Evening star., 1903-07-22
A JAPANESE SQUADRON
Officers of Warships Enter
tertained by Australians,
SOME AMUSING SIGHTS
GREAT STICKLERS IN MATTER OF
OFFICIAL DIGNITY.
Gunboat Presented by Queen Victoria
Forty Years Ago-Vessels in the
Battle of the Yalu.


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SYDNEY, Australia. June II. 1893.
Australia has been asoS more or less for
weeks from Fremantle to Sydney over
japanese squadron of three cruisers. under
the command of Rear Admiral kamimura
THIS is the first time Japanese admiral
has flown his flag in Australian waters.
which lends somewhat to the fuss and
feathers ancnt the trio of trim and rather
grim looking men OF war now lying tandem
fashion off Wooloomooloo bay. IN this beau
tiful harbor. The squadron is tour OF
the southern hemisphere, primarily for the
training of a large number of middies on
board, who, when they have passed their
ex& limitations, will receive commissions IN
the mikados sea service. The vessels have
rather difficult names to negotiate. though
tEey are not hard when once a Jap shows
one how These names are, respectively.
1IaShidate. MatSUshima and 1tsukushimt.
OF course the crimson sun flag Is welcomed
because of the political fact of the Anglo
japanese alliance. and the cities and high
society of this commonwealth nave been
vicing with each other In doing the cleVe.
little Asiatics all the nonors possible. But
a small fly in the visitors ointment, 1t fa1n
must he. to know that thanks to the labor
ties Of Australia, japanese are barred from
settling or making livelihood in the com
monWealth. OF the immigration reStrictiou
act these Jap jacktarS say quite frankly:
You Australians don't like Japanese cheap
labor. but wish to come here and we
are sorry you don't want us In Japan we
make no such restrictions; every one can
come to US and work in any sphere but
government employ
The war vessels are about fourteen years
old each of them, and they are second
class twin-screw cruisers. Each Is or
about 400 tons displacement. The Il
sukushIma and the MatSushima We're built
in France but the Hashdate was built in
Japan. The boilers of the last named are
Of Japanese invention. Miyabara boilers. 50
called after Engineer Rear Admiral Mlya-
bara of the Japanese navy. which Is an in
teresting fact The squadron sailed from
Japan in February and reached Fiemantle.
West Australia, in March From then until
now officers and men have been tasting
Australian praise and entertainment ga
lore at Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and
now here.
Rather Small Jackies.
had the fortune to see the jackies and the
middes ashore at Adelaide, and I also be-
held about coo Of the bluejackets parade
there. headed by the Hashidate's band.
In spite Of ones self. though one knows
that these little fellows have fought and
can fight splendidly. one cannot forbear
smiling at the dminutive yellow men
sauntering child-like about the streets.
their moon-like faces and their slanting
eyes made the more odd looking by the
long black ribbons from their sailor caps
They cannot be outdone by Cubans or other
Latin peoples as cigarette smokers NO.
indeed; ashore and atIoat. seemingly, they
smoke them without number. One boards
any one Of the three warships to lind the
decks dotted with ash trays to receive
butts" An upright holder on each tray
carries a piece of tow with a smoIderinB
light at the end Here the smokers can
light fresh cigarettes.
An amusing sight in Adelaide, which
bears somewhat of reputation among
Australians as a bucolic place, and which
turned out from Old ladies to infants IN
arms to the parade. was the Jap jack
les seeing the sights after they had them
selves occasoned "A holiday, each sur
rounded by from six to ten small boys.
The JapS We're somewhat worried eEl-
IDENTIFY. by this Juvenile attendance. but
took il all good naturedly. Occasionally n
Jackie would be seen with his hands claSped
in those of two colonial youngsters, one on
each side of him. almost as large as ne.
OF course. the jackies could not SPEAK a
word of English, could the Austria
liam shavers japanese. A sight Just as
amusing was japanese officer in the DO
tanical gardens at Adelaide being pestered
by several young larrikins. who were in
sisting on acting as his guides, while he.
with small English at his command. was
for getting along without their prohered
services.
The rn,ddies are quite well set-up youths,
will little dagger swords strapped to their
waists They are fun loving in a solemn
way and 1 saw some fifteen OF them cha.-
tering softly about nickel l-in-the.siot ma.
chine all intent upon being weighed at
once 1t looked-and their aggregate weight
would not have been much, fancy
The Hashidate's band was gorgeous In
red jackets and had numerous pieces. put.
rather to the surprise Of the spectators who
choked the streets, the little bands1nen
were not equal to the size of their instru-
ments. and such a piping = from l., all l. tnat "a.
was got through with after a fair fashion.
and then the band plunged Into something
else-perhaps the japanese national anthem
but it was a shallow plunge as regards
volume. However, to do them Justice thtS
band did considerably better here few
days ago. when all the big-wigs Of the com
monwealth reviewed the Jap bluejackets
and local military organizations.
Great on Official Dignity.
The officers, quite neat chaps. can speak
English French and German-almost all OF
them In fact, English is compulsory in the
japanese naval training curriculum. Dear
to the heart Of these small naval gentlemen
from the far east 1t is to be the objects of
official hospitality. and they have had much
of 1t in democratic Australia, though gen.
orally speaking the Japanese are not espe
cially popular here. 1t is not a little divert
ing to see how the chiefs of these ships Of
the mikado show their gold lace and Dis
gravity and satisfaction they go through
rather tiresome functions. They are now
experiencing new rounds of this sort Of
pother with as much qualification as they
did when 1t began several weeks ago
When the three warshtps arrived here re-
Gently the to-do on the flagship Immediately
after she made fast to her buoy was funny.
The bridges swarmed with officers SEEM
ingly, and the decks with jackies. Odd
sounding orders were yelled from odd corr
ners and boatswains whistles shrilled every
moment: middies and men few uD and
down companion ladders bewlderingly,
treadng upon each others heels at the
great risk Of knocking each other down.
Yet every mothers son Of this scrambling
lot saluted officers with much unction. This
matter of saluting seems to be a very
strong point with these Japs.
Beginning Of Japanese Navy.
An interesting coincidence came to light
day or two since, during q luncheon given
by the mayor Of Sydney in honor of the
Japanese. Forty years ago Queen Victoria
presented the mikado with gunboat
named the Empress. One Of the officers
who navigated that little vessel to the land
Of the rising sun from England was Sir
Harry Rawson. blum old seaman. who
has been most active in entertaining these