Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-01-18


Chino-Japa1ese war. To the mental in
itiative and tireless zeal of Admira!
Yuko Ito, coupled with the alacrity.
ready wit and undaunted bravery o.
his officers and their crews, Japan
owed victory that September day.
Throughout the five hours conflict, Ito.
war-scarred, bronzed, eagle-eyed,
square-jawed, preserved the formation
of his squadron with precision that
would have marked it had it been
merely on review. He had a great
fighting machine, and he knew how to
use it. And the net result was the de
struction of China's hopes for conquest
by sea.
Quick wit, the ability TO cope with
every emergency, indomitable pluck.
capped by unceasing energy-such are
the qualities of this Ito. When a shell
from a Chinese irOnclad struck the
ammunition on the deck Of his ia
ship. the Matsushima, envelOping the
vessel in a sheet of flame Ito calmly
pursued using his starboard battery to
rake a flame-swept Chinese warship
while the fire on the port side of his
own vessel was being extinguished.
And not until the great conflict was at
an end did the admiral transfer his
flag to the Hashidate, sending the dis
abled and war torn Matsushima home
to Japan to we'll earned repairs.
But it remained for the Boxer upris-
ing of 1900 to demonstrate just how
thoroughly the Japanese have not only
assimilated what is best in western mil
itary tactics, but also have retained
the martial spirit and physical PROV
ess that distinguished their ancestors.
qualities which have of late years been
rendered all the more useful by reason
of discipline and training. The part
played by the Japanese in the march
of the allies to the relief of the be-
leaguered legations in Picking viii ever
rebound to their credit.
Their gallant conduct at the capture
of the Tal<u forts will never be forgot
ten. A Japanese, Lieutenant Shiraishi
was the first of the allies to enter the
forts, and his comrades fought with
the same demoniacal intrepidity which
he displayed on that occasion. Those
little beggars are natural born fight
ers," was the admiring comment of an
allied officer who took part in the en-
gagement, and his verdict may be &C
cepted as the unanimous opinion of
American, British, German and Rus
sian officers alike, who time and again
found occasion TO express surprise at
the pluck of the Japanese, for whom
forced marching, hand to hand con-
fiicts. sieges and night attacks were
but as part of the ordinary routine of
everyday life. Mocking the military ex-
perts who declared, mindful of the les
sons taught by the South African war,
that in these days a frontal attack is
suicidal. the Japanese held to this style
of fighting and forged ahead no matter
how fast the bullets few or how many
of them found their billets.
Their disregard of death during this
tortuOus advance at times amounted to
a mania.
Not only are the Japanese soldiers
brave and well-disciplined. hut thew
are also blessed with great agility and
a physical strength that one would not
expect in such mites of humanity.
Their strength, as may be imagined.
was time and again tested during that
trying march in the summer of 1900.
Their agility was at all times in evil
dence. but perhaps never more so
than during the stOrming of Tientsin.
AS a war correspondent wrote at the
time: Perhaps the most striking
feature of the days operations was the
extraordinary rapidity with which
Japanese infantry can move. Japanese
infantry do not double; they run. and.
what is more, they keep on running.
We watch the infantry of all nations
here, and without doubt the Japanese
are the fieetest-a fact, take it, OF
some military importance. 1t was a
beautiful sight to see the Japanese in
fantry go, but not for the Chinese who
saw them come. No sooner did they
see them than their fire slackened, and
we watched them retreating heller
SHELTER over a bridge on their left A
moment or two more and then Cease
fire.! The Japanese are in"
Quiet, orderly. polite, earnest-such
are some more of the qualities of these
same tiny warriors who never fail to
salute the officers of every nation, en-
dure without murmur all that military
life entails. accept thankfully their sti-
pend of $3.50 a month and can live and
thrive on q diet in which rice is the
prevailing staple, and little enough OF
that Yet the Japanese soldier does
not reuograde into a mere fighting ma
chine. He knows how to think, he
knows how to act as occasion demands.
In the individual. as in the race, we
find that faculty which works so large
~ for the greatness of a nation-thc
faculty of mental initiative.
Af=NaF