-they
shrieked and doomed and Numbered well
come; then, as the yellow smoke waited
away, there was "hurrah' from 10000
throats. The decks, masts, yards and
even the smokestacks were black with
marines and Sailors standing. hanging
and balancing at attention.
AS finally the echo OF cannon boom re-
sounded weaker and weaker from the
Kobo mountains in that grand harmony
of military sound, the Shikishma's band |
struck up the national anthem and the |
Mikado's flagship opened the review by
majestcally sailing down the first row
of warships. making an imposing show |
of her fine lines and armament.
The moment the flagship approached
one of the great war vessels the latter's |
band started Off with the national hymn, |
so that soon half dozen bands were
playing, which accompanied each other |
to the measure. Next the Mikado visit !
ed the mighty cruisers and torpedo de- I
stroyers. proceeding very slowly and keep
ing sharp lookout. Occasionally there
were signals of imperial pleasure for en-
ccura cement.
The review lasted full hour and
wound up when tho Mikado, followed by
his staff. transferred to the Shikishima,
where "A grand banquet was held, at /
which his majesty expressed his great
at the state of efficiency of
the navy.
Japan owns today five men-of-war of
the first class, each having more than
l5,O00 tons and making above IS knots !
Their armament is the very latest. She
also owns seven cruisers of the first class
and nine cruisers of second class, maxi
ing lG to % knots. In four years from
now the MilSado hopes to marshal POS
war vessels of new type and equipped
with the latest cannon.
NETEOROI RECORD