How Little Japs Become Little Americans
(Copyright, 1904, by T. C. McClure.)
'I DON'T want my children to ror-
fill Bct that thcy aro JaPanesp" BalJ
;LiJ B Japanese merchant who does
a large business In New lorn
and other American cities, "but.
At the same time. I want them to breomo
little Americans, too. I want tlum to have
all the advantages of an Ameiican train
ing. I want them to get all the benefits of
the land to which I belong and' tho land In
which they live."
This Is the common feeling of all the
Japanese, who live in this country with re
gard to the bringing up of their children.
The Chinese In America, thoroughly Im
bued with the dogged conservatism of their
race, bring their children up as they would
be brought up in China, and seclude them
o far as possible from their Amettcan en
vironment. '
Not so the Japanese. They do not retain
their native costumes and customs, as tht if
Chinese cousins do. They adapt themselves
to their surroundings and show the great
est anxiety to make little Americans out
of their children.
Many of the Japanese families in Amer
ican cities are wealthy, their heads being
prominent merchants, professional men,
diplomats or consuls. They live in hand
some suburban homes or sumptuous city
apartments, with surroundings, servico,
food and dress as typically American as
though the land of klmonas, chryranthe
inums and cherry blossoms were not.
Take the case of the Japanese consul
general in New York, Mr. Uchlda, wl o
lives on that fashionable. thoroughfare.
Central Park West. His little girl and boy
are being brought up In a thoroughly
American way.
The girl, little Moto, a charming prach
blossom maiden, is now on her first visit
to her grandfather's house In Japan. ha
Is to remain there for two years In order
to learn all about her own country, and
then she will return to America to be "fin
ished" like any other future debutante.
The boy, 5-year-old Isao whoso name
Bounds, in his own soft speech, exactly
like that of Jacob's hairy brother In tho
scriptures Is one of the brightest of the
pupils at a fashionable New York kinder
garten. His small neighbor, Dlshikto
Nagasaki, the sun of a rich banker on
Wall street, drinks with him from the
same fountain of knowledge. In manners,
games and general outlook on life these
two little Japs appear to be exactly like
any healthy, lively American boy.
Their Japanese nurses, who wear the
picturesque dress of their native land and
teach them tho fairy tales and games of
ancient Nippon, are the only distinctive
Oriental features In the home life of these
children. In other respects It Is like that
Of any well bred, well dressed, well loved
American child. And so it Is with scores
of other Japanese youngsters In this broad
land.
"I should estimate," said the editor of a
Japanese newspaper published In New
Tork, "that there are at least BOO Japancso
In New York perhaps more. Most of
them are men In good positions merchants
and the like and many of them are bring
ing up their families here.
"Whenever they can afford to do so they
end their children to Japan for several
years, to be partly educated there and to
learn all about their own country. But
JirV
s
;a...
- A.
"i
j
J
i
AN AMERICAN SUBJECT OP TUB
MIKADO
A FAIR MAID OF NirPON.
they take care that
they shall be educated
also In this country
and have a thorough
American trailing.
"They want them to)
be both Japanese and
American. Sometimes
the Japanese training?
comes first, sometimes
the American. Many
children born here do
not see their native
land until they are
gTown up and have
'come out' In Ameri
can society. Hut,
though they may
never have seen
Japan, you may be
quite sure that they
have been carefully
taught to love their
country and reverence
their mikado.
"They are Just as
patriotic as If they had
...
4
A CHEERY LITTIJ3 AMERICAN JAP.
children to learn any
thing ubout Japan,
not even the fairy
tales or the games.
At least 3,000 Japan
ese work In American
families In San Fran
cisco as domestic
servants and a large
proportion o f them
ii r e more children.
Hoys come over from
Japan at the age of
10, 12 or 14 to get an
American education.
Tliey are alone, with
out friends, almost
penniless, and they
would seem to run a
good chance of starv
ing In a strange land.
Hut they always
manage to get along
nil right and to secure
the education for
which they crossed
the seas,
lived all their lives In Toklo or Kobe In
stead of in Washington or In New York.
They take situation as servants without
wages. They merely stipulate ior wieir
I know of one Japanese youngster, now food and clothes and leave of absence dur-
going to school here, who used to get Into
dally rights with his playmates becauso
he insisted that Admiral Ito was a greater
man that Admiral Pewey, and the battle
of the Yalu a more glorious victory than
the fight in Manila bay."
In San Francisco there are considerably
over 6,000 Japanese, most ol w"nom aro of
tho coolie class or occupy menial positions.
Tho proportion of wealthy Japanese in that
city is not nearly so large as It Is In New
York. Many of the Japs In the Pacific
metropolis marry white women and give
up all Idea of returning to their native
land. They take out their naturalization
papers, become thoroughly Americanized
and bring up their children exactly as
Americans would do. These denationalized
Japs do not, as a rule, mix with their own
countrymen, and they do not like their
Ing tho day to att nd rchool. In the morn
ing and the evening they work hard and
faithfully to make up for lost tl ne. Faith
fulness Is the quality In which they out
shine nil other servants available on the
Pacific coast. They always advertise that
"a faithful Japamre boy" needs a t-ltu i
tlon, and It Is no Idle boast.
"You might think." said an Amerl-nn
woman who had kept house In San Fran
cisco for many years, "that It would be
nn awkward arrangement In any house
hold to have the servant absent dming the
morning and the greater part of the after
noon: but It Is not I have employed many
of thesn Japanese boys, some of them only
11 or 12 years old, and have never had any
trouble with them. I would not engage any
other servant.
"The boy Is up at 6 In the morning,
working like a little hero to get every
thing in order before ho goes to school.
Ho sweeps and dusts the room", cleans tha
boots, washes all the dirty dishes, gets
breakfast ready and does twenty other
things before 8 o'clock.
"By the time he gets his books together
and starts for school, you may look all
around the house and not Und a single
thing left undone. All your needs and
wishes during the day have been an
ticipated. Even afternoon tea has been got
ready, all except the boiling of the water
and the making of the tea.
"As soon as school Is dismissed ho hur
ries homo. Ho docs not stop to play with
the American boys, for ho knows he will
bo wanted, und ho likes to get his work
done early, so that ho can spend a good
pnrt of the evening In study.
"It Is pleasant to have these boys about
the house. Their manners are refined,
they always study to please, they aro
strictly honest and truthful, and they do
things without being told. Every house
keeper knows how rare that Is In a ser
vant. "It Is wonderful how hard they work
to get an Ameiican education and learn
American ways. Naturally, many of them
grjw up to be successful and prominent
men, either In San Francisco or In Japan.
"The other day I met a Japanese gentle
man at the house of a friend, when 1 was
paying a social call. I was told that he
was one of the leading doctors In Nagasaki,
and had come over on a visit. We had an
Interesting conversation. Ills face seemed
familiar, and presently I asked bin
whether wo had met before.
" 'Is It possible that you don't remember
me?' ho replied. 'I was a boy In your
house for two yenrs und left you only nine
years ago.'
"In his manners and conversation he was
exactly like an educated and accomplished
American gentleman."
Many of these little Japs, when they grow
up, marry In San Francslco, either with
their countrywomen or with white women,
attain good positions and live in America
nil their lives. They do not always stay
on tho Pacific coast. Many of tin m estab
lish business In the other large cltloj and
prosper exceedingly. If you ta k to a rich
Japanese merchant In any art of the coun
try you will be quite Ilk ly to find that ha
started bis American cartir as a servant
boy In 'Frisco.
A man who spent nn evening at the houso
of a wealthy Japanese In Philadelphia
came away enthusiastic in praise of his
host's children.
"They were the nicest little shavers you
ever met," be said. "Jutt like American
children In many ways, but with a gravo
politeness and gentle milliners Hint Amer
ican children do not always possi as. They
were a quel I mixture. In one breath the
boy Informed mo that he was going to
Harvard when he grew up; In the next he
proudly told me stories of the great died
of his samurai ancestors. The girl played
Mendelssohn's 'Spring Sung' llko a reul
musician, and then dressed herself In A
klmona anil told Japanese fairy tales.
"During tho evening th.'y played a
Japanese game very much like ping-pong.
I charged them with having copied It from
us. 'Not at all!' they snld. 'This game has
been played In Japan for a thousand years.
Ping-pong must have been eoplid from It."
BABSETT STAINES.
New York Ice-Bound
(Continued from Page Nine.)
tugboat always went around a floe when
It could.
Excepting the tug boatmen and their vic
tims, very few of the people who live
around the New World's busiest harbor
realize Just what a cold spell, like the
one that prevailed all through the east
last month, really means to the port. Old
Atlantic coast sailors have a story to
tell of a New Bedford steam whaler that
made a long Arctic trip without accident
and then came to New York, where It
Was nipped in the Ice off Stnten Inland.
But It Is February provided Januarv
has been cold that the harbor Is Iced up
worst vessels nipped In the lee, ferry
boats retarded, towing and transfer busi
ness seriously Interrupted, narrow escapes
Of man and beast caught on Ice floes and
wept bayward by the tides. It Is Feb
ruary that brings down an avalanche of
white floes from the upper Hudson and
Jams the narrow port between Jersey City
and lower Manhattan, and fills the bay.
The tide whirls the loose Ice Into heaps,
ripping and grinding the floes together
and thus forming bergs big enough to sup
port a dozen men.
An accident which happened last year
up beyonl Nyack, in New York state, will
give an Idea of how tne Ice comes down
the Hudson, crunching and grinding Into
New York's harbor.
Two boys went out on the solid Ice one
morning and fished through a hole. This
was In February, and for some days the
weather had been mild. The boys were
so absorbed in their sport that they failed
to pay proper heed to strange noises about
them. Suddenly they were thrown down,
fiat on their backs. They Jumped to their
feet, only to be tumbled over again. Thus
they were obliged to He for some few min
utes, when the disturbance ceased. The
previous silence had given place to the
girrglo and swish of water.
Not understanding what had happened,
the boys looked for a certain tree as a
landmark, with the Intention of starting for
home. To their surprise they found the
hill and river banks were moving. Still,
they walked on, until they came to the
edge of the Ice, where the water began.
The young adventurers now realized
what had happened and frantically trlel to
attract attention ashore by shou:ing. Mean
while, their course continued down river.
To their alarm they felt renewed Jolts and
heard sharp reports and a grinding sensa
tion underfoot. Big pieces of their floe
were being broken off as It was pounded
and rubbed against ether floes.
The boys were swept out Into midstream
and the few people on either bank were too
distant to see or hear them. Finally, the
floe became so small that it rocked with
their weight. Then it bumped Into a larger
one and they Jumped to that. Thus they
drifted down to Orant's Tomb, where a
boatman heard their cries and came out
to rescue them. They were saved, but
there have been oceaslons where people
have lost their lives In Just this way.
It often happens that the ferryboats, es
pecially those that run down the bay to
Staten Island, are nipped In the Ice. One
Sunday evening several years ago the
Staten Island boat was nearlng Its New
York slip when a vast field of broken Ice,
loosened by the tide, swung down the river
and the ferryboat found itself struggling In
tba mlddlt of it
The engines battled b-avely, but the Ice
field was Jammed up against the rows of
piers and thickened by the pressure. Pretty
soon the paddle wheels were completely
clogged and the ferryboat rtuck fast. Over
103 passengers were on lxard and they
clamored to be put ashore. That, of course,
was an Impossibility, as no craft would
some out to the rescue, and the ice was not
solid enough to walk ovc r, so the passengers
had to stay by the boat. The Jim got
worse and at last the pilot had to announce
that they were In for an all-night stay.
Then the passengers culled for food, but
ferryboats do not carry provisions, so tho
passengers had to make the best of It un
til morning, when a big tugboat came along
and butted an opeelng in the slip, which
allowed the boat to dock. Such incidents
have happened almost every year.
Hut one of the queerest accidents and a
rather unusual one that ever occurred In
New York harbor whilo It was Ice-bound,
happened to the ocean liner (lermatiic four
years ugo. It might have proved serious
had not its crew known their business.
It had been sleeting, and tho rigging of
tho big steamer, as It lay moored beside Its
pier, became thickly coated with Ice. There
was no harm In that, but It was bad that
Its hold was empty.
Early In tho morning Us crew were
spilled nut r,f their bunks by a sudden
lurch. All haruls rushed on deck and
found the ship listing dangerously over to
port. Tho officers understood the trouble
In a moment. Everybody set to work and
rigged up ropes from tho masts to the dock,
which prevented further danger of capsiz
ing, but not before water hod poured Ir.to
some open portholes and filled the ship's
hold up to the stokeroom gratings. Finally,
the vessel righted, when suddenly It listed
over to the starboard until Its masts rested
on tho roof of the dock house, which prob
ably saved it from capsizing altogether.
Then all hands went aloft with hatchets,
cutlasses, hammers, or other steel or Iron
Implements that could bo found, and began
clipping oft the tons of capped Ice. At first
only a few of the crew could go aloft, as
their weight Increased the danger, but as
they knocked off their own weight In lea
others came up, and finally enough Ice was
broken off to cause the Germanic to right
Itself permanently.
ALFRED MII.NEU.
An Unfortunate Remark
If a certain prominent New York physi
cian ever writes his uutoblography the fol
lowing incident will undoubtedly bo omit
ted: Not long ago the physician In question
was called to a boarding houso to attend a
man very ill with pneumonia. The man
died. The keeper of the boarding house, a
woman, was very much distressed, the man
having been the first boarder to die under
her roof. . M
"It's so unfortunate that he should hava
died." said she, with self-interested sym
pathy. "I do hate to have a funeral here."
"It won't be necessary," said tho doctor,
consolingly. "The funeral can be at the un
dertaker's." "Hut I don't oven know of an under
taker," said the unnerved woman.
"I do," Bald the doctor. "Just around tho
corner Is a good one, to whom I send all
my patients."
"All?" gasped the landlady, and tho doc
tor wondered why sho turned pale. New
York Times. v