The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-07-19

AOs IhS NeLSOu OA Jdpdu, Will udht
his journey home from the coronation
Of George V. by way Of America. ar.
irving at New York on Aug. 4. Lon
don found him as inscrutable as ever
he was In the thrilling days of Port
Arthur, and the most ingenious tongue
loosening attempts of the British inter.
viewer failed to draw from him any
thing more Illuminating than a matter
of fact remark about the Honorable
weather" Inquisitive America may
have better luck, but the prospect is
extremely doubtful. In the seventeen
days in which he will "do America"
we shall probably see more than we
shall hear of Admiral Togo.
Silence with him is q religion. One
Of the stories they tell about this great
est Of present day sea fighters shows
how deeply 1t is rooted in him. Togo
had been assigned to supreme COM
mand Of the combined japanese naval
forces. He was a sick man at the
time, and the government sent him
home to rest and to wait He said not
a word to his wife of the plans that
were forming or of the part he was to
play in the attack upon the Russian
feet. The call came while he was still
sick In bed.
"Ask them to wait, my lord; you are
not well enough" counseled his wife.
Togo struck her twice across the
face.
Woman, you speak foolishness," he
said.
The rebuke might have been borne
less complacently in any country but
Japan. The admiral Immediately went
into active service, and his wife. in
accordance with the custom of the
land, dispensed with all servants and
with her children undertook the drudc-
cry Of housekeeping.
The world heard more of Togo in the
days that followed than did his fam
lily. Just before his flagship, the Mi
kasa, sailed from Sasebo his daughter
paid him a parting visit AS she left
she asked If he had any message for
her to take home.
Nothing In particular, said he.
"Tell them I am well and happy''-as
a matter of fact he was still weak
from his recent illness-"and say that
they must not distract my mind by
sending me letters while 1 am gone"
His Personal Effacement.
This rule was strictly carried out.
His personal effacement from home
and family was complete. In all the
thrashing campaigns against the Rus
slams he neither wrote nor received let
ters from home. To the American
way of thinking, perhaps, such abso-
lutte adherence to duty seems unneces-
sarily severe, but it is quite in keeping
with the japanese code of service to
ones country. Togo was simply put
ting into practice the principles of
Bushido, that strange oriental philoso-
ply that teaches chivalry, courage,
stoicism, self sacrifice and devotion to
duty that to us seems fanatical.
After the fall Of Port Arthur and
while the japanese feet was refitting
at Sasebo for the final struggle with
Rojestvensky's doomed squadron TOGO
rejoined his family, avoiding the dem
onstration that awaited him at the
hands of a worshiping populace in
Tokyo. A human side he undoubtedly
has, this silent little man, althoul h
there were times during the war when
he seemed nothing short of an autom-
atom bent on destruction. His second
leave taking from home was like the
first.
The human side Of the man came to
the fore at odd moments. Even the
navy department of Japan did not
wholly trust him when he first be-
came commander of the united fleet,
and it sent spies after him to see if il
was love of country or merely hatred
of the Russians that animated Togo.
Togo undoubtedly did hate the Rus
slams, though it was a hatred that he
concealed beneath an Unconditional ex-
terror.
A Grudge or Loyalty.
IF it is only this grudge," argued
the navy department heads, "he will
blow hot and cold, but If it is loyalty
to the empire he will fight to the end"
So the spies followed him, but they
could make no satisfactory report. He
knew he was watched. To allay sus-
picion, or rather to restore confidence,
he did what the japanese thought was
splendid thing. Under the strict
samurai code - his code voluntary
death is the penalty for failure or dis
grace. The famous harakiri knife,
three and a half inches long, is the
symbol as well as the instrument of
that code. Before leaving to attack
Port Arthur Togo appeared to relax
his stern devotion to discipline when
he said to his officers:
Bring your wives and children, and
we will be merry for a day before we
leave port"
The wives and children came, and
many happy family party was fol
lowed by a calm stoical Japanese
leave taking that afternoon on the
shores of Sasebo. Then night fell.
The last merrymakers had gone. On
board the great black men-o-war in
the bay there was nauRht now but