The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-02-18

inches hold little Chinese lamps, which
are, in poor families, 2nothing more than
mucilage bottles with Standard oil and
a wick in them. Military maps, reports,
writing materials, some. bottles of beer
and of captured Hardin brandy on a
der could wish. There is even a Chi.
nese table covered with a red cloth, and
beside it two Chinese armcha1rs. s1
Our own artillery begins to fire.. as
it's habit is when the sun is getting
low. We follow the captain thru the
maze Of sunken passages till we emerge
to the surface. The commander OF the
regiment is awake; he is pale and worn,
but asks us to his quarters n the a.
laughing, to his berth. His men have
delved out, underneath the kang, or
wide two-foot-high bench on which Chi
nese sleep, a cavity which again re-
minds one Of those subterranean last
restingplaces Of Rome's early Chris
tians. ~, ~ =
getting expert at digging. They are
1ike-what is that animal in your coun-
try that bores thru the groundY Moles,
yes! Do you like saki2" -.
He relates instances Of heroism he
had himself seen in the afternoon when,
with two battalions and two extra com
panies, he took Linshinpu by three
hours fighting, and then repnlsed two
counter attacks before morning. A man
left with a cart decided that he could
to the care of the Chinese driver and
reported to the commander. The COM
mander gave him a message to carry
to another part Of the field The. man
was shot in the leg en- route. but deliv-
cred the message and brought back the
reply, saying, "My. leg is hurt; / am
sorry I can't carry any more mes
sages.' More appealing was the in
cident of an ammunition carrier. he
mander saw, but the man made three
more trips from the ammunition supply
to the firing line before he gave up. /
like this story, because this man wore
no firearm and had none Of that strange
excitement of shooting which sustains
and exhilarates the soldier in action. He
merely carried cartridges to the men
who shot them.
incidentally, this story shows for the
| first time how ammunition is supplied
| to Japanese firing line. ~t:- "
Scattered by shrapnel.
We were, between the boomings OF
our own artillery, saying farewell tc
the commander and the captain at the
door, when different report, like the
below Of the fat bull Of Bashan, shocked
the air. It drove wind against one 4
face, and made the house. quake. a
Russian shrapnel had discharged itself
Just beyond the servants houses. In
stantly the soldiers in the outer court
who had come to the gate to look at thu
foreigners, scattered to their burrows
like rabbits. In taking this village
600 men of $500 had lost their lives
These two iuxtaposed facts illustrate
the revised version Of the Japanese sol
der. He continues eager and dashins
and reckless of himself in charge
On the other hand, he has been taught
since the losses at Port Arthur, that tt
win, the army must not become non
existent.
| We hasten to the getaway trench, for
notwithstanding it is an even chance
that one walks into a shell g path rather
than out Of it, there is a distinct menta
comfort in moving. A weird SOUND
pursues us-the desolate lament Of {
percussion shell; it breaks close behind
and throws up a huge geyser Of darl
earth. It must have fallen upon the
burrows in the outer courtyard, or a
any rate upon the underground shelters
where the fighting line is waiting fol
another attack. We do not return
curiosity is not strong at the moment
for another percussion shell falls, the1
another. and another-many Of them
Some 90 over our heads and fall upo1
village quarter Of a. mile ahead, leav
ing only it's bleak, bereaving song to us
! Then they cease to come, for the can
non, in Linshinpu, seeing that they heav'
forth peril to their own troops, have
Ebecome mute.