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July 23, 1S97, XLhC 1R=*£. ICClTdD anb S. lt;!.lt;£.(consist of men fanatically zealous to root out the old social order, and with it, all the best traditions of the past, while towards Foreign Powers they were cautious to the point of subserviency. His counsels were overborne or ignored. The nation and its Sovereign were plainly drifting towards irremediable disaster. In bitterness of soul the great Marshal shook the dust of Tokio from his feet, and returning home set himself to prepare a new revolution. He had th» chief men of the South at his back. The new governor, Oyama,- was half threatened, half • cajoled into connivance. Military schools started up all over Satsuma, where the high-spirited young samurai were taught and drilled after the latest methods. Munitions of war steadily accumulated. At length-the government took alarm and sent a gunboat to take possession of the Kagoshima Arsenal. The conspirators were forced to declare themselves by openly seizing the arsenal, and in the first days of February, 1877, Saigo took the field, and marched upon Kumamoto at the head of fourteen thousand of the bravest soldiers in Japan. These were to be the nucleus of revolt. In other provinces thousands of staunch friends were but waiting the signal to rise. Choshfi and Tosa would soon be in arms, and the whole Empire aflame. Tf tttoo q from nns crisis Vint. Hi A C-rnVAm-that very ugly bit of business, the bombardment of Kagoshima by Admiral Kuper in 1863. *OF KAGOSHIMA.Despite the. shipping in the harbour, Kagoshima does not give the impression of a place devoted to trade ; quite the con-trary indeed. There reigns a marvellous quiet in most of the Kiushiu cities, and Kagoshima seems stillest of them all. The commercial quarter is narrow, and outside j df it you wander through many miles of sSilent streets, between lines of fence and hedge enclosing fastidious little cottages set in gardens. It was the pride of the old warrior gentry of Japan to show in their homes, however modest, the superior refinement of their class. And Kagoshima is still essentially a city of samurai. Hence its air of distinction. Nagasaki is a vast bazaar overrun with foreigners ; Kumamoto is bustling and well-to-do ; Kagoshima dainty, old-world, aristocratic, serene.In my character of photographer I was admitted, with a readiness that surprised me, to some of the prettiest private grounds. The Satsuma folk bear in Japan the reputation of heavy smiters and slow thinkers. I do not know how the truth of this may be, but for my own part I found them very courteous, though reserved,litro oil fli — .*____
Newspaper Details
North China Herald
Shanghai, Shanghai, CN
Fri, Jul 23, 1897
Page 38
Full Page
Clipped by
Canton S.
OK, USA 08 Nov 2023
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North China Herald
