Heroes

"Benny." To delighted correspondents at Shanghai, Lieutenant Commander Roy Campbell Smith, U. S. N., told last week with infectious gusto how, as Commander of the destroyer Noa, he had ordered the bombardment of Nanking (TIME, April 4) in order to save the lives of the U. S. Consul and other U. S. citizens beseiged in the city. The spectre of Commodore Dewey, and his ringing command, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley!" kindled in the correspondents' imagination as their pencils raced to take down the words of hearty, beaming Lieutenant Commander Smith:

"Well now, when I saw the Consul's signal of distress I said to myself: 'Here's where I get either a medal or a court martial.' So I leaned over the rail and said, 'Let 'er go, Benny!' "

Soon it was ascertained that "Benny" is Lieutenant Benjamin F. Staud of Pittsburgh, who pulled the lanyard firing the first U. S. gun to send a shell spinning over Nanking. Commodore Dewey's "Gridley" was Charles Vernon Gridley of Logansport, Ind.

Proud U. S. citizens balanced and weighed upon their tongues "Benny" v. "Gridley"; and "Gridley" v. "Benny." Each seemed unforgettable.

Disgrace. While U. S. and British guns were thundering at Nanking, Lieut. K. Araki of the Imperial Japanese Navy went ostentatiously unarmed into Nanking with a small detachment of Japanese sailors, likewise unarmed, in an effort to rescue the Japanese Consul in which he was successful.

Last week Lieutenant Araki reached Shanghai and reported to his Rear Admiral. Then he went to his cabin on the Japanese flagship, took pen and paper, wrote: "In order to insure the safety of Japanese residents at Nanking, I endured, from the Chinese, insults which no Japanese can tolerate. The lives of the Japanese refugees could be saved, but I am ashamed that the honor of the Japanese navy has been disgraced in my person."

Soon Lieutenant Araki composed himself for a night's sleep. At dawn, as the bugle blew for hoisting the Japanese ensign, he arose, mounted the bridge, faced the sun, as it rose over Japan, and shot himself.