The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-03

foreigner the legend, he smiles pleas
antly and says that 1t Is only another
proof of the miraculous powers of jim
go Kogo. Did she not make the fishes
and the waves do her bidding? Would
she be likely to be troubled by a little
thing like that?
After this story, the traveller in Ja-
pan hears without a gasp that lingo
overcame a hundred Koreans single
handed, and slew the great Korean
champion whom none of her warriors
could tackle. He had killed a dozen OF
them, one after the other, in single
combat; but lingo cut off his head at
the first onslaught with her mighty
two-handed sword.
Japan'A FeudaI Days.
In the feudaI days OF Japan, up to
the Restoration era, the wives and
daughters Of the "samurai" were regu-
larly trained in the aristocratic SCI
ence of arms, and fought as readily
and bravely as the men. But they
were not, as a rule, allowed to fight
unless it was absolutely necessary for
the protection of life or honor. The
'samurai" were not chivalrous accord
ing to the ideas of Occidental knight
hood; they did not deem 1t disgraceful
to their manhood to allow women to
fight but, TO their minds, fighting was
such an honorable luxury, such an
august privilege, that they wanted ali
of it for themselves, and thought it
altogether too good for an inferior
creature like woman. Thus 1t was that
the Amazons of Japan generally per-
formed their achievements when their
lord was away from home at the
wars, and his enemies or a band of
robbers attacked the house in his abb
sence.
Il Auh mi 70
sword of the samurai, except on the
rare occasions when they masquerad-
ed as one in order to fight by the side
of a lover or a husband. The long,
double-hilted sword and the short
sword for the happy dispatch" were
the sacred property of the male war
rior, and 1t was crime for anyone
except a samurai to carry them.
Women, when acting as the home
guard" were supposed to be content
with a medium-length sword, be-
twixt the two, and a frightful-lookng
halbert, much like a short scythe,
dashed to the end of a long pole. The
Japanese artists of past generations
were fond of depicting them doing
wonderful feats with this awkward
wea pom.
The Samurat Class.
Only the samurai class were allow
ed to carry arms in old Japan, and
this rule applied to the women as we'll
as to the men. Nevertheless, many
stories are told of the heroism of wo-
men of the peasant and "heiwin"
(trading) classes, who resisted at the
swords point the dishonorable adj
vances of their "daimo" (feudal lord)
or even of the Shotgun himself
An old Toyokuni color print shows
a woman named Bentenkozo Kane
nosuke putting to rout a small army
of policemen sent by the Shotgun to
seize her for one of his concubines.
She was doubly famous as being the
prettiest girl in Japan in her day and
the most vlrtuous.
She lived in Kioto and was the idol
of the town. The greatest of the
"ramos' wooed her in vain, and when
one of them threatened her with vio-
lence she challenged him to fight and
easily overcame him. although he was
one of the most noted swordsmen of
the day in Japan.
At last the Shotgun saw her one day.
when riding through the streets Of
Kioto. He straightway fell in love,
but she repealed his advances in spite
of his despotic power and great pres
tige. Knowing little of her prowess in
arms, the Shotgun did not trouble to
send soldiers to seize her. He sent in
stead a squad of policemen-or the
functionaries who answered to police
men in that day. They were armed
with short iron clubs, which were of
little use against the heroine's sword.
The chronclers record with horrible
glee the manner in which she carved
those poor policemen, putting at least
dozen of them off the strength of
the force. The Shotgun admired her
bravery and did not trouble her fur
Their