| OCR Text |
Show Traits of tho Japanese Soldier. The most noticeable thing about tho Japanese soldier is not connected wIHi hla actual military duties, though ho performs theso thoroughly, but rather tho esccllcnco of his conduct when off duty. They may bo seen in numbers In tho streets walking along decorously, with happy, smiling faces, frequently two and two, holding each other's hands like little children. They never seem to bo noisy or Intoxicated, Intoxi-cated, oven on tho most festlvo and do- I moralizing occasions. I novcr saw a dls- orderly soldier. It is much more customary cus-tomary to hoc tho Japanese soldiers sitting sit-ting talking to acquaintances and drinking drink-ing tea, at tho side of tho street, or else looking over books at tho book stores, than to llnd them In wlnehouscs or even beer halls Thoro aro a thousand true stories of the Japanese army and navy which provo that tho men who fight Japan's battles rank among the best soldiers In tho world. Of all stories the heroism of a'privato named Ilarada. during the sicgo of Plng-yang. Plng-yang. Is given as an example. Tho fort at PIngyang mado a most desperate resistance, re-sistance, . Again and again tho Japaneao tried to storm the gate, but tho massive door was secured by a heavy Iron bar, and they could not gain entrance. They were beaten back, but Harada stayed behind be-hind under the shelter of the battlements. While the enemy wore triumphing over their' victory, he quietly scaled tho wall and dropped down suddenly In the midst of a hundred yelling Chinese. Beforo they realized who he was, he had shot a couplo of them, bayonottod a third, thrown down i the Iron bar and swung tho gato open. Then, for a few strenuous moments, ho held tho gate alone against hundreds of Chinese, until his comrades rushed up, cheering madly, and swarmed In and took tho fort. They found Harada covered with blood and surrounded by a rampart of corpses, but alive and only slightly wounded. He was decorated by tho Mikado Mi-kado and Is today ono of tho national heroes of Japan. In the march on Peking tho Japanese, in tho attack on one of the walled cities near tho capital, mado heroic efforts to dynamite a breach in tho walls in order to cffect an entrance into the city. A nnrfeot hnll of shrunriel crreoted tliem. mid Jap after Jap lost his life In tho endeavor to blow up the wall. Suddonly ono of the "llttlo beggars" gained tho coveted van-tago van-tago point, and, although he well knew thut with the explosion that wrecked tho wall his own life must be snuffod out, did not hesitate for a second. A cloud of dust marked for ono brief moment the spot where ho had been standing, whllo ore the cloud had settled down his mates leaped eagerly forward over his mangled remains, forward through the gaping vent in tho city's side, forward, ever forward, while the Chinese, shrinking away from tho carnage that was to follow, abandoned their position to tho allied troopa. Krom Alfred Stead's "Japan Today" and Other Books. |
