The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-07
HOLDS NEWSPAPER
MEN IN SUSPENSE
Continued from First Page.)

that Tanaka was only having lark
with them.
He knows a joke even when it is
subtle as readily as he knows whether
OR not you have read military history.
We even Jolly him a little, and he
takes 1t in good part.
Never Appears Tired.
He may get tired, like common NOR
tails; but have never seen him when
he would not throw back his head and
appear as interested as If he had just
awakened on the first sunny morning
for weeks. .. ~ ~
He is the alertest, quickest, most
energetic little man in Japan, outside
of Baron Kodama, and that is why
he was made aide to Kodama. The
two together weigh about as much as
the average occidental, and they have
the vitality$o about fifty average men.
across a ROOM I am sure that he
would have put him on his staff at
once. In selecting him as, the 60
between Of publicity and military Sc
crecy, the japanese have shown their
usual judgment Of a. man to fit q place.
He cushions the stone wall Of d.
plomacy with his ,affability. He can
say Il don't KNOW" and make. you
feel as if he. had given you aEcyclo-
paedia Of information.
Officially, the correspondents are
now in the general staff's hands, You
first made your application to the for
eign office thru the legation.
Three weeks ago, the word came to.
send in the names Of your 'interpre-
ter and servant at once-an official
Eat once.' This looked business-like.
1t kept up the spirits of the hotel lob
bies for ten days. roo cga-r.s
Then we learned that our applica-
tons were passed on and duly turned
over to the war department. A week
ago the foreign office informed us
that passes would be issued soon, and
the Hobbies were as cheerful as a gar
den party. ,.--f = ,<t -.
Correspondents Passes.
When the passes came they were
entitled certificate Of Permission to
Accompany the Army" and they said
that the named person was permitted
to follow the division
An attached slip of rice paper read:
| 1.-THE bearer is requested to inquire
of the military staff headquarters as
to the name of the division to which
he is to be attached and the date Of
departure, and to request the name
of the division to be entered upon this
certificate
! Immediately everybody went to the
general staff. Tanaka was a little
surprised.
I'VE will let you know as soon as
| you may CO." he said, as if he re-
GREETED the inconvenience of the COM
ing-to men who wait and pray for
departure.
His manner I cannot describe; it
was the height of art in easing a fall
and making you think that you had
| struck on your feet.
Will it be two or three weeks be-
fore we GOT" asked. If SO, think
that will run up to Nikko and look
at the temples" \
| Tanaka laughed.
1.-TWO or three weeks! That is a
long time" he said.
| Two or three days, them
and 7 thought almost mischievously, If
politely. you must be patient" he
added.
Occasional plays with words with
Tanaka form the oasis in this desert
of waiting.
Speaks English Well.
If I could speak Japanese as we'll
as he speaks English, I might satisfy
my ambition to get nearer the heart
| Of this subdued people who take a
war. Of life and death with stoical
calm. A hardware dealer, when he
! told me Of his thriving business in
the native short knives. struck no
| Gallo attitude.
The knife is not in the regulations
It's ready sale speaks Of the agrees
sive individuality Of the Roman
legionary reincarnated in bronze
skin and slant eyes, who, If he is sur
rounded, counts upon taking heavy
| toll with quick thrusts before he is
j killed, thus adapting to modern con-
ditions the resoluteness Of the hara-
kiri.
4 The mind OF the masses finds these
little knives more to it's fancy than
i the strange rifles which carryr bullets
over great distance. In reading the
bulletins Of naval action. it is the do
ings Of the torpedo boats that are
Il followed most closely.
i The water thunderbolts," as they
call them, appeal to the Imagination
Of a people small in stature, living in
small houses, more. than battleships.
Their admiration always would be
with the sling-thrown stone or the
deft sword-thrust. rather than with
the smashing blows Of the battle-ax
l - III aoxry he eSo