The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-02-24

the really wonderful strides made
10y the Japanese.
From the appearance Of Perry
aud ms fleet IN Neddo bay, July
p, 1893, may bC sad to date the
awakening of Japan. Perry's
mission was to overawe the Japa.
uese into extending to American
Nhips the privileges then enjoyed
oy the Dutch only. History does
not say to what lengths he was
prepared to go should his show
Of force prove insufficient, the
fact being the mere sight of war
ships was enough to convince the
Slogun Of the eXpediency of ac
csedlng to Perry's wishes. Ac-
cordingly, much against the de
Slres of the mighty daimlos,
american trade was granted ac-
cess to two ports. AS might have
been expected, the European
powers We're not slow to profit by
the example, forcing similar con
cessions until, little by little, the
shotgun had surrendered the
domestic trade of the country TO
the control of the treaty powers.
Out Of this state of affairs ulti-
mately grew the revolution Of
! 1865, in which several Of the most
Influential among the daimios
took charge of the person of the
young mlkado, MuCsuhito, de.
clared their lntenlon of restor-
ing him to full power as the real
ruler of Japan, made war on the
shOgun's troops and signally
Horsted them. Thus did the
young emperor find himself plac.
ed on the throne Of which his an.
cestOrs had been deprived centu.
rles before.
1t was the Chino-JapaneSe war
Of 1S94.95 that first reused the
civilized world to a lively interest
in the dolngs Of the Land of the
Rising Sun, Nearly everybody
predicted when the war began
that the aggressive little bantam
would speedily be crushed by the
sheer weight Of the unwieldy old
rooster, but few took into account
Jhe fact that a nation that has
Just come into its own is much
more likely TO be able 10 take care
)f itself than are people decay.
ing under the absolute rule of an
sffete dynasty.
Not only are the Japanese sol
liers brave and we'll disciplined,
out they are also blessed with
great agility and physical
strength that one would not ex.
pect in such mites of humanity.
Their strength, as may be imag.
lned, was time and again tested
during that trying march in the
summer Of 1900. Their agility
vas at all times in evidence, but
perhaps never more 50 than du-
ring the storming of TIentsin.
Quiet, orderly, polite, earnest
such are some Of the qualities
Of these same tiny warriors who
never fail to salute the officers of
every nation, endure without
murmur all that military life en-
tails, accept thankfully their sti.
pend of Sl.5O a month and can
i've and thrive on a diet IN which
rice is the prevailing staple, and
little enough Of that. Yet the
Japanese soldier does not etro.
grade INTO mere lighting ma
chine. He knows how TO think,
he knows how TO act as occasion
demands In the individual, as
in the race, is found that faculty
which works so largely for the
/ greatness of q nation-the facul.
ty of mental initiative.
THE RUSSIAN ARMY.
1t would be futile to contend
that the Russian army Is not one
of the most powerful war engines
the world has ever seen. Russia
has the greatest army on earth.
IL consists of over 100000 men
IN time Of peace which may easily
be increased to 100000 in the
event of war. The magnitude OF
the cars military establishment
may be realized if one considers
the fact that tho Russian army
even on a peace footing contains