Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-05
JAPAN"S SEA FIGHTERS
Modern Spartans Who Have
Stood the Dest of War.
MINDFUL OF rHTY EVEN IN DEATH

A1HO1 O1 VI III 1s6 LIN LIN OhA1d
Deeds of HeTDism During the Chino
Fighting Qualities of the MikadO's
omcers and Men-RIgid Discipline
and y<erfect Order Maintained Dur
ing ACTION,
ITf comparing the strength of the
r. 1ssian and Japanese fleets in the far
Cast no account has been taken of the
fighting qualities of the men behind
! the guns, says the New York Press.
1t is difficult to estimate the merits
| of the Russians, for they have never
been tested in marine warfare, but
with the Japanese navy it is different.
The officers and men have stood the
| test of war most creditably. In no
naval battles in history were deeds of
heroism more common than during the
| Chino-Japanese war. The Japanese
recount hundreds of them and so do
the foreign officers and newspaper
correspondents who were with the
rival navieS during that war. Here
are a few of the most striking stories
which show the sort of men who make
up the crews OF Japan's warships:
| At the sea fight off Haizang-better
| known as the battle of Yalu-the Chi
nese ironclads Ting Yuen and Chen
| Yuen were far superior in armament
| and size to any vessels in the Japanese
feet. Every Japanese officer and sail
! or was keen on destroying them and
| one of the vessels was hit over 800
times.
Two Japanese, on different ships,
asked with their dying breath, Has
the Ting Yuen sunk yet? One was
marine on the flagship Matsushima.
He had received ten wounds and was
horribly burned. In reply to his ques-
ton, his captain told him that the Ting
| Yuen was disabled and they were
about TO attack the Chen Yuen. He
smiled with joy and died. The other
man was a seaman on the Akagi.
| When told that the Ting Yuen was on
fire, he cried, I'VE have her at lastw
and expired.
| Japanese sailors are mindful of their
duty even in the agony of death. At
Haizang an armOrer named Kujuro on
the Itsukushima was mortally wound
!
drew a key from his pocket and waved
his hand until one of his comrades
came to him.
Here is the key to the tool chest in
the torpedo tube ROOM he said. "Give
| it TO the officer in charge of the chest.
am dying, and if it could not be
found great trouble and confusion
would arise"
Then he rolled over and did
HaiZang produced innumerabIe heroic
deeds. There were so many casual
ties that the corpses could not be car
ried below" said Lieutenant Kimura
| kokichi who was in the thick of the
fight aboard the flagship Matsushima.
Instead of being at all intimidated at
this, the survivors at once stepped into
the places of the fallen, even before
any command to that effect could be
given. The firing was never for a mo-
ment permitted to slacken.
Even the noncombatantS were stir
red by the noble ardor of the fighting
men and begged for permission to join
them. One man who had been shot in
the abdomen objected to being carried
to the surgeons ward. He did not want
to be the cause of taking any of the
fighters away from their guns.
Another after having had his face
burned out of all recognition in at
tempting to eXtinguish fire stood by
helping all he could until the flames
were put out, when he fell dead. A
chief gunner whose under jaw had
been shot away and who. therefore,
could not utter a word signed to a sub
ordinate with a nod to take his place
and fell dead after he had placed the
handle of the gun lever in the subordi-
mates hand. But such instances of
heroism were not confined to the Mat
sushimA. They were repeated time and
again on every ship that had part in
the battle
\ bugler on the Fuse was struck in
the abdomen by a fragment of a shell
while in the act of sounding a signal.
He extracted the splinter of iron with
his left hand and still held the bugle
to his lips with the right. \ doctor
came up and offered to bandage the
wound, which was painful and danger
Gus. The bugler refused to 20 below or
even waste time being bandaged. II
must go ON giving the signals until
my strength fails me- he said. \ few
minutes later he was shot dead.
Some foreign critics have declared
that the nerves of Asiatics are not good
enough to enable them to handle the
complicated machinery of modern war
ships with GOODNESS and discipline i'll
the heat of conflict. 1t was asserted
that the japanese would be too fur
ried and excited to make the best use
of their excellent ships. But eyewit-
nesses say the most rigid discipline and
perfect order were maintained on all
the Japanese ships during the sea fight
of Haizang.
Lieutenant Kimura Kokichi, already
quoted, asserts that the gunners
never fired at the enemy until the
aim was certain. and this even when a