Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1907-10-18
A STOLID PEOPLE.
OUR SkY-SCRAPERS ELICIT NO
INDICATION OF SURPRISE.

When Preparing for Battle Of Three Day
| Spies Inspect Papers of Foreign Sus
pect While He Is Entertaining General O
Their Party at Morning Tea-Bid Adieu
to Friends and Relatives. Going to AImos
Sure Death in War With Perfect Com
posure.
New York Sun.
When the sailors and officers from
the Japanese cruisers Tskuba ant
ChitOse saw New York from the tol
of rubber-neck wagons they gave no
us much outward manifestation of en-
thuSiaSm rs group of upstate folk.
from Cayuga county might have done
They looked at the high buildings
took in the sight of Broadway and
saw the subway jamS-all this with
the calm of one who had been part
of these things for years
Yet not one out of 800 of these lit.
tie men had ever before seen a build
ing higher than five stories; probably
there were fifty who had read of sub
way trains; it is possible that thrc,
out of every dozen officers had ridder
in an automobile somewhere in Shang
lai, where the roads are wide enough
SuSpccting these facts in part, there
were some New Workers who won
dered petulantly why the japanese
visitors did not go into spasms of as
toniShment at the wonders of the
city.
The reason why none of the Japan.
eSe stretched his neck or cracked his
mouth over New York city is thu
same that impels little Kato, tn,
rickShaw man. 10 smile should you
suddenly tell him that his father has
died. The same impulse masks the
face of Tsuru-san, who brings the
stranger his tea in the Fullya hotel
should he gallantly try to tell hen
that the cherry blossoms in her hail
are beautiful.
Those who go out from the West tt
live in Japan learn one lesson before
all others, and that is that Japan.
csc face can be as blank as stripped
signbOard in rainStorm, and that
to expect any show of emotion from
Japanese is to ask the impossible.
At no time did strangers marvel
more over the impassiveness of the
Japanese than during the tense days
of the war when hundreds of
men were leaving railway stations
throughout Japan, never to return.
When it is recorded how Japanese
parents walked to the stations with
their conscript son, flying banners of
death over his head in the belief that
he would never return and smiled
with elaborate pOlltencss when the
new soldiers were whiSked off to war,
then it will be borne in on the impa-
tient Manhattanite that there was no
reason why Japanese sailor should
exhibit interest in New York.
After the great battle of Japan Sea
tho Japanese newspapers and illus
trated magazines told o story of the
fight that is typical of Japanese
phlegm. 1t was on the deck of Ad-
miral Togo's tlapship, the Mikasa,
that the sailors assembled just when
the fleet was leaving the Corean port
of MasamphO to meet the advancing
Russians in Tsushima.
One of the ships surgeons brought
out a kOtO, or elongated harp, very
much like the either, and with the
instrument in front of him he sat
down in the center of q circle of 500
sailors and played songs of the coun-
tryside. They were homely songs,
such as the fishermen sing when
they put in their nets or the sendos
chant over the sweeps Of their sam
pans. All of the crew came in on
the chorus, swinging through the
quavering measures with strong
voices.
For two hours the ships surgeon
chanted the songs and the sailors
joined in. Then every man was or
dered to his post. The surgeon laid
out his knives and bandages, the
gunner hoisted up his ammunition,
the battle was joined and they fought
for three days.
Another incident illustrative OF
the studied calm which has been SC
long q part of the Japanese code OF
politeness as to be ingrained in
the character of the Nippones was
furnished when the secret police sud
denly descended upon the house of a
foreigner in Toxic and arrested him
on a charge of furnishing military
secrets to the French government.
The foreigner had once served as
military Instructor in the budding
Japanese army, had received decor
alton from the emperor and was in
every way to be counted one of the
most influential foreigners in Toxic.
The government spies did not
make q move until the letters they
had intercepted showed conclusively
that the man was guilty. 1t was dan
gerous to arrest him, because at that
time relations between his country
and the government of Japan were al
a severe strain.
When the decision to act was final
ly reached a squad of soldiers and Of
ticers went to the home of the suS
pect. The man was in bed at the
time. He was told by his japanese
servant that an officer from the gov
ernment wanted to see him, the
name of the officer was familiar to the
foreigner.
He dressed and went down into
the library of his home, where the
lone officer whose name had been
given him was sitting. Tea was or
dered according to Japanese cti.
quette and the two sat talking OF
commonplaces for nigh an hour.
Then a second Japanese officer
appeared at the door with a bundle
of papers in his hands and notified
the foreigner that, greatly as he re
gretted being the bearer OF unpleas'
ant news, it was his painful duty to
inform him that he was under ar
rest on the charge of being q spy:
The papers the second officer carried
in his hand were from the private