The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-02-23
i'm WAR WITH JAPANESE
CONTINUED from Page g.,

with straw and tucked ourselves away
in blankets for n night of sound sleep
Early next morning, noting "A hilly
cape with a signal tower on 1t, which
iutted into the bay from the mainland
"A mile distant, and rightly thinking
that one could see the yenemy's fleet
from that point of vantage much as a
spectator in the loft of a theatre looks
down upon the stage, Mr.. Cowen and
started there on foot. The road we
| traversed a broad, unsheltered, mill
tary highway, ran parallel to n levee
which kept back the waters of the bay
from tdelands and was in plain sight
from the decks of the enemy's men-of-
war. AS we neared little group OF
japanese coolies leading mules, gun
boat lying 800 yards from the shore,
bow on, fired a shell at the little pro-
cession. The missile struck the road
just ahead and exploded. For a mo-
ment the air seemed full of jumping
mules. No one was hurt, but the mules
vanished, at high speed into a neigh
boring ravine.
As we approached the hill our inter-
prefer pointed to fifty or sixty japanese
| infantrymen who We're crouching be-
hind a section of the levee. They SEEM
ed to be hiding from the Chinese gum
boat, of light draft, but heavily armed,
which was still making itself inquis-
| tive. We started towards the levee.
| When near it the officer in command
| of the troops ordered us to lie down.
| This we did not care to do and, hurry
| ing on, we Joined the line. BY that
| time the gunboat was so near that one
could hear the gable of Chinese voices
| on her deck.
| A low order brought the troops to
their feet, and to my establishment they
| fired a volley point blank at the China
man. A sharp hiss and a smashing
sound close by told of shell in return.
| Up sprang the nimble Japs and they
| poured in a second volley. by that
| time the gunboat, her steam pipe puff
| fling nervously, had worn around, her
| Calling guns playing on the levee, do
| ing no harm, but bringing curious
sensation to the roots of ones hair.
| However, the victory was with the
| Japanese, who, when the gunboat
steamed away, began cleaning their
rifles as If after target practice. There
was no cheering or congratulations;
hardly loud word. 1t seemed nothing
| to them that they had fought steel
| protected gunboat with rifles and driven
the formidable craft away. Afterward
we learned that the position they had
held was mined with dynamite.
This interesting skirmish over, our
| little party started up the hill, pressing
| through deserted arsenal and enter
| ing what had been the home of Colonel
Theodore Schnell, n German artillerist
| in the Chinese service. The house had
| been looted and it's European furnish
ings We're ruined. We were after food
and found can of moudy raisins
which served our appetites for that
day, but l also took along a child's
Chinese geography that lay in pile of
debris. 1t was lucky find, as will pre-
sently appear
At the crest of the hill the panorama
was absorbing, but we did not stay long
to see 1t. Close by were Ting's wicked
looking warships, what was left of the
Chinese Imperial navy: beyond were
the fortified shore and activities of
Liu-Kon-Tau. But in a moment came
| that ophidian hiss again and we saw
white cloud rise from the sides of the
Ting Yuen. We had received the COM
pliments of the day from the Admiral
himself and stayed to get no more.
Back of us a small house was crushed
by the she'll
On the way back I opened the school
geography and out fell a folded paper.
Its dull red and terra Gotta Autographs
showed an official map of Wei-hai-Wei
harbor There We're the forts,> the
channels and shadows of the bay, the
groups of submarine mines, the defenc-
es of uKon-Tau, with firing dis
tances marked in dotted lines running
out to sea-a most invaluable paper to
place in the hands of the Japanese Ad-
miral. How came it in the geography?
never learned, but Colonel Schnell
probably mslaid it there. That night
General Saluma and his chief of staff
pored over the map, comparing it
with their own, with results that
showed themselves soon after when the !
Japanese torpedo fleet came into the |
harbor through boom and mine field |
sinking the Ting Yuen and several |
smaller vessels.
The military situation was now simple |
in its aspects, but difficult to control, |
The remaining Chinese land forces held I
the island of Liu-Kon-Tau; the Chinese !
fleet lay sheltered behind the island |
ready to help defend the entrances to
''iS bhS' 'ulSlie llle JiptIleSe SHIPS Oh |
war kept the blockade, while the main
land, with its captured forts, all but |
one dismantled and that one having |
but two available guns, was occupied |
by the Japanese army. The Chinese |
island garrison could not get away nor
could Ting's fleet escape: neither could |
the Japanese troops gain an island |
foothold nor could Ito force the harbor |
with his heavy ships. The Chinese |
might be starved out in time; it hard |
ly seemed, If they We're alert and had |
mind to fight, that they could be de-
stroyed.
But resistance did not last long. !
Soon after the moon set about 4 o'clock !
in the morning of February 9Th the |
sleepers in Wei-hai-Wei We're reused .
by din which seemed to concentrate
in little space of time all the noises
of great and long continued naval |
battle. The boom of heavy guns, the