The Irish standard., 1905-02-04
JAPANESE FISHERMEN FIGHT
Their Little spat with a Russian
Boats Crew Early in the
Big War.

Their Little Spat with q Russian
Boats Crew Early in the
Big War.
One Of the early actions of the Russo
Japanese war not exploited in the daily
papers was related here by the mate of q
Siberian trading vessel, says the Seattle
(Wash.) Post-Intelligencer. This is the
story:
1T was little after war had been de-
clared that we were working up toward
the north along the coast of Manchuria.
Now, there's river called the Okla, and
It's never been fished out and when you
say that you're putting it very mild. be-
cause the Okla is SO swarmng with SAL
mon along about spawning time that q
man can't row a boat on account of the
swarms of them.
up near the head of the Okla is little
town, where we put in to do some trad
ing. We had barely anchored in the bay
when three japanese schooners sailed in
and made for the headwaters Of the river.
OF course they were after the fish and
they didn't have to go more TIN mile
toward the head waters before they fell
in with all the fish they could carry.
They sent out boats and inside of seven
days the holds of those three schooners
were packed tight with sailed salmon.
well, they were done with the Okla
river and we were done with the little
town, and guess both of us were about
to pull out, when we clapped eyes on an
other boat cutting away the horizon. 1t
wasn't a schooner and it didn't look like
freighter and it wasn't a great while
before we made out that she was gun
boat. Somebody ought to have had a
camera to make a picture Of the way
those Japs scurried their schooners back
into the river to get out of gunshot.
They didn't know just what the craft
was, but they had their suspicious, and
as it turned out, their suspicious were
just about right.
I'VE watched the little fighter with the
Russian flag flying steam in and cast an
Choir. She couldn't chug her way into the
river the way the Japs did, because she
drew too much water. A boat came
alongside to examine our papers; then it
rowed back to the fighting ship, while
the Russians held some sort of consul
tation on board. 1t was pretty clear to
us that they had had news of the Jap
ships and knew just where they were
without asking the policeman.
eve were certain of this when the
Russians disembarked three boatloads
of men with guns and pointed them up
the mouth of the river, with a crew Of US
following. We followed them up the
stream till they rounded sharp turn.
Then. by thunder! they stopped short.
We rounded the turn, and we stopped
short, too. because it looked to us as II
that whole landscape spelled trouble.
Those Japs had dashed their three
schooners together and anchored them.
And every blessed Jap was leaning over
the side and shaking gun in our direc-
ton. 1t looked unpleasant-mighty I'M
pleasant. A Russian officer stood up in
the stern of his boat and shouted some
thing at them.
''They yelled at him like a crowd Of
kids until one little fellow with a SCARED
face turned loose his rifle and things be-
gan. 1t was the prettiest fight ever saw.
Neither side had anything larger than
rifles, but the Japs being higher up had
an advantage Time and again those
marines would charge, only to be driven
back with shots and stones that gave
more than one man his finish.
cat last the Russians dropped back,
resting on their oars and looking up at
the fishing schooners, while the Japs
jumped around on the decks as lively as
ever-that is, those that were still in
jumping condition.
cit seemed to us that the best thing
the Russians could do would be to snake
out little rapid-fire gun and sink the
whole business. l reckon that they
thought Of it, too, and were getting
ready for some such move, when all Of
sudden we heard the biggest kind of a
whistling down in the harbor. The gun
boat was signaling her crews.
'In minute the Russians turned
their boats noses down the stream and
we climbed out of the bushes and fol-
lowed. There in the harbor was Rus
sian cruiser alongside the gunboat.
Something had happened somewhere.
The crew came back, there was little
pow-wow and inside of an hour they
were both of them trails OF smoke on the
sky line. No, they didn't come back for
the fish, and cay later the Japs sailed
out with smiles on their faces and the
holds of their boats chockful of sailed
salmon"
Good Scheme