The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-01-21
JAPAN'S WOMEN IN WAR
THEIR DEEDS LIKE THOSE OF
THE NATIONS OF SPARTA.

honcr-Once Even tie Womcr
Fou5i1t-Now They Are Eager &c
Serve aa Nurses.
No natiCn has 4 better right TO be
proud CT what its women have done in
wartime than Japan Even the moth
ers an! wives OF ancient Sparta have
been Tiva.led in deeds of patriotism
and self-s2cril by the women 0.
Japan.
In the teuGal times, which came %
an end IL Japan cnly so years ago, all
Sentle"O2cn We're trained in the use
or the sword and lance The women
OF the samurai class receirel q cegu-
lar military education and if the cas-
tie of dainio was besieged. they
We're capable Of assisting il the tie
fence ii necessary.
noted instance of the MARTA,
psoWesS OF the japanese women &C
Cured during the siege Of the castle
OF Wakanatsu in 1869. where the She.
Gun made his final stand against the
icrces of the Mihado Nearly one
thousand women and girls belonging
70 the families OF samura: attached
70 the Sho-Gun fought behind the bar
ricadcs and on the castle walls. Many
OF them were killed in battle, while
not few committed suicide rather
than undergo the humiliation Of de-
tcat.
Yet the Amazonian qualities Of the
women Of old Japan did not detrac,
from their womanliness. They were
tender mothers and loving wires. The
nursing Of the wounded AID sick was
part of the education OF ever, sanu
raj woman.
With the passing away Of The age
Of chivalry in Japan, upon the down
fall Of tbs Shoguna,e, the japanese
woman WAS called upon 20 face new
conditions, and how she met these
conditions ie shown in the history Of
the Chinese war of 1895.
It is @ matter of record tha. some
10000 Japanese vomen volunteered to
SO to the front as nurses in The held
hospitals at the outbreak os the Chi
nese war, and advices from Japan
STATE that The numbe" OF women -ol-
to go to the front as nurses
,oday IS greater than in 1895. But The
women WHO stay a, home are aos lack
lag in patriotic devotion.
There is an anecdote concerning the
mother of The heroic Commander Sex
a-Ho,o, Who vas killed Oh the bridge
d his snip, the 4,kagi, at The battle
Of -a'u, which shows now The spirit
0f patriotism flames II the hears OF
japanese women.
An official Of the navy department
called OF The family OF the navel Off
20" % convey, as deiicately as possi-
Die, the news O. his death. Having
his ,idiags % a mem
DC" Of the family, lie was abou. to
1epart, when the shoji slid oper soft
y and the aged mother Of the dead
commander staggered into The room.
She had been an accidental caves
lropper and had heard ALL Trembling
With emotion she lowed low % the
listing officer and said:
Tell the Empero- rejoice that
ION OF mine has been able to be of
ome service to lin.
Some Japanese women refused to
weep over ,neir decd d, because it was
C c4sidereu lisloyai tc the Mikado to
weep for hose Who he d had the honor
o die lighting tor him. When a wife
r Z .nothe. heard ,ha. husband Or
sol had oeel killed in battle, the
IEst EXPRESSION uttered, was an ac-
nowledgement Of he nonor conferred |
pon her oy The gods ir being be
eaved for the cause o. the Emperor.
TO tho western mind such patriot
5m appears to be fantastic anG nard /
. understand. IN thc light Of Japan
Sc his,orw iL does 2ot seem sc
The soiri, o. patriotism III The sap.
aese women of the preseno genera
o. is the ontgroUth o. ages O.. feu-
alsu. "'he Loyalty aad devotion
AlCA tAC NoiuSl- oi l'dot l5SucIdIlO1S
ave to their seudal family head aro
l the p"es2H. generation given to tie
Iikado.
lr time OF war tne Empress o. Jap pan
cts ar example for an the women of
&c country by her activities in De-
alf OF all hose who a-e suffering or
distress She may be seen frequen,-
listing ,he great military hospitals,
cconpaIicd o. party Of cou aides
ld loblemnn's wires.
Following The example OF ,he In
ress ell the greet ladies of Toxic So
ETY. dc what they can 20 relieve The
stress ana suffering tha, inevitably
,llow war There IS nc class OF wo-
en- that ices not contribute some
ling q this cause: eYen these bat
.fiies the 1aisilas, and the unhappy
'eatufes Il tne -o9G; :.araS give thai
la:C.
1t is no. oAly lie women O. the aa-
urai class who show passionate pa
iotis.n in wartime. Az classes of So
nty arc represented ir the modern
lpar csc army, and the peasant wo-
ar has given proof that she is quite
, devoted TO the Mikado as the So
uyai LADY