The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-07-02
JAPS AS INFANTRYMEN
Greatest In the World, Says a
War Correspondent.
THEIR BRAVERY REMARKABLE.
Powers of Endurance surpass Those
of Any White soldiers ON Earth.
stoicism of japanese Grievously
wounded In battle No Groans
Heard In the Hospitals.

stoicism of Japanese Grievously
wounded In Battle = No Groans
Heard In the Hospitals.
To realize what a great soldier the
little chap Of Japan really is one
should not only see him in battle, but
In the hospital. says VIII Lexington
Comfort, the STAFF correspondent Of the
Plttsburg Dispatch writing from Moji
Japan. have given estimates of the
Japanese soldier yariously aud lined
him up beside the infantry have seen
more infrequently than one would
wish. to his detriment-bu find that
have not said enough because, until
the other day, had not seen him In
the hospital.
Let it be understood that the quail
ties you observe in the japanese soldier
On sick report, however much you may
admire them in the makeup Of sol
der. are not lovable qualities. The
Jap has lungs and legs that enable him
to hike on lightly hours after a white
column is crazed and all but mutinous
from fatigue The lightness of his
rations and his inhuman capacity for
martyrdom have been pointed out SO
many times that the marvel of these
things has ceased to excite. That be
can shoot is his great accomplish
meEs, perhaps, since he is al oriental.
There remains only, for the perfect
infantryman at least, concentrated
military acumen embodied in the Off
GERS. and Japan has proved this pos
session. The acknowledgment must
come. even If at present it bears an APP
pearance of prematurity, that the is
land empire has the greatest infantry
on earth. "a
Japan has refuted the notion that the
soldier must be a thinking atom Here
as 1t is presumably in the States, opin-
ion Is divided as to the outcome Of the
war. but the greater number Of for
eigners, while allowing that Japan will
be vitality and nightly hurt when She
colIides with the concentrated Musco-
vlte armies, still favor the chances Of
japanese victory because the latter
iorces are unwhlppable. The only
whipped Japanese IL a dead one. The
heather. fanatical valor Of Captain
Wakizawa's 600 that pinned Cossacks
and Russian infantry and artillery to
Tigers head while Kurokf executed
his brilliant flank will disorgani2e SUI
,,o,,fn, forcaa q gain
In Impulse and result the yalor Of
the Japanese is heather and fanatical
quite as much as the demon Turk
splitting himself upon the lance Of the
enemy, but there is a difference, for
the Japanese can fight without being
wrought into insanity. Manchuria has
already seen him leap into death smil-
ingly ana calmly ana stare at the sky
with glazing eyes and not a groan.
And 50 are Japanese military hos
pitais groanless. Ninety-nine wound
ca soldiers from Kiuliencheng passed
through Moji recently. They were all
from the Twenty fourth regiment of in
fantry from which sprung the Goo he
roes of Tigers head mentioned above
The wounded Unframed at the Moi
station for Kokura, the headquarters OF
the Twelfth division, six miles down
the line, and from there TO Jono, where
the great and recently constructed hos
pital stands. | was allowed to accom-
pany the wounded and passed through
the various wards of the hospital, ac
companied by Lieutenant General She
90 and Major Murata. the surgeon II
charge
Murata examined every wound Of tbs
fresh ninety-nine and made q speech
in each ward. Many Of the sick mel
arose from their cots to the floor; tbs
rest sat up. All cheered and ban
zaiedv at the end OF the speech.
With one or two exceptions the
wounded men arose TO be examined
Men shot through the lungs. abdomen
and head stood upon their feet, related
in low, expressionless voices their sen
Stations and their notions of the prog
ress OF their wounds, while the doctor
probed and prodded about the injured
parts skillfully, but with little tender
ness. A soldier stood before me con
versing in an animated tone to the doc
tor while the bandages and lint wer'
being removed from his head. Th'
bandages were glued with dried blood
The surgeons brown fingers wer'
strong indeed. His strength ayailet
in the tearing off of the wrappings
There was no time for the gentler wa.
OF moistening with warm water, Tn
lint removed, started back at tn
sight,
Little over d fortnight had passe'
since these wounds had been received
In white flesh this time would mark
crucial ana most painful period Of
serious wound This sort Of thing
spoken OF as "grit" I firmly believ
that "grit" Is not tile righs word. TIL
nervous organism Of the japanese com
mon soldier is almost the lowest IN th
: human scale His flesh has little feel
ing. His most frightfui wounds draw
together by first intention. His tissue
; heal as do the elementary tissues of til
severed earthworm. The oriental gar
glia tucked away in his iron skull Is
4 fortress inyulnerable TO the desperat
Z messages Of lacerated nerve ends.
z The buliet Ind entered the soldier