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WAR SI
Japanese Officer l-)e
The followiug interesting article,
describing fighting with the Russians
in the Valu Hiver, is from a transla
tion of a letter from a Japanese army
?3&cer to his brother, the latter being
'Cite valet of Lieut. Commander James
'if. Oliver, U. S. N., l\ S. ship Cul
z-oa.. The Sunday News is permitted
to print it by courtesy of the Hev.
Hugh i'\ Oliver, of I'inopolis, -S.
KJ., brother of Lieut. Commander
Oliver.
It may be reealled in this connec
tion that Admiral llobley D. lOvans
coccutly related that when he called
0? the commander of a Japanese ship
? ? war he recognized as its command
ant' o^i.-er a Japanese who had for
txierly been employed in a servant's
position, on board the ship. Perhaps
*tfec valet of Lieut. Commander Oliver
e. zzAii of similar position; at least
that is indicated by the letter of his
t>r*,thcr. which is as follows:
I have finished feeding the horncB
;<v,ud repairing arms for today, so will
**r:ite and tell you of my experiences
sr!nce the army came to Wiju.
In the afternoon of the 18th of
March the Ith regiment of the Im
perial Infantry Guards reached Wiju
j?.Q'1 camped in houses of the Korean
Rttkabi tante, each house accommodat
ing a sub company,
The enemy had taken up position
*f*i" the opposiso bank of the Valu
?/iver, and wero busy strengthening
<&eir already almost formidable
^stronghold. Kven at this time the
tjfound of muskets and guns were
& ard, though they wero not firing
sontinually yet. Some shells would
r&urst in the streets and many build
ings were set on firo from them. Our
?commissariat company camped a
-short distance behind us and suf
fered slightly from the bursting
shells.
Wiju is situated on the south side
*af the Yalu Hiver. The river at this
?ihis placo is nearly 4,000 meters wide.
Sandbars and quite large islands di
vide the stream into many streams,
tflomo of which are very deep; others
are shallow and can eacilv be
fforded. The names of the twoprinci
tpal islands are Oseki and Kuri.
<Oseki lies directly in front of Wiju,
and Kuri is a short distance up
-stream. Khulcnchang is situated
^across and oppasito Wiju.
My Company, (1st company, 2d
(battalion, 4th regiment, Imperial
sfantry Guards*) received an order
?to capture and occupy Kuri Island on
'the 2Gth of March. On the night of
(the 25th we gathered together and hid
?.mong the mountains opposite the
tceland, and there waited for the moon
ito set so that we oould proceed unob
served. Our movements were like
those of a oat catohing a mouse, for
*we were forbidden even to cough.
At 4 a. m. the moon Bet and we
started on our way to the river. A
rsub-company of the pioneers carried
our iron-framed boats which had been
^previously prepared for this purpose.
They were very heavy and it required
'thirty men to eaoh boat. Taking
aiuoh care not io make any noise wo
we came down tho beach and out on
the south shore without attracting
the attention of the enemy.
The first stream was shallow and
:vje were compelled to carry our boats.
We rested occasionally, putting our
boats down on the sand, being care
ful not to exhaust ourselves before the
treal work and fighting commenced.
At last we reached the deepest stream
*nd launched our boats, which oould
"conveniently oarry 15 men eaoh'. It
was almost impossible for us to move
?noiseleBsly now, although we did our
beet to muffle the sound of our oars.
We had almost reached the middle of
'the stream before the enemy opened
vSre oa us and then wo rowed much
faster, as it was not neoeasary for us
to keep quiet any longer. Their fire
was not effective, beoause of tho
darkness, and few of our men sus
tained injuries.
The ourrent was swift and two of
Mur'bout-s were oarried down nearly
<*B00 meters below the landing place
^designated on our oharts. x?oy
'Chough t that we woro attacking with
iargt forces and signalled to head
quarters for reinforoemcnts. The
?-dawn-was breaking as we landed, and
?Mt?an our tcbarge upon the enemy's
?trongnet?.
The 2d battalion had crossed the
- stream and was attacking the enemy
?an the rigbt, leaving only one open
ing -for the retreat. The firing was
^Svy-, *&n? after several minutes'
/hard fighting <>he Russians began
f their cetrcat, which was undertaken
van horscbaok. I have never seen
(anything to compare with their skill
horsemen. They picked up their
??oad from horseback * and retreated
V ander cover of the artillery fire, which
I-sjr^i trained on us from tho hills and
DRIES.
ascribes Yalu Fight.
I mountains north of Valu. Wc were
! also protected by our artillery, which
' had taken position on the high land
east of Wiju. The artillery did
effective work here and the fire waB ho
terrible that confusion wan inevit
able.
The enemy's firing was soon si*
I lenced, and we were left in full pos
i session of Kuri Island. Our casmil
I ties were slight, only nine killed and
j 48 wounded. We placed n<-fitidcIh
' over the island and covered the
' streams behind us with guns so that
the work of building bridges for the
army might not be interrupted.
The sixteenth regiment of the Cos
sacks, which arc noted for their
bravery, made several attempts to re
gain the island, in the second of |
which the fighting was very hard,
bullets falling almost as thick an rain
upon our heads. We had little hopes
of holding the island against such a
furious attack, but by God's will we
came out victorious, causing them to
retire. The exact loss of the enemy
is not known, as they carried their
dead and wounded from the field,
leaving only pools of blood to show
that thoy had suffered.
Tin- woik of the Pioneer bridge
builders was goiug up step by step
and each stream was soon spanned by
three or four bridges. On the 30th of
April tho 1st battalion crossed the
first of the streams and hid them
selves among the cliffs of the moun
tain, where they lay for twenty four
hours. The soldiers did not know
that this uight was set for a general
attaokmcnt by the entire army. On
the front there were still three shal
low streams which we could easily
ford without damage to our arms and
provisions. At dawn on the first of
May our army opened ranks and
marched from the cover of the moun
tains out to tho river's edge. The
enemy opened fire on us and for some
minutes it seemed that the furies of
hell and earth had been turned loose*
upon our forces. Shells of the enemy's
artillery burst among and all around
us, but undaunted, we passed the
battlo, pouring down a sheet of lead
and fire upon them from our artillery
and repeating rifles. It wsb a time
of groat danger, but instead of fear
we felt pleasure only, and regarded
the thundering of their shells as
opening salutes of a national holiday.
Our I2ih provisional division at
tacked tho enemy's right flank, while
tho 2d division attacked their left.
They were forced after much hard
fighting, to fall back out of range of
tho Imperial Guard's csvere fire,
and soon after their left and right
flanks retreated by the same route.
From tho battlefield they were com
pelled to retreat through a narrow
valley, whioh confused them greatly.
Wo centred our fire upon this narrow
rjass and our forty field guns almost
exterminated them. They left their
guns and dead and wounded upon the
field and retreated to the northward.
Many of them lost their route and
wero oapturod. My company captured
about two hundred prisoners.
We pursued them through the
mountainos for about nine miles, and
by sending the 12th division over a
short route out off their retreat and
hurdled them in a wide ravine between
two mountains. We opened fire upon
them from all sides. They replied
with rifles and with the few machine
guns they had left, putting up a
desperate resistance. Our entire
forces were ordered to oharge bayo
nets and in this oharge nearly all of
the enemy perished. Those > that
osoapod retreated in disorder, only
email detachments taking the same
route.
At 4 p. m. we stopped pursuing
them and otruok osmp. Part of the
enemy went to Antung, where they
were mistaken by their forces for
enemies, who opened fire on them,
killing and wounding over one hun
dred. The foroes at Antung retreat
ed, setting fire to ;heir houses and
leaving their dead.
The killed and wounded were scat
tered all over the valley, presenting
the most terrible scene that human
ever witnessed. The cries of the
wounded were heart-rending, and I
wished that I oould olose my ears
and eyes and forget the pain and
misery that this day had brought.
Two days were spent in oleaning
up the battlefield and burying the
dead.
The Chinese people treated us very
nioe, offering their houses and provis
ions for our comfort.
Our daily ration of provision was
one quart of rice, canned salmon and
canned boaf for eaoh man. We oarry
a day's provisions with us and besides
an extra amount of salt, so that
should wo run out of provisions wo
could cook and eat anything th&t fre
might find. Wo cook our povision in
a case made of aluminum unless wo
are staying in a Chinese house, in
whioh ea.se we use their cooking
Utensils. We spread cane ou the
fluor or ground, as the case may be,
and cover ourselves with our over
coats. We embrace each other in our
bleep, so that we can keep warm.
Water is very scarce and we have to
cook our rice without washing it. If
we are near a Btream we distill our
own water, in ?hieb ease it is plenti
ful.
<>ur allowancp of mone/for spend
ing purposes is 5 yen and 40 cents per
month and is issued three times per
month.
Tobacco and all kinds of me rchan
dise are very expensive here on ac
count uf the prices which have to be
paid for oouveyance across the coun
try. "Hero" cigarettes, one box of
ten cigarettes, is worth 15 cents hero,
and "White Hose" cost 25 cents per
box. Sake (Japanese rioe beer) is 15
cents per glass, but Chinese liquor is
cheap. When we are in camp, Sake
or Chinese liquor, is issued from the
main depot of supplies. The supply
department is well drilled iu their
work, are very careful not to allow a
loss that can be avoided. I am in ex
cellent health now and very strong,
which is a Bource of gratification to
me. With good health I can do gal
lant fighting, and if necessary die an
honorable death.
I send this paper by a Chinese and
when you receive it do not show it to
other people. As I am busy looking
after my soldiers I will close.
Yoshiro M&kioo.
Chief of 2d Division, 3d subCom
pany of 1st Company, 4th Regiment,
Imperial infantry Body Guard, 1st
Army.
April 20, 1904.
The Military Hospital? at Tokio at
Seen by a Kassian.
M. W. Krashevsky, who is acting at
war correspondent of the Russkoy<
Slovo, sends that journal ?
highly interesting description of tin
Japanese Red Cross. He says:
"I was near the military hospital it
Tokio, when my way was blocked bj
the crowds standing shoulder to shoul
der along the quay, for a transpon
with men wounded before Port Ar
thur was expected. The crowd wai
silent in its expectancy, and scarcelj
a voice was heard. 'Let the foreignei
through; let the foreigner through,
said my guide, and even at such i
solemn moment the people steppet
aside courteously to let mo pass to th<
hospital. The long, sad prooeseiot
soon came into sight. All the woun
ded wore white blouses; only a few oi
them walked, and they had .beet
wounded in the hand or head. Mos1
of them were carried in jinrikishas
and their feet and bodies were ii
bandages, while* about fifty of then
were carried in litters. The faces o
the latter men were concealed, for mj
guide told mc^ey were tho severes
cases, and in Japan it is the oustoa
to cover the face of a man woundet
severely, so that the people may no
see his sufferings. Nearly every mat
borne in tho litters had the lower par
of his body in bandages, and all o
them looked ns if they were in th
. laet stages of consumption, for the;
had been so long in hospital at Dalny
I was interested greatly in the crow<
as the terrible procession passet
through it; there were no shouts, m
tears, only a heavy oppressive silence
and on every face one could read sym
pathy and horror. I saw that look o
sadness everywhere; it oame from th
sight of so many youths maimed for
ever. The war is terribly popular ii
Japan, but these trains of woundei
men bring home to the people all th<
horrors of warfare.
"Seven hundred /rounded men ha(
arrived and tbe hospital taking then
in was a central point, whenoe ever]
man was distributed among the va
rious institutions of the Red Cross oi
in privsto hospitals and houses. Ii
took only fifteen' minutes to registei
the 700 wounded men; there was n<
red tspe, and all was' done verj
promptly. I followed the largest
group of wounded until we reached i
large, three-storied building, on th<
front of which was a cross, with th<
letters 'R. C My guide disappeared
into the offioe, and returned at onoc
with the perm if) 8 ion for me to vieil
the hoapitsl. The Japanese srs verj
glad to exhibit their 'perfcot Euro
pean oivilisation;' in their owe
words, they are passing in this wai
their examination to be accepted as i
first olsss country. ,
" 'When the wounded have been
taken* in, \ one of the surgeons ' will
take the gentlemsn round and show
him everything,' said an attendant.
The jiur^epn, who spoke exoellenl
English',' was most agreeable. I wai
in the biggest of the three Red Cross
hospitals in Tokio. It made, the best
impression on me,for it was a mass of
light and air, with marvellous clean*
lines*. 'You will perhaps notice that
the ceilings aro lower than they are in
the model hospitals in Europe, but
we Japanose are smaller in sice,'
said tho surgeon; 'the height of the
rooms is made in proportion to. our
stature.' I o'bsorveM fivo operating
j tables in the well-lighted operating
j room.
'We can bo proud of our operat
ing rooms,' continued the surgeon; I
'tbey contain everything that is bc?t
and up-to-date.' In each of the very
roomy wards I eaw forty men on beds
arranged on European methods, and
with tbo remarks written in German
on the cards hanging at the bead of
every bed; even the daily reports of
all eases are written in German.
Said the surgeon, with a smile: 'Ger
man is the language of su rgery in Ja
pan, for in medicine and suigery we
I are the pupils of Germany. Until
lately our hospitals were full of German
surgeons, but now you will not lind a
I single one, Although the entire hos
I pita) staff is Japanese, yet we continue
to write the notes of oases in German.
That is better, for neither the woun
ded man nor hin friends can know the
worst.'
"Many of the wounded were lying
unconscious; others were chatting,
I laughing or trying to make then selves
understood by mimiory to such
I friends as happened to be far away.
I What surprised me was the great
' number of visitors, especially of wo
men; hundreds of women came and
I went silently between the beds; all of
I them brought presents for the sol
1 diers, and many of them had their
children with them. I saw many a
I ! sorrow stricken face, but 1 did not
J hear ono sob. 'There is no crying in
1 I hospitals,' said the surgeon, and that
i I set me thinking once more upon the
; I iron discipline of a people which has
produoed the proverb: 'Sorrow, like a
I torn garment, must be left at home'
The wounded Russian prisoners,
* 1 whom I saw at Osaka, had for the
' I most part wounds in the head and
shoulder from tbo shrapnel sheila, as
I was told; as most of the Japanese
were wounded in the feet aud body,
1 especially in the abdomen, I asked
the surgeon to explain the differ
ence. He said: 'Most of those whom
, you see here are the victims of artil
j lery fire, and were wounded by
i splinter.?.' I asked him about the
, death rate, and he answered me with
the eternal Japanese smile, 'The
foreign press has had a great deal to
say about the horrors of this war
' making future wars impossible. Cer
tainly warfare has been developed to
L a terrible degree, but surgery and
medicine have also been greatly de
' veloped, and the number of deaths
' from wounds is very small, as com
r, pared with former wars. Enormous
numbers are killed, but never befc. j
j have the wounded had such great
chances of recovery, unless their
wounds are made by|a Cossack's lanoe
1 or by a sword.' The Japanese sur
' geon became greatly excited as he
-aid that it was barbarism to allow the
? _______________^_________?
'auce aud ?aber to be used iu warfare,
for their wounds gave but a very
small chance of recovery, and even
then a man is maimed for life.
"The Burgeon had come from the
front with a convoy of wounded. He
told me that there had beeu an enor
mous number of sick men, owing to
the rapid advanoe made by the lead^
er I, for the men fell out through sheer
fatigue. Dysentery claimed many
victims, and although the Japanese
soldier can livo on a handful of rice
only their army surgeons know the
results of such diet. I was told that
beri-beri is not a disease peculiar to
Japan, for it is unknown there and is
of entirely Manohurian origin, and
that there had been very few cases of
it among the Japanese, while it had
raged among tho Russisns.
"As the tiny Sister of Meroy in
straw slippers went to and fro silent
ly among the wounded men, my guide
I told me, with evident pride, that they
were all girls belonging to the aristo
[ cracy. When I asked him whore
were the English and American wo
men who had volunteered for service |
as nurscB in Japan, ho replied that |
they were much too nervous to be ac
cepted for hospital work, and that
the Japanese women were far better
fitted for such work. However, it
was decided that the numerous foreign
women should be sent out to the
front, where their nervousness would
find a vent; the result was that only
those really wishful to act as nurses
went out, and they did good service
in saving many Japanese lives. With
regard to the number of wounded men
brought home to Japan, the surgeon
told me that up to November, 1904,
Tokio had received 10,000, Osaka 7,
000 and Shimonsoki, Nagasaki < d
Hiroshima 10,000 men between them,
a total of '27,000. . Of course this
total by no means represents the
casualties, and the surgeon confess
ed that the Japanese Government
was careful cot to allow many
wounded men to return to Japan,
as their presence in great numbers
oould not fail to depress the spirits
of the people at home.
? Some people think to redeem a
bad day by dreams of heaven at night.
? You would better damn a man
than despair of him.
? No creed that is shorter than a
life is long enough.
? There's little to choose between
Aaron's calf and the one you worship
in the mirror, and that little's in favor
of the ancient one.
? When a man affects to deepise
the forms of goodness it is usually be
cause he has no faots with whioh to
fill the forms.
? It makes many a man blush to
look an honest horse in the face.
Driving The Heart to Death.
In New York last week there were
125 deaths from heart disease.
Could there be any more clear and
strrtling indication of the high and
killing tension at which the people of
the nation's metropolis are living?
And New York is typical in thiB re
spect of the whole country.
Do you know the tremendous mean
ing of this record?
The heart has the most enduring
vitality of any organ. Removed from
a frog's body it will boat for hour. i.
It is the first human organ to show
signs of lifo and under normal condi
tions the last to lose those signs. In
the hands of modern surgery the heart
of a living man is massaged, removed,
cleansed and replaced, and it faith
fully beats on.
The heart will stand anything with
in reason. But it will not stand the
terrible strain that is put upon it by
the life that is beooming more and
more characteristic of the people of
thirf country.
Areooid of 125 deaths from heart
failure in one city in one week con
tains a story that means far more than
shows on the surfaoo of dry statis
tics.
It tells of living that is all but vol
untarily suicidal, for it is little less
than willful suicide to drive to fatal
speed an organ so wonderfully devised
for strength, vigor and power of re
covery.
The average American would not
drive a horse as hard as he drives him
bcIi. The laws would not permit it;
; his owo sense of humanity would not
I permit it.
j If your horse drops dead of heart
disease induced by overwork there is
raised a great hue and cry and the
wholo community is aroused. If you
drop dead yourself from the same cause
nobody cares anything about it. You
contribute just a little to dull death
statistics and are forgotten. I
Is it worth the utrain and stress?
Are your ambitions or indulgences
worth ouch cost as thie?
Is your aim?wealth, position, fame,
or whatever else?worth the wearing
out of your health or the straining of
your heartstrings until they suddenly
snap??Atlanta Journal. .
? When a man telephones his
wife he has to stay downtown late
with the president of his company,
it is a sign she knows be is going to
lose r. lot of money with his frisnds
at poker.
? When a young man asks for
the hand of an heiress he meats the
one in which she carries her purse.
? Occasionally a bachelor kisses a
baby girl because he hasn't the nerve
to tackle one dearer his own size.
Car is Draped in Black.
Craped in black, the dingy old
freight oar loaded with whiskey and
beer removed by order of the State
Board of Directors from the Picken?
dispensary recently closed, passed
through Easley yesterday on its way
to Columbia where the stuft wvll be
turned back again into the general
supply always on hand <tc that end of
the business.
It ia aaid that a large crowd gather
ed at the railway station in Pioke&o to
see the last of the dispensary, and
while the people of that thriving little
town are not shedding any tears over
the departure of the wine shop, some
of those who were in the habit of visit
ing the little house under the oool
shade of the big poplar, or obtained
supplies for the ice box in the barber*
shop a few feet away, did feel a tioge
of remorse at the idea of the good old
times that would be no more.
It was sad to thiuk that "Doctor"
Baker would not be at his plaoe be
hind the counter to hand out Sohlits,
or Cream of Kentucky, or any other
of the favorites, and the idea of drap
ing the car in mourning was conceived.
Tbe entire crowd entered into the
spirit of the thing, and when Captain
Taylor reaohed Easley he had a oar
on his train that looked liko the fune
ral carriage of a mont important per
sonage.?Greenville News.
The Political Economist.
John Mitchell, the labor leader, was
disoussing an English financier, says
! the Buffalo Enquirer,
j "His ideas of politioal economy,"
j Mitchell said, "remind me of those of
Marshall Saunders of Braidwood.
"Braidwood is an Illinois town, and
I passed my boyhood there. Marshall
Saunders had a fine apiary. He raised
good bees and good honey. It was a
pleasure to visit his neat, well-paint
ed city of hives.
"Marshall had an inquiring mind,
and he would sometimes ask himself
strange questions. One of the ques
tions he continually asked himself was
j this:
" 'Have I any right to rob these
bees of their honey.?"
And for a long time he could not
answer that question to his own satis*
faction* Finally, though, he found
au answer. I heard bim tell it to his
friends with pride.
" 'I used to feel mean,' he said,
'about robbing the beehives, but after
thinking the matter over I see now
I'm in the right. If it wasn't for
me taking the honey, all of them bees
would be out of work the whole of
next summer.' "
Patienco is not paralysie.
The
Food Value
of a Soda Cracker
1 ^^VV'"
^3 S
4>^ :
. ?P* ; --
You have heard that some foods furnish fat?
other foods make muscle, and still others are
tissue building and heat forming.
Tou know that most foods have one or more
of these elements, hut do you know that no
iood contains them alt in euch properly balanced
proportions as a good.eoda cracker?
The United States Government report show?
that soda crackers contain less water,, am
richer in the muscle and fat elements, m?
have a much higher per cent of the tissue
Imilding and heat forming properties than aap
article of food made from flour. ^|||
That is why Une?da B??culf ahoisld form
an important part of evexy meal. They repre
sent the superlative of the soda cracker, all
their goodness and nourishment being brought
from the oven to you in a package that i& procf
agsmst aira moisture and dust?the price being
too small to mention.
NATIONAL BISCUrr*
