The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-19
3Iara-lSiri by Hundreds OH Sink
ing Transport Inspires
u Army and Navy.
GET Ct FROM WHITE 4. MEN y L !
Japs Garry to Extremes Old Old
u Rule That No Soldier
Will Surrender

outbreak OF the present conflict In tho
far Orient that people here and In Eu-
rope. ignora0 Of the Japanese chara cter.
have assumed That the Muscovite troops
were granting no quarter, and have pro-.
ceeded TO denounce their methods OF war.
fare as barbarots. This Is ,an unjust
charge II the Russians have no few
prisonere-and these all Of then men
\ badly wolnded--it Is not that the Cars.
soldiers refrain from giving any Quarter,
z but because the Japanese fuse to accept
IL, preferrlng death by their own hands
10 tie disgrace OF surrender. For sur
Il render, gave in certain exceptional cases,
ouch as that OF a beniegcd town or, when.
wounded. is according to military ethics.
dighonoraole, 81
Napoleon. when he assumed the com r
3 n,and of tho army of italy In 17es, issued
a mem orable order forbidding any one TO
f lay down his arms under pain Of death
n "Generals. officers. and soldiers. he
A writes who in battle save their lives
lby capitulatIon should be shot. Both he
who orders surrender and those who obey
the command are traitorsr alike and de-
serve capital punishment, These doc
trjnes are EN- bodied by most litary ra-
lions. civilized MS we'll as ba rbarons. In
heir articles 81 war. whcn calls for
In every Instance OF the
II aging down OF arms, and while among
Il & he white races q great degree Of laxitys
revaiis nowadays in these matters than
81 fty and a hundred years a go. yet among
beth ieEJapanese the old ttme principles are
lid in as high regard as ever, and they,
Iafer5t to take sthcir own lives rather than
allow themselves tct be ca ptured by
i, +, enemy. s$3
i.IIARA-KIRI AT PORT ARTHUR.
Prince aims OF Bourbon. son of Don
RI Crlos Of Spain. and who Is serving ur :!
d the Miiscoyite6 flag in Ma nchuria. re-;
y lies in a letter recent y received u ina 7
den, after one OF the attempts TO bot
n t{up& Port Arthur, he canned out In q
Inch to rescue scTeral I, j panese VINO VINO
1re cltngtng to the rigging OF the fire.
VI Dps sunk n the roa dstead, the men, one
Ger another, blew out their brains Wit
81 4 tir reyolverss or ripped open their TOM
a 4 his with their knives. throwing them
ives into the sea rather than permit
.smselves to be- taken prisoners.
HUNDREDS KILL THEMSELVES.
Moreover, In the gra ph:c accounts pub;
"a lhed s by tho London Times and other
xp;spapers, n OF the sinking of the y Apan-
81 4 the 2Corean coast by the Y divostok
Sils slndron3 1t IS related how the troops on
.bgE lard, several hundred In mum beri having
FUSED to surrender. and resisted with
r. He fire an attempt to board the ship.
imnlht ted suicide while the vessels was
ling torpedoed. The officers and a NUM-
III OF the men who y belonged to the
mural class destroyed themselves by
cans OF ilara-klrl,4 that is by cutting
8S ieIr + stomachs open with their SWORDS
8 Il knives. while the others. presnrns.- Y
Il IL wer order in the social scale etth-
i blew out their brains with their rifles
s5l; n shot one another,
sls i,rhIs took place on deck in full view of
d he Russian fleet, and IT was ots unti a.
silird s3t torpedo had been fired that the
ri iinlsing az the Kinghu NIaru put an end TO
K The cxtraordinary scene.
REPORT DISASTER, THEN SUICIDE
Several OF the soldiers who had been
,lunged into the sea by. The laundering 81
5#lg l,e vessel before having had II me to Kill
themselves we're dra eyed on boa I'd a
1oat on which the Eng lish officers Of the
Y transport HAD sought refuge and as no
8 ttempt was m ado by the Russians 70 mo-
m est; them they ached land in safety.
# "a soon as possible they not ed the mil-
IL ltary author les at Gersan of the la "
Wiz Ii tho transport md sked & permission
ss how that they had accompli shed the duty
~ Imposed upon them OF ying in forna-
ton to follow the example OF their COM
81 "a des nd to destroy themse Ives, declaring
IT, That all the troops on board Hhen fhey
found their ship surrounded by the RUS
sian feet had aiken a. solemn pleoge y
y kill themselves, IS. 3. q,
j \ The story OF the deaf h of the troops and
q ~ their officers on board the Kinshu Ma u
4 sent a. thrill OF admiration throuG bout the
IIenkre Japanese nation, served to give q
4 timely inspiration to the army in the held
and was constructed rs a silent but elo-
nuent assurance hat japan could trust
E her honor to the keeping OF her soldiers.
Il dt was felt that they had rendered a. ser-
3l,rice to their country by the national
\ spirit shown In the manner. o = heir death
that DEATH by hara-kar, which the
Y princes, great mobiles, and Samurat OF
$Y Japan have for 800 years and more pre-
" serred to dshonor. n Is & n. az II .,{
III some years ago a project was brought
4 Forward In the legislature at Toxic ad.
vocatinE tho abolition OF tho ractace OF
nara kiri. or seppultu, as it is more COM
monty called in J apan, During the debate
n, which followed twas described as 'the
TIT ihrine of the national spirit and the en-
todiment In pra cticas of devotion to prirl-
tiple,', as "a pillar OF the constitution
f. Is "a. pillar8of religion and a spur TO yir-
q ne. d, and as zone Of our most valuable
and time honored institutions" and the
4 ,Iotion was ID feated ~ the 9yerWh elm-
!ig vote OF 205 to 8. the proposdr, one Ono
seeorp, being murdered not long after
Ii yards. Isis 81 y I, J. u 1.
ORIGIN OF IIlARA- KIRI OBSCURD,
4 No one knows exactly when the prac-
,ice Of tara-kirl originated. For the old
Il {st annals In xisterce contain reference
* loEit5 as q IA ttonal custom. But Y was
III the OF our ere e that y y
Was eirst Instituted as a. judicial means
Jf ending the lives OF those mobiles and
5 samurai who were regarde as n1eriting
81 Death. but not dishonor Rules OF pro.
hi {edure was devised, tn slstiguette. " con,
4 1ection with the affair being as Ella Dor
Ute and as STRIFE as In the case Of d,duels
4 III EUROPE Whereas, however in the
sase OF meetings on the field q honor. I ~
D Western countries. the best, friend 81 the
principal acts as Ills Sc cond /, IN Japan the
hest friend In the case Of judioial hara.
kiri-acted sas his exeellt!o er g, appearing
trom behind a screen, md with one sweep
4 Of Ills long sword cutting off the head o.
the principal gat tho moment When the