Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-07
HUMORS Of THE WAR
Japs Have Their Little Jokes
on the Russians.
A FLOOD OF POETRY
SOME SPECIMENS OF THE LITTLE
BROWN MEMS WIT.
How the Geishas Are Contributing
A Man Who Committed Suicide
for His Emperor.
A FLOOD OF POETRY
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star.
TOKYO. April 4. 1904.
The Japs are having their little jokes al
| the expense of the Russians. Here are rep
resentative specimens of their wit culled
| from various newspapers:
1.-THE Russians in Port Arthur. hearinE.
| that we are celebrating our victories, are
trying to get up a counter demonstration.
| They mean to have a celebration called
| The Celebration of Defeat They have
| sent out invitations to the cars officers
| stating that the gloriication will be held
| in one of the theaters. But the officers, on
receiving their invitations. trembled with
fear. They had enough of theaters when
Port Arthur was attacked
Americans who have kept up with the
war news will have no difficulty In seeing
the jokes point, but in order to understand
the one following it is necessary to explain
that the word "zensho' means total VIC
tory"
1.-THE Russian battle ships attacked our
transports NokonourG Maru and Zensho
Maru. They succeeded in sinking the No
konoura Maru, but when the Zensho es-
capped they were greatly disappointed. The
Russians now have no hope, because they
let the Zensho escape"
Here is fling at viceroy Alexieff:
"Alexieff questioned his subordinates as
to why their defeat was SO great, but no
one could find reason. Finally, when
every officer had failed to make a report
clearly explaining the cause, Alexieff drew
this conclusion: Our forces are neither
weak nor to blame. The extraordinary
strength of the japanese alone caused our
defeat -
One on the Army.
Another witticism, which naively ends
with land the Russian officer had no other
nnaStiOp tp a elk ~ in ma
'The Russian civilians in Port Arthur
have been much excited since the war.
They want to equip themselves with weap-
ons of defense.
"'You don't need to get excited said an
officer to them. The Japs will never get
into port
1.-The civilians replied: If the Japanese
are so worried because of their not coming
why? asked the officer
." Because, answered the civilians 'in
time of war nothing is more fearful than
our own army"
The papers are also having their little
laugh at the Japs who contributing
their jewelry to the government war fund.
1.-The peers, mobiles and rich merchants
give their gold watches, gold pipes and gold
ornaments to, the government, but man
who had no gold possession remembered
that he had gold in his teeth, took it out
and gave that to the war fund"
AS foreigner will be able to discover
after while, the point in this joke lies in
the last five words:
ION the night Of the sth of February,
when our torpedo fotilla attacked Port Al
thur, the Russian battle ships attacked in
turn and sunk three torpedo boats. The
Russians were much gratified over the vic
tory. They were proud that they could
handle the big guns so skillfully. But when
da wn came they found they had sunk their
own boats, and their faces were as white
the blue sky"
Great Chance for Poets.
The poets-also the would-be versiiers-of
Japan are having the time of their lives.
They are literally flooding the island with
their metrical effusions anent the war, and
the newspapers. in lieu of legitimate war
news, are bravely trying to keep up with
the inspired. The censor doesn't touch
poetry, but judging from the majority of
the poems published he certainly ought to.
Time was when the Jap poet, unlike all
his fellows elsewhere, took only short trips
on his Pegasus. Two stanzas of a few
lines each was about his limit, and his abil-
ity to condense the tenderest feelings of
his soul into SO brief a space was his one
particular pride.
But that fair time has passed. The poet
doesn't breathe in all Nippon today who
doesn't cover reams of pink and blue and
yellow paper with hieroglyphics from his
ink pot in telling the Russians what bar
barous and disgraceful and wicked people
d
them when the mkado's troops get at
them.
Even the big fellows, who ought to know
better, have the long-winded habit bad.
Take Ochiha. for example. He is one of
Japan's leading contemp orary poets. He's
just had his latest fancy published, and it
takes up a good two-thirds of page in the
'Jiji Shimbun." Ihich is about the size Of
an American newspaper.
From the Very Beginning.
Like the politician who goes back to the
food for material to support his argument.
Ochiha begins at the beginning. Russia,
what art thou?" he asks. and then he am
bles contentedly along for a column
more telling Russia all about herself from
the dawn of her history. It's frightful
picture this that he paints of poor Russia
in the first stanZa.
In the second stanZa Ochiha details at
equal length the causes leading up to the
war. To do this he finds it necessary to
reach back several hundred years. The
third stanza warns the "old demon to look
AN IRON GRATIN
From Scribner's Magazine.