Japanese and French Warships

Visit Suva.

From Our Own Correspondent.

SUVA, June 15.

A MAJOR event during the month has been the visit of the Japanese cruisers, "Iwate’’ and "Asama,” together with the French sloop, “Bellatrix.’’ All these ships took on coal at Suva.

The Japanese ships had both taken part in the Russo-Japanese War and are now obsolete.

They had on board a contingent of Japanese naval cadets, who were doing a Pacific tour.

The sight of these old vessels steaming in through Suva Harbour made one realise how completely powerless was Suva to resist any attack, even from the most obsolete of vessels.

In England, the Royal Navy is talked of as “Under God, our sure shield.” Never was a saying truer than in the case of Suva.

It is something to note that our Legislative Council has appreciated this to the extent of voluntarily voting at the last session £5,000 towards the cost of upkeep of the Royal Navy.

There were various festivities and, at an At Home given by the Japanese Vice-Admiral, the guests were shown a most interesting display of Japanese single-stick, ju-jitsu and wrestling.

The French sloop, “Bellatrix,” belongs to the Flower class. She was built and engined in Glasgow in 1918 and is now on Colonial patrol duties in much the same way as British sloops are used. This week the “Laburnum,” a sister ship in class to the “Bellatrix,” arrives from New Zealand for her annual visit, so that life just at present in Suva seems to be a series of naval occasions.