The Capture of Wei-hai-wei.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XX, Issue 6228, 10 April 1895, Page 4

The Capture of Wei-hai-wei.

The accounts published in the London papers of the capture of Wei-hai-wei by the Japanese give an admirable idea alike of the vigorous manner in which the invaders have carried on the war and of the value of torpedo boats when handled by bold officers. The entrance to the harbor in which lay the Chinese squadron had been almost choked by obstructions placed there by the defenders ; the channels were full of torpedoes, and both the land forts and the Chinese ironclads were equipped with heavy artillery. The land forts, however, fell before the onslaught of the Japanese army assisted by their warships, and with this danger out of the way the Japanese Admiral decided t'>rout the Chinese vessels out of their hiding place. On the night of .January 30, the Japanese torpedo flotilla was ordered to force the passage into the bay, but by an unlucky mistake as the boats were creeping past the forts, by this time manned by Japanese gunners, the latter took then' to be Chinese craft and opened a hot fire upon them, before which they had to retreat. Two nights afterwards a second attempt was made, but the Chinese were alert this time, and the torpedo boats had again to retire. After a night's interval a third attack was arranged. All day the Japanese warsbip3 and forts had kept up a galling fire, so that when the night came the Chinese were probably tired out. The torpedo boats, profiting by the lax discipline and the darkness of an intensely cold night, crawled stealthily into the bay, dodging the obstacles and the line of Chinese torpedo boats which was drawn round the defending squadron, and one of their number, apprnachinz the Tins luen, the Chinese flagship, fired two torpedoes at her with deadly effect, the huge vessel sinking at once. Other projectiles were discharged without effect, and amid the firing of the Chinese ships the torpedo boats were hard put to it to escape from the hornet's nest they bad disturbed. The one which sank the flag ship suffered a like fate herself, one had 46 bullet holes from a Hotchkiss gun, two others were like sieves, and only by continuous exertions were prevented from foundering. Iu the scramble to get out from the harbor, three of the Japanese torpedo boats ran ashore, two others broke their propellers by running upon neks or against the floating obstacles at the harbor mouth. Only one boat escaped entirely uninjured, and. curiously enough, the officer in command of this vessel, with his two look-out men. were frozen to death at their posts. The next night another successful foray was made and seven torpedoes were tired, with the result that two Chinese warships weie struck and were seen to founder, and a gunboat was blown up. The two attacks had, therefore, resulted in the Japanese destroying, with but comparatively little loss, three of the enemy's warships and a gunboat. It is needless to say that in spite of the distress which the burden imposed by the war is causing among the poorer classes of Japan, the nation as a body is intensely elated at the success which has attained its forces during the war. The feeling is probably ait the more intense from the fact that owing to the rigorous Press censorship little or nothing is known about the affairs at the front several days prior to big undertakings. This suppression of news, says a Yokohama correspondent, " invariably causes uneasiness, startling rumors are circulated, and disaster is predicted. Then suddenly the tinkle of the bells of the goaai—express runners—is heard, the town is alive with excitement, and another brilliant exploit on the part of the Japanese forces is recorded. These exploits seem to run in cycles of two months." The Japanese pleasure at their triumphs manifests itself in various ways. An Eiffel tower, to cost something like L 50,000, is to be erected at Toko in commemoration of the glorious feats of the Army and Navy. The Japanese Press have, it is said, made it the fashion to speak disparagingly of England's prestige, and no little antipathy is directed against Great Britain, with occasionally ludicrous results. The Kokumin, a Yokohama journal, recently declared that England was the China of Europe, with a "veneer of civilisation." It hinted, we are told, that it was fortunate for England that Japan was not fighting against her instead of Chim, and added that if England were stripped of "India, Waterloo, and Trafalgar," she was really a very insignificant Power. Subsequently the editor indulged in another geographical simile. China, he said, was the Turkey, Corea the Egypt, and Japan the Great Britain of the East, minus England's decreDtitude and corruption. " A Tokio official came at the New Year to cail upon Mr M'lvor, the American Consul-General, and declared that Japan would have to fiyht Eugland. Mr M'lvor did not laugh outright, but gravely remarked that England was more powerful than China. ' I know it.' replied the bellicose official, ' but we can beat England, and we are going to do it.' " Forewarned is forearmed, and after this England must take care to keep her powder dry in the East. The patriotism of the Japanese has had one remarkable result in the Diet; it has united the Government and the Opposition, and the Budget, proTiding, among other things, for the hastening forward of two warships now building in England, was passed without a murmur. Count Ito's speech at the opening of the Diet is truly described as a model of brevity. " With the history of the war," he said, you are all familiar, and I need not explain it here. Our prospects are good." That was all 1 What an opportunity for spread eagleism such an occasion •vould have offered to an American Minister. ,