Banzai!

Banzai!, by Ferdinand Heinrich Grautoff

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Title: Banzai!
Author: Ferdinand Heinrich Grautoff
Release Date: October 9, 2006 [EBook #19498]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BANZAI!
[Illustration: "That's the Japanese Satsuma, Togo's Satsuma!"]

BANZAI!
BY
PARABELLUM
LEIPZIG THEODOR WEICHER, PUBLISHER
NEW YORK THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO., SALES AGENTS 33 EAST 17TH STREET (UNION SQUARE)

COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY THEODOR WEICHER
COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO. All rights reserved
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON
Published, January, 1909
THE TROW PRESS, NEW YORK

CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD vii
INTRODUCTION ix
CHAPTER I.
--IN MANILA 1
II.--ON THE HIGH SEAS 34
III.--HOW IT BEGAN 49
IV.--ECHOES IN NEW YORK 61
V.--FATHER AND SON 69
VI.--A NIGHT IN NEW YORK 77
VII.--THE RED SUN OVER THE GOLDEN GATE 96
VIII.--IN THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH 105
IX.---A FORTY-EIGHT-HOUR BALANCE 121
X.--ADMIRAL PERRY'S FATE 142
XI.--CAPTAIN WINSTANLEY 171
XII.--ARE YOU WINSTANLEY? 185
XIII.--THE REVENGE FOR PORTSMOUTH 192
XIV.--ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WHIRLPOOL 206
XV.--A RAY OF LIGHT 211
XVI.--THROUGH FIRE AND SMOKE 217
XVII.--WHAT HAPPENED AT CORPUS CHRISTI 228
XVIII.--THE BATTLE OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS 243
XIX.--THE ASSAULT ON HILGARD 272
XX.---A FRIEND IN NEED 286
XXI.--DARK SHADOWS 295
XXII.--REMEMBER HILGARD 306
XXIII.--IN THE WHITE HOUSE 312

FOREWORD
Every American familiar with the modern international political horizon must have experienced a feeling of solid satisfaction at the news that a formidable American fleet was to be dispatched to the waters of the Pacific, and the cruise of our warships has been followed with intense interest by every loyal citizen of our Republic. The reasons that rendered the long and dramatic voyage of our fleet most opportune are identical with the motives that actuated the publication of this translation from the German of a work which exhibits a remarkable grasp of facts coupled with a marvelously vivid power of description. It is no secret that our ships were sent to the Pacific to minimize the danger of a conflict with our great commercial rival in the Far East, if not to avert it altogether, and Banzai! it seems to me, should perform a similar mission. The graphic recital, I take it, is not intended to incite a feeling of animosity between two nations which have every reason to maintain friendly relations, but rather to call the attention of the American people to the present woeful lack of preparedness, and at the same time to assist in developing a spirit of sound patriotism that prefers silent action to blatant braggadocio. That the Pacific Ocean may become, in truth, the Peaceful Ocean, and never resound to the clash of American arms, is the devout wish of one who believes--implicitly--with Moltke in the old proverb, Si vis pacem, para bellum--If you wish for Peace, prepare for War.
P.

INTRODUCTION
As usual, it had begun quite harmlessly and inconspicuously. It is not my business to tell how it all came to pass, how the way was prepared. That may be left to the spinners of yarns and to those on the trail of the sources of history. I shall leave it to them to ascertain when the idea that there must be a conflict, and that the fruit must be plucked before it had time to ripen, first took root in the minds of the Japanese people.
We Americans realize now that we had been living for years like one who has a presentiment that something dreadful is hanging over him which will suddenly descend upon his head, and who carries this feeling of dread about with him with an uneasy conscience, trying to drown it in the tumult and restlessness of daily life. We realize the situation now, because we know where we should have fixed our gaze and understand the task to the accomplishment of which we should have bent our energies, but we went about like sleep-walkers and refused to see what thousands of others knew, what thousands saw in astonishment and concern at our heedlessness.
We might easily have peeped through the curtain that hid the future from us, for it had plenty of holes, but we passed them by unnoticed. And, nevertheless, there were many who did peep through. Some, while reading their paper, let it fall into their lap and stared into space, letting their thoughts wander far away to a spot whence the subdued clash of arms and tumult of war reached their soul like the mysterious roll and roar of the breakers. Others were struck by a chance word overheard in the rush of the street, which they would remember until it was driven out by the strenuous struggle that each day brought with it. But the word itself