Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1904-02-11
JAP AND RUSSIAN.

In war between Ile Russidus dLH
the japanese the first fighting would
take place on the sea, and the natives
of the two empires have been studied
with some attention in this country
They are not so well known in their
military aspect, but Russia is really
great military power, and has drafted
very large force to Manchuria; and
though the japanese army is smaller
than the army Of the Car, it would
prove formidable adversary in any
couhict on Korean or Manchurian
soil. Thus we should see two remark
able military systems opposed, one gi-
gantic and ponderous, the other light
and agile-one ancient, the other
modern, the product Of the wave of
Occidentalism which has surged
through the island empire of the East
in the last two generations.
The Japs are essentially simple IN
their lives; their necessities are but
few. They need no costly and sub
stantial houses, very little furniture,
no bedsteads or bedding, no varied
diet or elaborate commissariat, no
comprehensive wardrobe. Their fare
is frugal, their clothes are few and
simple, but making the best Of life as
they find it they are ready for any
effort, and are deft in performance and
marvellous in endurance. With a
hardy body and an easy mind, the
Jap will go forth, hatless and shoeless,
on a journey, Indifferent to heat or
cold, carrying his few toilet articles
in handkerchief; he will continue
on the way for weeks marching forty
and fifty miles day, subsisting on
rice and probably piece Of dry fish ;
and never day passes without bath,
so that japanese crowd is said to
smell sweeter than any in the world,
and as Sir Edwin Arnold puts it. has
odor of the geranium flower, from the
use of perfume known as 'jako."
Made up of such units, the Japan
ese army is composed of the handiest
little fighting men in the world, ar
dent, well trained, well equipped, well
disciplined, brave and thoroughly fit.
It is a conscript army, and on a war
footing numbers half million men.
The young men who are chosen spend
three years with the active army, and
four years in the reserve, five in the
Landwehr, or first militia, and four
wears in the second branch Of the MI
litia, which is called upon in cases OF
national emergency. All males of
twenty years are liable to service, and
the Jap is a patriot and a good SOL
der. Civilized fighting men had
their first experience OF the Japanese
soldiers when they took their part
with the allied armies in China after
the siege o the Legations. They dis
played soldierly qualities then which
earned them the admiration Of all the
other sections of the force. They sur
prlsed the officers of the most consum-
mately organized armies of the world
by their intelligence, their equipment,
their efficiency, and the address with
which they did their work.
To begin with, their intelligence
department excelled all Others; they
had the only complete and accurate
maps of the region, and the COM
manders Of the other forces had to
rely on them for information. They
saved the situation many times. On
the march to Pekin, Mr.. Millard.
correspondent with the force, said
their field telegraph alone kept the
allied army IN communication with its
base. 1t was provided with telescope
metal poles and braces, and when
once set it stood. An hour after the
camp was set the japanese telegraph
would open communication with the
next station in the rear but as for
the British, Russian, French and Ger
man telegraphs, they did not even try.
Their field medical corps was the best
in the field, and astonished all who
saw it the ambulances were light and
ingenious, and the bearers displayed
great bravery and celebrity.
In commissariat and transport their
excellence was no less marked. "The
japanese forces have moved with
great readin ,ss and rapidity, with less
fatigue to the troops, have been better
supplied, and have, consequently, IN
variably entered engagements in bet
ter physical condition and with a
larger percentage of battaliOns present
for duty than any of theiral says
Mr.. Millard.
The simnlicitv Of Japapese tastes