The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-02-20
NOeI, JAPANESE ESTIMATE
MURAI"-HlS LIFE AS A
MONK.
Left His Home and Family for -Four
Years to Live in Village
Temple.


NAGASAKI, Feb 20.-Immeliately
| following the capture of Port Arthur
by the japanese, in January, the Nag
asaki Press reprinted from the Japan
Mail the following sympathetic sketch
of Gen. Nogi, written by Adachi Kin
nosuke:
One day-it was toward the close
Of the fifth moon Of the thirty seventh
year of Meiji Chat is to say, 1904 Of
the year of Christian grace)-Gen.
Nogi received a message from his ma
jesty the emperor. 1t was the pleasure
of his majesty, so the message ran. to
confer upon Gen. Nogi the highest dis
tinction for the fighting men of Nip
pom. His majesty appointed him as
the commander in chief of our forces
besieging Port Arthur. Gen. Nogi
was happy. On the same day came
the news of the battle of Nanshan.
To Gen. Nogi the report of the Nam
snan battle brought the news of the
general said:
Il am glad ne died SO splendidly. 1t
was the greatest honor he could have.
AS for the funeral rites over his mem
Dry, they might as we'll be postponed
for while. A little later on they may
be performed in conjunction with
those of the two other members of his
family--of Hoten, his brother, and
myself
A Samurai Ideal.
Gen. Nogi is the type of soldier
upon which the ideals of the elder
days of. the Samurai would look down
with pleasure. Some say he is some
what out of place in the waking days
of the new century. Simple, with that
rugged simplicity of a man who is too
great for aGjectives, his heart is some
what greater than the polite accom-
plishments of the day. Both his
friends and foes have styled him a
peculiar man. He is peculiar in many
things. He is peculiar in his concep-
ton of the life of a soldier. In these
happy days, when the soldiers of so
many countries all over the world are
given to the gold cloth and parade,
he has put his conception of the SOL
der in the following sentences:
"A soldier is a soldier, after all, and
after a man becomes a soldier he
must be perfectly willing to lead a life
that is somewhat different from the
life of an ordinary man in society. 1t
is impossible for him to enjoy liberty
and wealth such as so many Of his fell
low men seem to enjoy. / re-
fer to this point more especially be-
cause Of a simple fact-namely, that
the soldier who would perform his du-
ties with credit on a battlefield must
of necessity, have trained himself to
perform all that is expected of him
in the days of peace. There ought
not to be any defects in his daily life.
The conqueror of himself in the time
of peace must be the man if he would
aspire to the honor, with any right,
of being a fighting man under the Sun
flag
Life With Monks.
Unlike so many historic men of
fame, who make free gifts of splendid
precepts and glittering periods and
straightaway forget those beautiful
virtues in the doings Of their daily
life, the general did not stop with
mere words. There is a famous story
told of him of his love for shojinryori.
(Now, shojinryori means the food pre-
pared for priests and monks.) IT
was upon his return from Formosa.
He was appointed the commander of
the Eleventh division, stationed at
Zentsuji, in the province of Sanuki.
The division in question was passing
through the busy period of organiza-
ton. Devoted always, first of all, to
his duty to the state, the general left
his family in Tokyo. Only three SER
wants accompanied him. Not far
from Zentsuji there is a modest viii
lage called Kinzoji Mura; in the viii
lage stands a humble temple called
Kinzoji, after which the village is
named. The general found little