. .tnmmry , IWfl. OMAItA ILLUSTRATED BEE.
Japanese Girls at Home
Miss Ethel Maud Soper of llaltlniore , ; \
Httulont of tlio Woman's college , was born
hi Japan and lived there a long time. She
N the daughter of Her. .lulius Sopor of the
Methodist church , who has liocn a mission
ary in Japan. Miss Sopor spoke .as follows
of tlio differences between n Japanese girl
and an American girl to a repi'iwntatlve of
tlio Ilaltlmoro News :
"To begin with the bablus- They artan
much potted and indulged as the most
spoiled darling in all the Tinted Statis.
Everything is done to make childhood a
happy time. Toys arc lavislud on them
THE NEW I'KTTIOOAT.
Scolding is almost unheard of. The pride
of every woman Is her children , and as a
result , the children rule tlio liou.se. 1 once
know of u ease- where there was a great
commotion during the night , and next mornIng -
Ing It wan learned that the little girl of
the household had waited up at - o'clock and
hail cried to he taken for a hoatride. Her
wish was gratilled ,
"Next to HID hahies , the old women have
tlio greatest number of privileges. Someone
ono has said , 'The grandmothers rule the
umpire. ' it JH when she is a grandmother
that u woman gets honor in the household.
Ago , of course , is greatly reverenced. The
iirsl remark made after an introduction is ,
'And what might bo your honorable ago ? '
And you may bo sure that if tlio answerer
bu a Japanese she will give her full age
and oven bo tempt oil to ndil a year or two.
This is tlio indlHponsablv/ question In polite
society , Tiioro is oven a special costume
'which only women of over SO may wear.
The long , dull-colored garment cannot bo
altered , but the lining of the sloeve.s and
iiuckpleco are made of the most .brilliant
scarlet , The sandals are laced with scar
let thongs , and a elo.se skull cap of the
sanio colors compli'trn the dress.
"Thi ) dress of a Japanese girl la made of
straight pieces sowed together. Japanese
sowing is very dilferent from ours. There
are no ruilles , no gathers , no bias folds ,
the fashloim never change. , and a girl may
wear her mother's or grandmother's frock
without a thought of lit or fashion. There
are , however , proscribed dresses for differ-
out clasai'H of society. A Japanese can tell
at a glance , but an Kuropean will get hopelessly -
lessly bewildered at the class distinction lu-
dlcatrd by a tiny thread of color in the
Hlcovo , a slight variation in the way of
wearing the hair.
"Tho upper-class Japanese girl usually
has ( ho loose upper garment of some dull
color , lined with brighter tint. Our fashion
of putting bright silk llningH In our conn
came from Japan. A ball dress might beef
a dovo-colored cre ] > e , with a pink lining ;
the .skirt showing beneath this might be
hand-painted most elaborately. The neck
ploco nhowlng above the loose outer garment
IH often of variegated silks , beautifully or-
namunUv ] ,
"Hut the most interesting article of a
Japanese girl's toilet to herself IH her belt.
First u width of crcpo Is wound around the
waist to hold the dress in right position ;
over this cornea the belt proper. It Is often
at loawt sixteen inches wide , made of any
substance , but always lined with womo
heavy material like canton Manuel. Some
of these brocadu belts with laces , which
come- from the shoulders to the feet , cost
as much as $200 or $ : ,00 , It takes a good
deal of skill to get the belts on just right
and a largo part of a Japanese girl's ed
ucation eoiwlsts of learning exactly how
to do it.
"I taught a ' " ' 'ncess ' once who was very
cluso iii to the throne. She would come
to my liouso with several attendants and
In the most costly robes , but If the weather
was warm she would be * baiofooted.
"Tho hair is dressed very elaborately and
always by a halrdrcswer. Tlio fashion of
pulling the hair over cushions , or 'rats , ' as
schoolgirls call them , is a Japanese im
portation. The past fashion , too , of wear
ing bangs come from another Japanese way
of wearing the hair. They fix their hair
once , or at most twice , a week , and It
stays fixed until the hairdrewer calls again.
Kor fear that the structure will get tumbled
when she is asleep , the Japanese girl dis
penses with pillows and sleeps with a
wooden rest under the back of the neck
and the head quite unsupported. Very un
comfortable it must bo , but a Japanese girl ,
llko an American girl , will do n great deal
for the Bake of appearing well.
"Etiquette Is an important part of a Jap
anese girl's education. There are profen-
Hora of etiquette in Japanese schools , just
as there are professor of languages , and
a girl must know how to outer a room , bow
to Introduce and all tlio numberless rules
nf precedence. All men , of course , take
precedence of all women , iinlesu they have
been Christianized ; then they aHsmno our
ways with womankind.
"Ono specimen of their exaggerated po
llteness is In their salutation. Whore we
would say , 'I am glad to see you , ' they
would say , 'I bang upon your honorable
eyelids. '
"Tlio Japanese girl i apt to bo Indolent
Knitting was a great occupation with them
and now that the Europcaim have taught
them other kinds of fancy work , they g >
wild with delight over crochet stitches and
different kinds of embroidery. Almost the
only game which the girls play is battle-
door and shuttlecock. They do this a great
deal , looking pretty and picturesque when
they play , just as if they had stopped off
a fan.
"It was alwayH very bard for the rnlsslju-
arles to got hold of the women of the fam
ily. When they called only the men ami
children would appear and when the wl o
was asked for , 'Oh , she is just a stupid
thing , ' the loving husband would protest.
"A woman how little control over her life
She marries at the will of her father or elder
brother , often without neclng her future
husband till she Is led to the altar. The
man , too , Is governed by his father , who
selects the bride. Hut human hearts are the
same everywhere and there are some genu
ine love matches , even In Japan.
"Thero la no furniture In a Japanese
house only cushions. A table for rncals la
ho small It looks rnoro llko a tray. The
difference between the house of a poor rnun
and the residence of a millionaire con
sists In the timber of which the house Is
built. You cannot Mini a knot In the wood
of a beautifully-built bouse. Thou the
matting on the door will bo of the tlniut
and the sliding diniw , perhaps , beautifully
band-painted. The kitchens , too , have no
furniture except the stove ; there Is not even
a table ; all the work Is done on the lloor.
As you n-.ay Imagine , It is beautifully clean.
There Is Just one peculiarity In their
house-cleaning the kitchen lloor must be
washed with cold water only. It is never
actually washed , however , but rubbed over
with cloths wrung from cold water. And it
shines beautifully , like the llne.st mahogany
table. "
I
Living Fashion Models
The season Is constantly bringing out
novelties in women's wear , sii.-h as are ple-
itired in our fashion photographs this week ,
which present a variety of subjects In dif
ferent parts of the wardrobe.
One photograph gives a graphic Illustra
tion of the new petticoats , worn today by
well-dressed women who are fastidious re
garding the bang of their skirts. Though
the- ono rihown here Is a delicate confection
oC muslin and needle-work , many are made
in taffeta. These silk and lace slips , com
bining underskirt anil undorhody In a
single garment , do wonders in preserving a
slender waist-line and will bo universally
used next summer under thin dresses. This
example is of swiss , having a wide-tucked
llounco edged with Irish point that serves
as insertion at the top of the rullle and
to form the body complete.
Another picture Is a charming French
toque achieving great simplicity with style.
Tlio frame and bow are of golden brown
velvet , while a rippling mass of metalll
blue coil feathers trims tlio front and left
side.
side.The
The charming little neglige jacket Is of
rose-colored liberty satin , trimmed with
lisso lace of a delicate tan tint. It serves
as a matinee and is so easily made that any
woman can put one together satisfactorily
at home.
A Million Matinee Girls
There are a million matinee girls in the
United States , a ( lend for statistics has esti
mated. In the course of a theatrical season ,
lie says , they eat ua much candy of various
kinds as would fill eighteen of the largest
freightcars ; the money they spend on the
ater tickets in a slnglo winter would pay
the salary of the president for one whole
administration ; the lines they go to form at
various times before the box olllce when a
star is shining in his or her orbit if all put
together would reach In close penitentiary
lilo from Itull'alo to Chicago and the tears
they weeji would make a very satisfactory
sprinkle in a summer drouth.
Having brought together all these Inval
uable estimates the statistician very prop
erly assumes that without the matinee girl
the theatrical business wouldn't bo worth
tuppcnco in this country , and that because
of her 'Wo ' have the host lighted , ventilated ,
decorated , heated and admirably equipped
stage and the most prosperous theatrical
management in the world.
There is a popular impression abroad that
tlio women who resort to the- theater for
the chlofest amusement of their lives go t.
adore the leading man , but a Frenchman
who has been traveling In this country and
publishing his Impruwlons In a 1'iirUliin
daily stands witness to the fact that no
heroes of romance ever received the honest ,
wholesale and practically y.ealons devotion
that the feminine audiences In America
shower on .Maud Adams , Julia Marlowe , Mrs.
Carter or Annie Huasell. For once in a
way a Frenchman drew a just conclusion
from bid observations In our country ami
every ono of these actresses owes her power
to the special influence she exerts upon
those of her own sex.
Julia Mnrlowu does It largely with her
gifts for weeping , In and out of the pro-
HOSE-COLOHEO NEGLIGE JACKET
FRENCH TOQl E OK GOLDEN MHOWN VELNET
fession she is reecgnlzed as the most In
fallible tear-compeller en the tttago She
forces her audiences to shed no perfunctory
brinies that when wiped stealthily away
leave not a trace , lint when her own sobs
rise as a signal the women from gallery to
orchestra break into a general good hard
cry that shakes pompadours to their founda
tions , knocks back combs from I heir moor
ings and renderN the prettiest nose in tlio
world a brother to a beet in sl/.e and color.
An interesting development of laic in the
matinee girl Is that she Is not ashamed to
cry over her heroine and come away bear
ing traces of the conflict with her feelings ,
just ns this winter she has developed the
habit of going out between the acts to
snatch u sustaining Hiiaclc of something at
tlio nearest confectioner's. Maccaroomi
washed down with boiling hot chocolate , Into
a cup of which a great lump of vanilla Ice
cream Is dropped , Is the favorite between-
the-acls bracer. It Is technically known as
a "consoler" ami has been found of infinite
value to the women who stand in line hour. "
at a time In order to purchase those oca IB
most envied of the matinee girl , the front
A
i The Popular Goods
Tor 1900.
. . . .
Mnnufnutimul by tlio I'oni
I'1W&VllO'l ( ! ( ! ( ) . , ( JOIIHiHt-
irif , ' of Dmvoy Hi li Iift Gaiitf
anil Sulky I'OWH | , Dine liar-
n > WH , Doiiblo and Siiifjlo How
Stalk Outturn , Walking awl Kid-
hi4 { Cultivators , I'laiitorR , Stuol
Lovoi- Harrows , Uttlo .lap
( Jaiifr arid Sulky I'lowu ,
\\n.shall not lesMin Hie c if ! of Uliggles
Suricyn anil SnrliiK Wagons by liildni : II
out of Ibo consti ni'lliin Hie quality will
< ' be Improved ,
< > 0Z
0
The Inereiihlng demand fur tlmso vc-
hlo-lits iimkim It necessary lo maintain the
blirb Mandard of e.M-ellencc which has
niiide thli work famous. ;
I Stanhopes , Road Wagons ,
Surreys , Driving Wagons ,
, , , , , , , , Traps , Carts , S
<
; .Peru . Plow & Implement Go , i
COUNCIL HLI'J-'r'S. IOWA
SIOUX FALLS , X I ) . <
* <
row chairs in the gallery or balcony. These
places are more coveted than anything short
of the first row in the orchestra , for from
them ami I hem alone a complete view of
Iho stage can be commanded , and with her
elbows on Iho rail , her chin In her hands
ami her eyes fascinated by the tableau , the
whole-souled admirer of the leading man
can drink In the love scones without In
terruption.
Buggies Buggy Poles-Shafts
Very cheap. Largest stock of
STOVHS , KANCKS , and TIN PLATK
West of Chicago ,
OSCAR MILLSAP GO , ,
Wholesale ,
1414.14-Hi llarney St. , - Omaha.
$2.50 $
mul
$3.50 $
, Ihis Handsome Shoe
Is only one of the numerous styles and finali
ties of leathers the celebrated ItEOENT
$ : i .10 SHOES are made up In. They come
In every style and leather known to shoo
Guilders and are Identically the same in
t very point as tlio shoe you pay others $ ,1.00
and $ i > .00 for. Our prices , $2.r > 0 and 111 M ) .
Wo sell them direct from the factory 'it '
factory prices ; that's the reason.
THE REGENT SllOf CO.
U05 So. IMIi St. , Uiiiulia.
Write for Illuitruteil Catulotfue