Power of the Eest Tho clnlm of Japan to be looked upon as tho Britain of tho cast Is not with out foundation, writes Isaac Taylor Headland In Munsey's Magazine. Her situation In relation to Eastern Asia, or, for that matter, In relation to all Asia la very similar to that of England In her relation to Europe. She la an Island empire. Her territory Is not large and as her population Is rapidly Increasing sho Is Impelled to utilize every foot of ground she possesses. Sho terraces tho mountain sides, and causes them to blossom as the rose. She Irrigates tho waBtc places and changes tho desert Into green fields. Sho rescues tho swamp lands and transforms them Into rlco fields. So that tho rural population of Japan, In stead of being farmers, are gardoners, and tho Island empire Is a garden spot In fact as well as In name. Japan resembles Britain at sea ns well aB on land. Many of her people (had a seafaring llfo. Sho la not only destined to become, but Is forced to become, ono of the great commercial nations of the world. Her ships will ply between all porls, and tho flag of tho rising sun will be seen flying on tho masts of merchant vessels on all ucafl, oast and west, Just ns tho Union Jack Is at tho present time. As a mat ter of protection, sho will need a large navy. Tho beginning of this she al ready possesses. Her navy is rapidly increasing, and she 13 building or hav ing built ships of tho moat modern type, with gun3 of tho best make. She stands today among tho Mx or seven great maritime powers and In all tho Pacific sho Is the strongest of them all. Ono of tho proverb3 that meet us when wo arrlvo In tho cast is thin: "The Japanese wash their bodies and their clothes; the Corcann wash tholr clothes; the Chinamen do not wash either." Tho proverb Is almost liter ally true. The bath Is one of tho first Japaneso Institutions tho travolor en counters. In tho home the hath room may bo tho living room and the mala and fomalo members of tho family per forin their ablutions In full sight o'f one another, while in tho public bath nothing moro than a netting and some times not even that separates tho male from tho female divisions of the bath house. Japnn'A Industrial VroRrem. In her Industrial progress Japan has taken rapid strides. Business men have sent tholr sons, or their most Intelli gent apprentices, to America and to European countries, where they have entered tho great factories as clerks or laborers, and by their Industry havo worked their way to tho top. They fa miliarize themselves with all depart ments of business and every phase of business life, and some bright morning tho stranger who began as an humblo clerk appears before hl3 employer as a Japaneso gentleman In every way his equal, takeo his polite leave of the firm with which ho has been connected and returns to his native land to open up a like business. Bccauso of the cheap ness of labor, Japaneso manufacturers can turn out similar goods at prices far below what they cost to mako In Europo or America. Everything from a bicycle to a razor, and from a ship to a toy engine, or a real engine, Is mado In great factories, whose tall shlmneys mar tho beauty of tho moun tain sides as one passes along tho coast or through tho platld Inland sea, Hallways are In operation all over the empire, and both tholr equipment and their management is excellent. The traveler In Japan may tako a flrst class, second-class, or third-class car, and will find himself shut up with a number of little men and women who sit tailor-fashion on tho seats, or, kneeling, sit on their heels, Instead of THE EMPEROIl OF JAPAN, letting their heels rest on tho floor. It is their habit of sitting on their feet that causes Japaneso of both sexes to turn their toes in, and that helps to mako them so small In stature. Tho Japaneso from tho leg up is as largo as tho average European, but ho lacks leg development, which shortcoming has been caused, It Is supposed, from his constant sitting on bis legs. An alarm has been raised by many observers who havo predicted that Japan, with Its cheap labor, Is destined to twurp tho Industrial supremacy of tho world; hut tho menace Is moro Im aginary that real. It should bo re membered that tho Jnpanese nro not originators, hut Imitators. Tho Chin ese can originate, hut cannot bring to any degree of perfection; tho Japan eso cannot originate, but are clover ut adapting und Improving. Their porce lain was borrowed from Korea, but has been bo Improved as to be unrecogniz In n L Japan hays Claim to that To sit ion. RBHBHMKnm able. Their classical books aro of Chin eso origin, as Is also their religion. Their navy Is British, their nrmy Ger man, their legal codo French, their ed ucational systom Amorlcan, and tllr various Industries nro taken from all over tho world. They aro not sim ply copied, howovcr. Tho borrowed Ideas are eaten and digested, as It were, and stnmpcd with the Imprint of the art and llfo of tho Japaneso as to be como their own. Modern Udurntlnn In Jnpnn. What happened In tho Industrial llfo of Japan happened also In Its edu cational life. Students went to foreign countries, and entered all departments of learning. Those who could not go abroad rushed to tho governmental and mission Echools until all of these were flllcd to overflowing; and the rapidity with which the pupils nc- THE EMPRESS OF JAPAN, quired foreign knowledge wns evidence of their nblllty and of their deep In terest. Tho number of schools and pu pils Increased as rapidly as flnancinl conditions of tho government would allow, until at the present tlmo thero aro no fewer than 30,000 schools, hav ing 100,000 teachers, half a million graduates, and C.000,000 pupils, whllo tho annual outlay for educational pur poses Is not less than $7,500,000. Tho Japanese Army. As Japan choso tho groaost naval power In tho world for a model in plan ning her licet, so sho selects tho great est military organization, tho German army, as a model for her land forces. Her army numbers a quarter of a million men, with somo 5,000 ofllccrs. Tho Japaneso soldiers proved In their war with China in 1894, and lately in the expedition to Pekin, that they aro among tho mo3t wonderful fighting men tho world has known. Thoy aroused universal amazement and un bounded admiration among tho Europ eans and Americans who saw their, work. In tho battlefield, If nowhero else, tho "plucky little Japs" havo gained the world-wldo respect for which thoy havo struggled so long and so hard. Their discipline, enduranco and bravery made the Occidental sol diers open their eyes. When tho at tack wns made on Tientsin, tho Chl neso sharpshootors killed man after man before ono could get at tho wall with guncotton. Finally, a Japaneso soldier succeeded In reaching the gato with two cans of the explosive. Three times ho lighted a long fuse and It was shot out. Then, to mako sure of his work, tho soldier calmly stood over tho match. Of course, ho knew ho would bo blown to atoms, but tho gato was shattered, and Tientsin was' taken. CLOTH THAT LASTS. Roods Aro Promised Thut Will Wcur Twenty Yours. In with tho now century will como a new material for clothing which really will revolutionize all our notions about tho cloth In which wo shall bo clad. Think of getting a suit of clothes that will last for twenty yenrs; that will cost only a third moro than a suit costs now, nnd that will bo absolutely waterproof without appearing to bo bo. Revolutionize is rather an overworked word, but It fits this caso exactly. In stead of singing, "Papa's pants will coon fit Johnnie," tho refrain will run, 'Johnnlo soon will wear Pa's pants," for when pa enco begins to wear these extremely useful articles before John nie has got out of dres303 ho may con tlnuo to wear them for tho next twenty years, and by that tlmo Johnnlo will havo grown up to them. Tho samo with little Mary and her mother's skirts. Instead of cutting down tho garments for tho girl tho mother will wear thom for a generation or so, and then turn them over to her daughter. This most useful cloth can ho mado In gray, crimson, purple nnd blue, and doubtless by next May, when tho mills In England will be completed, It will bo found possible to dye tho cloth black and brown. The variety of colors will mako tho material adaptable equally to tho meu and to tho women. (lomrnor of Xrgrox Islitiid. Colonel Charles W, Miner of tho Sixth Infantry, whom General MacAr thur has Just mado military governor of tho Island of Negros, has been In command of the Sixth ever slnco the battle of San Juan Hill, excepting a little tlmo before tho regiment eniled for tho Orient. Count Tolstoi has completed a new' play called "The Corpse." 11 -memmmmmmimmmmmmmmmn j The New Cup Defender Thomas W. Lawson, Boston's "cop per king" and turfman and owner of tho 930,000 Mr. Lawson carnation, hns declared his Intention of building yacht, tho cost of which will be be tween $150,000 and $200,000, which If to defend America's reputation In THOMAS W. boating circles. Lawson is 41 years old and is a Cambridgo man by birth, with a remarkable record. When ho was 12 years old ho left homo and went to work for n Boston banker at $3 n week. Ho worked Just one day when his parents put him back to school. Five days later ho returned to the bank, only to bo recovered again af ter ono day by his parents. In. ten SLAIN IN SUDAN. llodlcs of Two Trench. Explorers, Killed In 1807, Aro Itronvored. Over three years ngo tho French ex plorers Ballly and Pnuly, started from tho Interior of the French Sudan for tho Ivory coast on tho Gulf of Guinea. Thoy had been exploring tho complete ly unknown region northeast of Li beria and had decided to make a long Inland Journey southward and to cntch a steamer for homo on tho Ivory coast. They never reached their des tination and many months elapsed be fore their fato was ascertained. They were murdered by members of the Toma tribe, who chose to regard tho explorers as enemies. A whllo ago this fact wna C3certalncd from a chief who had served under tho Sultan Samory. He had lived In the Toma country and knew of tho massacre. When Samory fell Into tho hands of the French Kunady-Keleba tho chief who had served him entered tho employ of tho French nrid they sent him to tho Toma country to recover, if possible, tho bodies of the murdered men. On May 8 last, ho returned to tho French frontlor with tho skeletons of tho ill-fated explorers. Tho bodies wero carried in a heavy iron box and among tho carriers wero a considerable number of the Toma trlbo. Captain Basset went with an escort of 'twenty artillerymen to escort the bodies to the vlllago of Boylu. Thero n guard was placed over the bodies for tho night and In tho morning thoy were Identified as those of tho murdered men. Tho ceremony when the bodies wero burled wns mado as impressive a3 possible. Tho Tomns promised over tho grave that they would never ngaln kill whlto men. Now Kunady-Kclcba has been made tho ruler of tho Toma country, which has been taken under the authority of tho French govern ment. New York Sun. ALARM CLOCKS. Declarod to IIhto ICiiIiiiiiI 801110 Mua villliie XorvcH. The latest objection urged against boarding nnd lodging houses Ih that one Is likely, to be awakened at any moment In them In tho early morn ing that is, by tho wild, excited whir of an alarm clock.. Ono youth who has apartments In nn uptown domlcllo and who docs not have to arise until Into, has a list of grievances against this useful article that ho retails whenever ho can get nny ono to listen. Every morning, he declares, ho Is nrouscd at G by a terrific ringing right back of the headboard of his bed, a ringing that would rouso tho seven sleepers from their slumbers. Thnt's tho nwakenor of his neighbor In tho rear, who's a commission man, and must bo down town betimes, nnd faith fully It docs Its duty, says tho Balti more News. Tho man utters Improper language when It hns spun Itself out to a length thnt Indicates tho alarm spring Is ns long ns that in a Wator bury watch, then snuggles down and goes to sleep again. In half 1111 hour ho Is aroused by a ferocious sputt. r from above. Tliat't the clock of tho boarder overhead, which rejoices In a patent attachment that mnken It sound like an nngry and Infantile fox terrier yelping. Tho man says moro lmpropsr things nt tills and It takes him a full twenty minutes to compose his nerves sufliclcntly to go to sleep again. At 7 o'clock a hoarse, choking sound 13 heard to the left. This Is tho voice dayB ho wns back nt tho bank, nnd this tlmo the banker persuaded tho parents to let tho boy work. Thrco hours every dny ho devoted to study bo In tlmo became n well educated man. Whllo still In his teens ho be gan to write for tho newspapers, bo- LAWSON. came n flnancinl writer nnd nchlcved a marked success In this Held. Mr. Law son before ho wns twenty years old was worth $00,000 but lost It. Before ho was 30 he had mado and lost sev eral fortunes, nnd It Is commonly re ported on tho street that ten' yenrs ngo ho couldn't have raised $100. To day ho can "buy and sell" most of tho brokers In Boston. of tho alarm clock owned by tho small teacher who occupies tho hall room. It's a clock with peripatetic tendencies and as It rouaes tho neighborhood with Its voice he can hear It running around on her bureau at a great rate. By thti tlmo tho man Is so thoroughly awaks that tho warning of his own clock Isn't needed nnd ut Its ilrst note ho seizes it and plunges It beneath tho bedclothes so that tho people In tho houso who havo not already been awakened may enjoy their slumbers undisturbed. Tho hero of this story mcdltntes a crusado against tho board ing house alarm clock, but Just when ho will commence It ho refuses to atate. His nerves aro a wreck bccauso of it, ho declares, so perhaps ho has reascn to preach. FOSS, OF ILLINOIS. One of the young men In congress who hns been gradually rising to dis tinction nnd who hns reached I1I3 goal at this session Is Georgo E. Foss, of Illinois, who takes tho placo at tho head of tho Naval Affairs Committee mado vacant by tho resignation of Boutcllo of Maine, whose mind Is clouded nnd who, if ho ever returns to the House, will bo unablo to tako ths GEORGE B. FOSS. active part In leglshitlvo affairs which ho once filled. Mr. Foss, who Is 3'. ycxrs old, entered congress with a fine reputation as a public speaker and en hanced It by hla masterly efforts In debate. Ho mado naval affairs 0 specialty, secured a placo on that com mltteo and by travel, study and ob servation becamo better acquainted with tho sea-flghtlng equipment of this country than nny other man In the Houso, excoptlng, perhaps, Boutelle. I.mly Ilnpulfiiiii'H ArcoiiiplMiiiifMitn. Lady Ilopetoun waB n daughter o Lord and Lndy Vcntry, nnd married Ixjrd Ilopetoun, now govornor general of tho commonwealth of Australia, In 1880. Ah Miss Hers?y do Moleyns sho wns already known a& a daring and graceful horsowomnn. and although as Lady Hopntoun she by no means neg lects tho duties of her position, It Is well known that her greatest pleasure Is her early morning ride with hor hus band's harrlors when In Scotland. Be sides being n goad hoisowomnn she Is a capital whip and her team of four tiny "Sheltlcs" In hard to beat. Lady Hopntoun has two sons Lord IIopo nnd Charles Molbourno Hope. The latter owes I1I3 second name to tho fnct ol his having been born during hla fa ther's term of ofllco as governor of Vic toria, from 1S89 to 1895. CALIFORNIA'S GOLD. INTERESTING REMINISCENCES OF '40. Narrated by nn Old Timer, Who rmsort Through Thoio Day or I'evorUh Kx cltcment Tho First HtniiipcdoIIaw the Newt of tho Discovery Hpread. Ono of tho few survivors who wa3 intimately connected with tho discov ery of gold in California Is Rodney D. Adams, who lives near Santa Barbara, nnd whoso reminiscences of thnt time nro very Interesting. Mr. Adnma was employed ns buss vaqucro by Cnpt. John A. Sutter, who wan then building n saw mill and flour mill on tho north fork of tho Amcrlcnn river at what Is now Coloma, El Dorado county. The man In charge of tho construction wns James Marshall, tho discoverer of gold. Dlsrorcry of fluid. Ono nftcmoon In February, 1348, says Mr. Adnms, I rodo into tho camp of workmen nt Sutter's mill and wns told In Bccrct by Marshall that ho had found flvo nuggctf. of gold. MnrBhall RODNEY D. ADAMS, had no Idea then of tho importance of his discovery nnd so llttlo did tho find ing of tho gold affect either of us that bath of us went to bed In the same room nt an early hour and olept Bountl ly during tho night. Marshall caution ed mo to keep tho gold And n secret until we had tlmo to go and hunt nug gctB by ourselves. But Marshall was loquacious nnd ho himself bragged about his find. Five days' later several MoxlcauH brought In more nuggets. Then tho Mormons, who wero working for Sutter nnd Mnrshall found gold, and tho Importance of tho And In creased n llttlo In tho minds of Mar shall and all of us at tho Coloma camp. A few years later, whon tho world's commorcc was turned, as Lord Derby said, by the gold discov ery In California, and when over 300, 000 young men from nil over tho civil ized world had flocked to California and had mado a now civilization out hero, 1 wondered how wo could havo been so blind nt first to tho meaning of tho first nuggets that James Marshall casually picked up that February morning In tho mill rnco nt Colomn. Why, it wns about ton days before Marshall thought tho find Justified his reporting It to Cnpt. Suttor, who was at his homo placo and ranch head quarters, known ns Sutter's Fort, nbout thlrty-flvo miles northwest. Tho nows did not get down to San Frnn clsco, nbout 150 miles away, until thrco months later. Capt. Sutter said when tho gold was shown him, "Yes, that's gold, nnd it will bo tho curso of us," meaning that it wan tho end of tholr schemes for n big enw mill nnd flour mill along the Amerlcnn river. fiprrnil or tlio Nuws. But another week passed before tho belief becamo general nt Snn Frnnclsco thnt back In tho mountains gold had nctualy been found. I remombcr that educated men argued thnt tho geologi cal formation of tho Sierras mado tho finding of gold there nn absurdity. Somo said tho golden flakes exhibited wero Iron pyrites, nnd othcrB laughed and said thoy wero from a copper formation. Tho San Francisco Star pitied pcoplo who could bellovo thero was gold onough In Cnllfomla to buy oven n rcspcctablo meal. A week later on May 12, I believe a Scotch ranchman enmo riding Into San Francisco directly from tho dig gings. Ho wns nn Intelligent nnd repu table man. Ho brought with him about 200 pounds of gold dust and nuggets to trade for merchandise. Then thero was excitement nnd bustle. All thnt day and night tho saloons wero throng ed with men who talked of nothing but tho chances thero might bo for them in mining. The enrliest stampedo of excited men to tho gold diggings of California therefore began on May 13, 1848. I remember that day In San Francisco. Tho whole population of tho town did not sleep and scarcely took tlmo to cnt until the first crowd had ombarkod on nil manner of crafts up tho river to whut Is now Stockton, thnnco ncross tho country to tho north fork of the Amerlcnn river. HfMirchllgliU mi tlio K11110I1. Even tho western cowboy has como under tho spell of tho electric power, nnd a ranch In lower California anil Mexico is to utllizo n local water power for tho generation of electricity, for lighting, harvesting, pumping, etc. Tho chief innovation will bo thn use of searchlights on thn mountains over looking tho ranch to prevent cattlo raids. Tho operator of each light will bo sultubly armed with long rnngo weapons nnd provided with a slgnnl codo by which ho enn flash Information to tho other watchers. A telophono Byfltem, embracing nil portions of the 10,000 acres, will bo another convenient method of raising an alarm. QUEER CHINESE WAYS, Compulsory Contention by n Eerlon of Tortnrts. Justlco ns obtained In tho Chtne&o courts Is a farce. A caso occurred whllo tho writer was In China In which a Chinese judge, Bitting with an Eng lish magistrate, declared that ho was obliged to give Judgment ngolnBttho ovldenco or he should lose his appoint ment! Tho crlmlnnl law of China provides that nn offender can only bo punished If ho confesses hU guilt, nnd If ho Is tnrdy In conforming to this condition ho la compelled to confession by a series of tortures of tho most painful and nwful character. Super stition la rlfo from end to end of tlio Innd and leads to cruelty and brutality of tho worst description. Tho system of "squeczo" nnd extortion which oxIsIb throughout the cast is found In so ag gravated n form In China that it stifles cntcrpriso and prevents oxpnn&tan of trade nnd leaves tho masses of tho pco plo barely with tho necessaries of llfo. whllo their superiors In position be como wealthy by corrupt accumulation. This system of "squeeze," of course, applies to tho question of rnllwny con struction. Ono of tho most Intelligent Chinamen tho writer met In Shanghai offered him a concession for n railway from Pckln to Chlngklang, tho fore most condition being that tho sum of 120,000 in cash should bo paid to a leading government official nt tho cut ting of tho first sod. As a further Il lustration It mny bo pointed out that out of the 13 railway concessions' al ready supposed to bo granted (extend ing nbout 3.G00 miles) not ono hnB ns yet been commenced. Capital punish ment prevails to nn extent few pcoplo hnvo any Idea of In this country. An importnnt Russian official tho writer met on his wny from Pokln stated that, ono of his countrymen had been mur dered in Mnnchurln by a Chinaman. They wished to punish him in Biich n way and nt such a plnce aB would con vey tho strongest warning to othera. but they found thnt It would bo use less to executo him In his native town, as no less than 2,000 persons had ended their liven In this way In tho previous 12 months! Emerson Balnbrldgc, M. P., in tho Contemporary Review. THE APRON FAD. A 1'lnaforo Ilnom linking In Dnmo Fnshlon'a Ilnnlm. Thoro is n rago Just now among fnshlonnblo ladles for tho wearing of aprons as an adjunct to n toilet, it Is n fad, howovcr, for ladles to mako aprons Instead of laco or linen om broidcry. Tho origin of tho fad is traced to Lady Cornwallls-Wcat, who, as Iidy Randolph Churchill, had ono to nurso tho sick nnd wounded soldiers on tho hospital ship Maine. Her Indi vidual outfit of aprons for nursing ubo la nald to havo created tho Btyle,. from tho fnct that thoy hod a peculiar at tractiveness for the heroes. Here, though wo havo no sick soldiers to charm to health, tho npron has taken hold ns an Indispensable finish to a breakfast gown. Hostesses nnd guests como to tho dining tnblo with theso dainty plastrons of silk, nwlss, linen or lnco, olabnratoly wrought. To havo this fnshlon correct tho npron must bo homo mado. Historic wardrobes support designs for these. For in stance, thero Is tho slmplo Colonial Damo'B npron of pink and whlto check ered glnghnm; another 1b tho fac simile of tho Marguorlto apron worn by Cnlvo In "Fnust,," nnd another Is n Mmio Antoinette copy. Drawn work of embroidery Is tho most gen oral ornamentation for tho present, apron. , 1 DAVIS' SUCCESSOR. , Tho vacancy In the United States sounto created by tho death of Cush man K. Davis of Minnesota, has boon tilled by tho appointment of Charlcf.' A. Towno, tho silver-tongued, sllvor-llned and sllvcr-coated cx-congi'cssman who wns tho Populist candidate for vlco prcsldcnt nnd who withdraw after tho nomination of Adlal E. Stevenson by CHARLES A. TOWNE. tho Democrats. Mr. Towno Is well equipped for senatorial service, having hocomo familiar with Washington llfo during his Hervico in tho Fifty-fourth congress. Silver had no moro nrdunt champion than tho lawyer-editor from Minnesota nnd his devotion to the whlto metal cost him n ro-clcctlon. Ho left tho Republican pnrty in 189G, und with tho exception of Brynn has prob ably dollvercd moro speeches for silver than nny other man. He Is n Michigan man by birth but hns lived In Minne sota a dozen years. His service In tho eennto will not ho long, no tho legisla ture which mcots this month will elect n Republican to succeed him, Towno' appointment Is from tho governor and Is only temporary. Edgar Urchin, tho youngest son of the fnmous German naturalist, is dead nt tho ago of G5, With him tho fam ily has becomo extinct.