The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-07-14
THE ORIENTAL YANKEES
Japanese Are Adaptive, Not Uni.
tative, Says Joaquin Miller.
INSTANCES IN AFoRMER oAMPAIap

pom" Were Driven TO American
Hats and Bread when Fighting the
Boxers-originaI Methods of Jnps
nese In the Trade Of killing.
joaquin Miller writes for the July
number Of the Arena, under the title
"The Little Brown Men Of Nippon"
paper on the japanese particularly in
teresting to American readers. He
gained the experiences to which be re-
fers during the Boxer uprising In CHI
ma. Says Mr.. Miller in part:
The English merchants have named
these busy human bees the oriental
Yankees. If shrewdness and ingenuity
are meant by the term 1t may 1T, for
the Jap can manufacture anything
anything from a toothbrush to a bat
tleship, and do 1t in almost no time,
but he is not a triekster, not nutmeg
Yankee. 1t is pointed out that all the
banks, even all the Japanese banks
employ Chinese cashiers. This Is be
cause the Chinaman Is natural ac-
countant and willing to be a clerk
The Nippon oriental has higher pur-
poses.
1t is to be doubted whether he is
initiative as the Yankee IS initiative,
but it Is safe to say he is the most
adaptive creature alive.
The hrst days fighting out from Tien
tsin up the Peiho river toward Picking
was after the FIRST few hours In which
tie Japanese led the charge, support
al BIZ the British, Americans and Rus
siaHs 4 running night The hot July
sa fen on the backs Of the pursuing
Jenea from 10 o'clock until dark
ness. flis was their first lighting In
leather shoes and little gold trimmed
caps It'd 4 lot country and season, and
their last So many collapsed from sun
stroke that the emperor telegraphed,
'Jsse the American hat"
The japanese had carried the tele
graph right along with them all day,
three constructors and operators being
shot by random bullets from the Box
ers
MY duties as assistant to Genera
Bennett, head of the Red Cross, kept
me to the 'front.' Kept me to the firing
line all day, and later, begging, Dor
rowing and picking up the American
hat for suffering little brown soldiers
AZ bivouac it was found that the
little ball Of cooked rice which each
soldier carried on his back between his
shoulders had soured, The soured rics
and the muddy water Of the Peiho-
specked with the floating bodies Of the
dead Boxers, made hundreds III. Then
another telegram: use American
! breadf'
| The king OF Corea sent 10000 sacks
| of flour that came with incredible
swiftness. and the adaptive little
brownie was the next morning, as q
rule, again on his feet. with his little
black head half buried in the American
hat
No. he Is not an initiative Yankee,
merely adaptive. And yet he has some
very original methods in the trade Of
killing
For instance. he never flourishes his
sword in battle and he rarely points q
gun. His short, black gun is across
his back, strapped across his breast, his
left hand clutching the pendent muzzle
as he dashes forward right in the face
Of the firing enemy. His right arm Is
in the air Suddenly, when right In the
-. - -. -, ktef ha,I fc ~ his efdn
and his sword leaps out, swift and
| sudden as snake, and lunges upward.
| It Is small, short and black, and sharp
as a serpent's tooth and has a double
edge. 1t Is never seen in battle only
felt.
He may adopt, may even now have
| adopted, the heavy. snowy sword made
TO flourish In the air to frighten with.
but not likely. He has also q small
blade down by his left leg, with which
to kill himself, for he never surrenders.
The Japanese soldier does not carry
blanket In campaign. He carries q
book; book and ball Of riee-hread
now. His thirst for knowledge Ii In
satiate. This il the Japanese gentle
man. And every japanese gentleman
is a soldier. lie Is also a poet, without
exception.
Being greatly interested In these re-
markable students from having had the
pleasure Of their company at my Call
fernia home for years past, said e
the president Of the Imperial univer-
sity, "Tell me, please, what are the
cardinal virtues taught here He said
bravery, loyalty, honesty, simplicity
politeness." ''And you all speak Eng
lish?1 "We try to speak English, Ger
man, French He pointed to the sew
eral magazines Of the university print
ed IN these various languages. Their
hastily snatchnig up a newspaper hs
eagerly said: "You see, five, six hun
bred newspapers! You see one-thirC
English, one-third German, one-thirt
French; the other half Nipponese."
He was so earnest and enthusiastic
that did not even venture TO smile a
hie ffftia frfch hstia