The Savannah morning news., 1904-03-06
SAVANNAH BOYS
GO To FAR EAST
WILL JOIN ASIATIC FLEET.
PRIvATEs HUNT AND ARNOLD LEFT
WITH MARINES.

Capt. McKeIvy May Receive Orders
TO Join Fleet Now in Far East.
Has spent Much Time in Russia
and Japan and Speaks Both Lam
guaEes-IVas School Mate of Com
mander of japanese Warship.
Says Japan Has Been Preparing
for War with Russia for Several
Years.
Ten United States marines have left
Port Royal for San Francisco from
where they will sail on the transport
Beaufort for the Far East to join the
American squadron. which is now near
the scene where the naval battles be-
tween Russia and Japan have been
fought. Among the ten marines are
Privates Hunt and Arnold, both Sa-
Yannah boys.
Capt. w. N. McKelvy, who is in
command of the marines at Port Roy
al, expected orders to leave for the
East with the detachment of marines
which are due to leave San Francisco
this week, but because of the fact that
he was the only commanding officer
at Port Royal the Navy Department
did not assign him to the detachment.
He is not certain, however, that he
will not receive such orders in a few
weeks.
The ten marines sent from Port Roy
al, Capt. McKelvy says, are the pick
of the sixty men stationed there. They
will at once join the American fleet
now in Asiatic waters and may wit
ness some of the fights between Rus
eia and Japan. The detachment that
is being sent from San Francisco will
number about 500 men, and another
detachment will be sent in a few
weeks.
Speaks the Russian Language.
Capt. McKelvy is a graduate of the
UNITED States Naval Academy at An
napolis and has been in the United
States Marine Corps since 1898. He saw
service in Cuba during the Spanish
American War, and was later sent to
the Philippine Islands, where he serv-
ed until the outbreak in China in 1900.
lie left the Philippines with Chaffee
and was in the march on Peking
when the Chinese capital was taken
by the allied forces.
During the Chinese-Japanese War
Capt. McKelvy was aboard the Olyrn-
pia which was then in Asiatic waters.
anese languages. and has spent much
time in both countries. He is very
much interested in the conflict in the
East, but refused to express any opin-
son on the subject.
Japanese Great Soldiers.
Capt McKelvy said when he was
stationed on the Olympia the vessel
was placed in the great Japanese dry
dock at Yokusuka and before the wat
er was pumped from the dock over a
hundred Japanese officers were aboard
the vessel, making a careful inspection
and taking notes. He said they asked
every question imaginable about the
construction of the vessel, and as to how
1he guns were operated. They are
great imitators, he says. and always
on the lookout for something that is
an improvement on their own way of
doing things.
Kaga Kaza Nire, commander of one
of the Japanese warships, which has
taken part in the recent naval bat
tiles, is a graduate of Annapolis and
was a classmate of Capt. McKelvy.
During his stay in Japan Capt. Nc
Kelvy visited the home of his former
classmate and met his father, who is
the vice admiral of the Japanese navy.
The people of Japan have forced the
war on the Mikado, Capt. McKelvy
thinks, just as the American people
forced Congress to take action against
Spain in 1898.
School Children Prepared for War.
Since the close of the Chinese War,
Capt. McKelvy says, the Japanese have
prepared their children for the war
that is now on between that country
and Russia. He says when a child
enters school there, before a book is
placed in his hand, the teacher gives
him a gun and impresses on his mind
that he must take that gun and learn
TO use it in order to defend his coun-
try in the war with Russia" This,
he says, has been the cry since 1895,
and the teachers in the schools have
taught the children to believe they
had to fight Russia, and they must be
prepared to defeat the Cars army and
navy and make the Mikado supreme.
The Japanese, Capt. McKelvy says,
are a very proud and naughty people
since they whipped the Chinese and
do not believe it is possible for them
to be defeated in any conflict He says
they are very progressive people,
and are proud of their country and
loyal to the Mikado.