The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-04-26

The japanese government has written
at last the final chapter in as typical a
story OF Oriental mystery as the world
will ever puzzle over. This is the an
Inouncement that the battle ship Mikasa
has been raised from the mud Of Sasebo
Harbor and restored 10 the list OF the
imperial navy.
The last chapter Is typicslly japanese.
It tells no more than the first. and per-
haps there will never be more than d
few hundred close mouthed japanese who
will know the real story Of the sinking
Of Admiral Togo's celebrated flagship
The Mikasa blew up and sank at her
moorings on September Il. 1866. That
was Just at the end OF the three days
rioting in Tokyo occasioned By the pro-
test OF the japanese people against The
:crms Of the treaty OF Portsmouth. clos
ing the war
RiOting in Many Places.
For three days men had been cut down
by the SWORDS of the gendarmes in the
streets o. Tire capital and the rioting
had spread TO Kobe. Yokohama, Nagoya
and other important japanese towns. In
Kobe the statue OF Marquis. now Prince
Ito. which stood in a public market
place, had been dragged from its pedes-
tai b. an angry mob only the night be-
for the sinking Of the Mikasa and set up
in derision In the midst Of the Yoshiwara
the district OF the painted castaways OF
the streets.
When TIE Mikasa sank the japanese
papers throughout the whole empire pub-
lished only about three paragraphs about
IT, tell!ng the bare facts Of the disaster.
the number II men killed, and the details
OF the suicide OF the captain. That was
all
Although the flagship OF the victorious
feet had been lost and half its compile
ment OF sailors had gone down with It,
the big dai!ies of Tokyo and Osaka dis
missed the matter with the briefest men
tiGn, reminiscent of the paragraphs de-
taiiiag the movements OF troops during
the campaigns against Kuropatkin, Stos-
! sci, and Lineviteh.
story Told in Press Dispatches.
Il was reid that shortly after nightfalI.
while Admiral Tcgo and the captain Of
the Mlka5a were on another ship ents--
tanning Prince Arisugawa, one OF the
princes Of the tlcod, fire was discovered
near the powder magazines of the Mikasa.
ard although AID was hurried from neigh
| boring battle ships the flames reached
the magazines. Nearly 800 men lost their
| lives the dispatches added When the
captain OF the NIikasa heard OF the de.
struetion II bis vessel he threw himself
/ out OF a second story window of a hotel
in SasebO and died OF a broken neck.
That was the japanese version, grudg
ingly printed in the newspapers. That
was the story sent out 10 the world
| through the carefully censored govern
ment telegraph offices. 1t was not until
| two weeks after the sinking of the
Mikasa that there appeared in the
/ Shanghai Times a story contTadicting the
japanese. version and seeming TO bear
the marks Of truth.
| This acco.nt was TO the effect that a
| japanese naval officer who was a guest
Of an American at a geisha dinner in
| Tokyo, and who felt his sake premature
| ly, allowed himself to narrate the real
story of tie sinking Of Togo's flagship.
Real story, Possibly.
The riot infection in Tokyo and other
large cities OF Japan had spread to the
victorious fleet under Admiral Togo he
was quoted as having said.
Most Of the lighting men on the feet
believed with the indignant citizens
ashore that the war had been fought in
vain and that through the influence of
President Roosevelt. coupled with the
| cleveTness OF the Russian peace ENJOYS,
japan had been cheated out Of the merit
ed fruits of her victory. The sailors on
the Mikasa divided into partisan groups.
/ one supporting the government and an
other condemning it for accepting humil-
iating terms.
| The dispute between the factions finally
became so hot that they had g pitched
battle on the night Of September II, when
Admiral Togo and the captain of the ship
were of duty. The noise OF the firing
was heard in the city OF Sasebo, and this
fact WAS afterward attested TO by some
missionaries living there.
Admiral Togo, and even Prince Arisu-
gawa himself. were putting of from the
ship upon which they were having their
evenings entertainment when a fanatical
member OF the insurgent party on the
] Mikasa fired the magazines with his own
hand and sent half of the crew. friends
and enemies alike. down to death with
| the hulk.
After the appearance OF this story In
the Shanghai paper the japanese govern
ment came out with a prompt denial Of
the alleged facts. reiterating briefly the
circumstances formerly allowed TO be
published in Japan. All the japanese
papers reproduced this official statement
without explanatory or supplementary
! comment
Experience Of Newspaper Man.
An interesting Circumstance in connec-
tion with the effort Of one newspaper cor.
respondent TO send out this unofficial YER
sion OF the Mikasa incident served to
convince those who heard of it that the
real story of the battle ships destruction
had not been published. There was an
Englishman In Tokyo, the correspondent
Of big London daily. who had won the
displeasure Of the japanese government