16
TIIE ILLUSTRATED DEE.
March 20, 1901,
With Japs at Target Practice
(Copyright. 1W4, by Altx-rt Sonnlohsen.)
lAI'ANFfli: niiviil mm hnve never
liM'ii In the 1ih1U oT Inviting for
fiprncrs to lo prcHcnt ut target
priu-tlco ah'Kird their warships,
hut It wns the writer's luck to
witness ly Hccidtnt a realistic exhibition of
J:t nneso skill nt gunnery.
This vvs shortly after the RpnnlHh-Amer-loan
war. The American troop transport,
of which I was then a petty oflicer, wna
lying In the nivul dry dork nt Nngasukl.
This kept lis there t long time, nnd our
cviiptiiin had become Intimately nrn.ua In ted
With various Anniijx.lls UhIihiI o nicer s on
the Japanese battleship Yashlma, also In
port.
One morning I wns sent aboard the
Tnshlma with a mtssage to one of Its of
ficers from our captain. When I had de
livjred It, the Japinese olH'jer said:
"It's Impossible for mo to send my answer
Just now. We are going outside the harbor
for a couple of hours' target practice. If
you have the time to spare, you may stay
abi.ird till we mine In ngitlii."
Tho Invitation was accepted. The officer
left me alone In a chart room on an upper
deck, while he hurried off to his duties.
From the big yellow funnels of the bat
tleship hugo banks of smoke tumbled up,
rolling over the green hills that surround
tho harbor. The captain and his staff
Stood on the main bridge. There was a
Simplicity In their neat blue and white uni
forms that made It dlfllcult to distinguish
their ranks, nor was there that pompous
tiesa of manner In them peculiar to many
Kuropenn naval officers. One little chap
came Into the chart room for something
and bowed very politely. I took him to be
a ward room steward until afterword ho
turned nut to be the navigating officer.
A bell clanged faintly somewhere down
In the bowels of tho ship. Thpy had been
Weighing anchor, but ho noiselessly that I
hud failed to be nware of It. Shrill whistles
came from various parts of the ship, nnd
groups of men moved about the decks with
automatic regularity. Sentries with muskets
sprang up In unexpected spots as though
they were shoved up out of the deck. There
was no noise, no hurry, no excitement.
But from the small oblique eyes of every
man oame a gleam of Intense professional
Interest. There wus none of tho blase In
difference of the soldiers at drill.
It was rather a cold day, and the men
woro watch caps and jackets. Down In
the gun turrets they removed the jackets.
About each gun a gun crew formed, each
man In his particular place. Small hatches
were opened and ammunition hoists ap
peared as though by no human aid.
A Blight quiver told that tho big ship wns
moving. The green-terraced hills on both
Ides gilded back and sank; soon the open
sea spreud out before. It wns a glassy
calm day, an ideul day for gun practice.
Another shrill chirp from a bos'n'a
Whistle and the target went overboard a
buoy with huge triangular canvas wings.
Land was some distance astern now. Sud
denly the Innd-spi eked borlson began to
wing the Yashlma's wake was curving.
The target was keeping up aleam.
Until now there bad been no noise except
tho steady throb of machinery, tho swish
Of water over the sido and the sharp, regu
lar whirr of ammunition hoists.
One of the for'd slx-lnch guns was to be
tried first. Above, on the fore and aft
bridges, stood a lieutenant with a pad and
pencil to record the lilts. Ueslde him stood
an ensign with a watch to time them. It
was to be a test of quickness us well as
of marksmanship. Uelow a petty officer
tood behind tho gun, a wire Iniiuch hand,
lie was stooping, his eye even with the
gun sights, his whole attitudo one of In
tense mental concentration.
For the first time I heard a word spoken.
Tho lieutenant gave the word. A brilliant
yellow bar of fire shot out from the muitle
of the gun. The atmosphere cracked like
new sheet tin. A ball of white smoke flew
upwards. A few seconds passed all eyes
were on the white triangle, a mile abeam.
It seemed as though the projectile must
have gone beyond the horixon Una.
Suddenly a white spurt of fount shot up
from the Indigo water within fifty yards of
the target; a long, thin thread of water,
that opened at the top like an umbrella and
carue down In showers. '
A clang of the breech block brought my
attention to the gun sgaln. The gunner
wus once more sighting. This time he fired
at will he was trying to make time. An
other crackling report, another breathless
Interval, and the exploding shell sent up Its
fountain closer to tha target. This waj re
peated five times. At the last shot tha
target was hidden In the spurt of foam.
The lieutenant rushed aft along tha
bridge. A gun In one of the after turreta
began firing, almost as regutarly and as
quickly as a pulse beat. Between each
hot cam the clang of the breech block.
Evidently the second gun made better time;
her sheila certainly came nearer tha mark.
A smothered cheer came from her crew.
The officer skipped "midships, the ensign
with him. There was no mistaking the
repressed excitement of the gun crew. Tha
men had thrown open their thick Jacket
tha gunner bad throw a bis oft Ills aria
were bare; the muscles swelled and shrunk
as though the brown skin hell Imprisoned
snakes. Ills lips were parted, exposing his
teeth as though he were snarling.
His first shot struck the target full, put
ting a hole through one of tho canvas
Wings, the shell exploding Fllphtly beyond.
Again came an Impulsive cheer, or murmur
of admiration rather. The s;nall, bla;'k
mustache of the lieutenant went upward
as he Jotted do'vn some figures on hi t pad.
Tho first shot evidently made tho gunner
overconfident. The four succeeding shots
were comparatively pi or. Not a word was
siHiken, but the gun crew scowled.
There came an Interval In tho firing.
Tho target swung ahead. Then n sm ill
gun up In the fore top began tputterlng
nervously, the reports rolling above us I ke
thunder. All the officers on the bridge
were g izlng Intently at the target through
binoculars. A circle of angry wl.I.e foam
appeared nbout It.
The ship's course was describing a huge
figure eight. As the target swung around
on tho other beam, another six-inch gun
on that side opened fire. After leach llrlug
tho men slipped back the breech block,
pulled out the empty brass shell and slipped
In a loaded one with the regularity of au
tomatons. There was not a trace of their
repressed excitement in their movements.
Only their faces showed the keen rivalry
between the men who manned the different
guns. Sometimes they gave that muffled
cheer, or again, their oblique eyebrows be
en mo more oblique still, nnd the corners of
their mouths went down.
Again the target swung ahead, and again
camo tho thunderous rotir of tho smaller
quick firing guns. The whito wings of tho
tnrget almost disappeared In u boiling circle
of milky foam. Instinctively my hands
went up nnd covered my cars tho atmos
phere seemed to crystalize und break up
Into powdered bits. A big gun In some
forward turrent interpolated its gigantic
roar at regulur Intervals thut set the big
ship trembling.
Wo were coming closer to the target now
and the firing Increased. Slowly we passed
It. Those gun crews not engaged In firing
stood stolidly by their guns, staring fixedly
at the target. Their excitement had passed
their faces were as expressionless as that
of tho average Chlnuman when he over
charges for the wash.
Suddenly the firing ceased. The engines
below were still; we were drifting up
toward tho target. A boat was lowered
and pulled toward It, laying out a line, the
end of which was fastened to the buoy.
The bont returnod, was noiselessly hoisted,
then u winch ticked and pulled In the buoy,
hoisting It n hoard aft. Its white sails
were much torn and bedraggled, and the
steel buoy seemed not to have escaped
either.
Again the engines began throbbing and
the green hills about the harbor mouth
rose on both bows. In half an hour the
Yashlma's anchor cable was rattling out
and it swung around with the tide. A
launch with the imperial Japanese flag .
approached from shore. Again the bos'n's
whistles piped the men to quarters. A
saluto was to be fired.
On the for'd brldgo the captain stood
on the port side. He gave a barely audi
ble command. A gun In a turret below
him fired. Then he turned and walked
leisurely across the bridge to the star
board side, as though counting his steps.
When he reached the other end of the
bridge he barely stopped again, another
command, ' and a gun on the starboard
side fired. Thus he paced his bridge, to
and fro, and each time he reached the '
end of a turn, a gun lielow him belched -out
a fiery salutr to the personage ap
proaching In the launch. Thus, the cap
tain timed the Intervals between each shot
by the puces he took on the bridge.'
I suppose the little chap. with the thin
gray beard who came aboard was some
rear admiral stationed ashore, but the cere
monial reception given him would have
sufficed for the mikado himself. While ha
marched up one gangway. I crept down
another, with the message for my captain
In my pocket, addressed In neat Spencerlan
handwriting and In Kngllsh.
ALBERT SONNICHSEN.
Nippon Dcnji to the Front
(Continued from Page Eight.)
little bronce Images are beginning to take
notice In a most western fashion. We are
psychologically In what might be called
the third period of the war: The first,
that of Us beginning, with Its silence; the
second, that of victory, with its awakening
from dumb Intensity to enthusiasm (both
of which I have described); and, finally,
that of the real hurrah period. Those
first few solemn days stood for the home
farewells, the Intimate farewells. . It was
taken for granted tltat each soldier was
going forth to die. The family, the
friends, literally buried him In dry-eyed
mourning. If he survived. It would be a
resurrection with the attendant Joy. At
dinner a Japanese woman said to an
American, "Countess So-and-Ro ha four
on, all la tha army. Isn't It splendid
to give so many Uvea t your country!"
Stoicism having accepted the Inevitable,
the personal farewells paid, and the move
ment of troops begun then the soldiers
became the army and their friends tho
public. So today there Is a merry goodby.
Japan sends her sons away entnasse. as If
they were going on a pleasant tour, and
they answer back with smiles as If back
breaking marches and suffering were not
to be their portion. Arches are erected,
flags are flung to tho breeze, and the
golden baskets of fete days are raised.
IIov Armies Are Moved
(Continued from Pago Nine.)
Italians In New York and other American
cities. These carts were drawn by coolies
or by the soldiers themselves, and they
were so lightly laden that they Interfered
little. If ut all, with the mobility of the
force. The horse and mule carts were of
ths smallest type, und lightly built. Spare
animals were made to carry their own
fodder, and that of the other animals as
well.
These means were rendered necessary by
the smallness and weakness of tho Japanese
horses, which are about the scrawniest ani
mals of their kind. The Russians, on the
contrary, are well supplied with large,
strong, well-bred horses. Horse breeding
on an Immense scale was brought to a high
pitch of success In Russia by the late Count
Orloff, and the type of horse used In the
Russian army of today is mainly that
which Is known as the "Orloff horse."
The nowly broken horses of the steppes
arc also UfWd to a considerable extent, espe
cially by the Cossacks and the Turkestan
contingents.
In the Turcoman campaigns In Central
Asia camels were employed, but they are
hardly ever used today by Russian troops.
Thousands of dogs are pressed Into sor
vlca, however, mainly for transporting sol
diers and supplies In sltdges across L&ke
Baikal.
In the present campaign the mikado's
fighting man Is carrying a great deal moro
food with him than his Russian adversary.
Against the latter's two days' rations, ho
carries two cooked rations of rice In addi
tion to six emergency rations. These are
. contained in an aluminum mess pan, and
as the rice haa been boiled and dried Jn
the sun the entire weight Is trifling.
It Is commonly supposed that the Japa
nese soldier lives entirely on rice nnd dried
fish, but such is not the fact. He can live,
and fight well, on that spare diet, If neces
sary; but he Is given meat and other sus
taining foods whenever practicable, as well
as beer or "sake." Several years ago a
military commission was appointed by the
mikado to inquire why the physique of the
Japanese troops was Inferior to that of the
British, German and other armies. The
commission came to the conclusion that
beef and beer helped to build Up the stal
wart frames of Occidental fighting men,
and since then beef and beer have been In
cluded In the diet Bcalo of the Japanese
army.
It would appear, from recent reports, that
the food arrangements of the Japanese
forces now In the field are excellent. Ac
- cording to one statement, each Infantry
unit has a cylindrical stove and detachable
kettle capable of cooking enough rice to
furnish one meal for 100 men, Nine such
stoves and kettles are used for cooking for
a battalion. Boxes containing half-pound
cans of meat are carried by four horses
for each battalion. The question of water
supply has been carefully . considered,
doubtless owing to the. fact that the sick
ness among the Japanese troops In the
Peking expedition consisted almost entirely
of. typhoid fever. Each unit carries a
. quantity of sodium sulphate to purify tha
. drinking water.
CAPTAIN ARCHIBALD M. JAMES.
Older the Better
"Well, John," aaid Mra. Stubb. "I reckon
w better buy some new furniture and
then rent a house In a modest locality." -"No,
Maria," replied her husband, "we'll
keep the furniture and rent a house In a
well neighborhood."
"But the furniture la all scratched and
broken."
"That matters not If we are In a swell
neighborhood, we can say It la 'colonial.' "
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