Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-16

| Information received daily from the spies
| and scouts which the Japanese have sta
| TONED in every village and hamlet through
out all Manchuria. Probably no army ever
| enjoyed such complete and comprehensive
| tacihtles for obtaining accurate Informal
| ton of the movements and condition of the
| enemy, and IL is the result OF years of
preparation.
The Military Secret Service.
Ever since the war with China In 1895
| Mahchuria has been swarming with Japa-
| nese secret service agents disguised as
merchants. traders. servants beggars la
| borers and in other occupations And the
organization is so perfect that the head of
| the secret service department knows the
| whereabouts of each spy at all times.
Many OF them have lived in Manchuria for
seven. eight or nine years, and have be-
come so thoroughly acclimated that their
nearest neighbors and most intimate friends
| do not suspect but what they are genuine
Chinese. But most of them are picked men
sent into Mancnurfa for a purpose. which
| Is now being accomplished. Some years
ago a friend of mine ten young men.
apparently Chinese, studying drawing and
sketching in an art school at Tokyo, and
remarked upon their presence to the d-
| rector who was intimate friend The
latter explained that they were all Japa-
nese soldiers from the secret service de-
| partment who had adopted the Chinese
| dress and had grown pigtails in order that
| that their reports might be more useful
that they were learning TO sketch In order
| their their reports might be more useful
| to the government Two of these spies
have been discovered and hanged, but I'M
doubtedly many other ardent young pa
| triots working undetected within the
Russian lines today. and their vigilance
and shrewdness has been one of the most
important factors in the success OF the
japanese army
The japanese have been preparing for the
war ever since Russia robbed them of Port
| Arthur and the other fruits Of their vic
| tories over the Chinese in 1885. For ten
years the present campaign has been
fought over and over at the school, OF the
general staff. where the game OF war
known kreigspiel. invented by tie Ger
! mans. has been developed to a high degree
of perfection. AT the German war colieee'
and at a similar institution recently organ
lied at Washington, Ii is the habit or the
students to carry on wars like games OF
chess in different parts of the earth out
the students at the war college OF Japan
have confined their practice to ManChuria
and Korea. and Russia has always been
the opposing force. Not only has every
coast line and every stream and every val
ley and every mountain in ManchurL: ana
Korea been surveyed, but hundreds OF OF
ficers in the Japanese army have gone over
them again and again. and know them. per-
fectly. They know every road ana every
mountain path. They are famllldr Win
every well and stream, and they kno" the
condition of every village and hamlet, and
have personal acquaintance with many
of the inhabitants. During the last ten
years thousands OF japanese army ofhcers
have spent months in Manchurla ana
Korea under one pretext or another. max
ing themselves familiar with the country IN
anticipation of this war. No army was
ever better equipped so far as information
is concerned.
A story has been going the ROUNDS of the
English and American newspapers about
an officer of the general stan OF Japan VINO
was bribed by Russian agents TO betray
his country. The story makes him a col
onel on duty at headquarters and familiar
with the records. plans and purposes OF
General Kodama and his associates. There
is woman in the case, as usual, VINO mas
been the go-between and received AN enor-
nous of money for information ana
documents which were forwarded to the
Russian authorities by an agent in Shang-
hal. She has kept him informed 10y cipher
ca Diagrams of every movement of impor-
lance on the Japanese side. The lie TX was
discovered and the colonel called be-
fore his chief. One version of the yarn
says that he made full confession and
was allowed TO commit hari-Nari, the Jap
anese method of suicide. Another version
says that he denied his guilt and made
stout defense. but was convicted on trial.
shot and buried in the grounds of the gen.
eral staff headquarters, all within single
night.
Purely Myth.
If there has been a case of treason dur
ing the present war II is the second in the
history of Japan, which makes it very re-
markable. In the year 939. almost thou
sand years ago. Aiara Masakado, d's-
appointed at not being appointed Dali jo-
Dai-Jin, or prime minister of the govern
ment, betrayed the Emperor Suzaku and
set himself up as a mikado. He was a man
of great energy and ability, but of I'M
scrupulous character and until now has
furnished the only case of disloyafty in the
whole course of Japanese history. But SO
far as i can ascertain by diligent inquiry
the present romantic story of treason is a
pure myth In the first place, according to
the testimony of the foreign military at
taches who have been personally acquaint-
ed with every officer at the headquarters
of the general staff. there have been no
changes there for more than a year until
Field Marshal Oyama and General Kodama
were transferred to Manchuria. The sub
ordinante officers who have been on duty
there for more than year still remain.
No one has disappeared, and no one could
disappear without the knowledge OF the
foreigners, who have personal acauaint-
ance with every man about the place Fur
thermore, If such a tragic episode had oc-
CURED il would have been WHISPERED about
among military circles, and nobody in
Tokyo ever heard suspected of such an
incident until they read about II in an
English newspaper.
The secretary OF war. Lieutenant General
Terauchi, Is an old soldier, who has spent
his life in the military service Of Japan.
The Marquis Yamagata. who succeeds
Oyama as chief of the general staff was
COMMUNICATIVE chief of the Japanese forces
during the war with China ten years ago
He Is quite advanced in years, but his
health and faculties still unimpaired
Marshal Yamagata visited the United States
while en- route to London, where he ap-
peared as the personal representative of
the emperor at the coronation OF King
Edward VII. His assistant and the sue
cessor Of Baron kodama is Major General
Gaishi Nogoaka, young man with brill
liant record.
Oyama's American Wife.
Marshal Oyama was one OF the ablest
and most active Of the younger leaders Of
the revolt against the Shotgun for the
restoration of the emperor to power I'm
1867, and has ever since occupied con-
spicuous position In military affairs. We
have felt special interest in his promi-
hence and success because his wife is prac-
tfCaIly an American having heen sent IN