Japan's Big Man in the United States
Copyright, 190. by T. C. McClure.)
YANKEE of the Orient and looVs
lik Rudyard Kipling; thin la
Kogoro Takahlra, the Japane-S
minister at Washington. This d-j
sciiption may not appear compel
A
mentary, but first observation would sun
cent It, In progress, pluck and energy th$
Yankee predominate In the Japanese's
character. The stocky frame, well-knit
figure, strong, black eyebrow at Aral
fiance are reminiscent of the English aiw
thor and poet. A close analysis of V.Q
minister" features, however, will not sua
tain the comparison.
As punctilious as the strictest rules of ,
diplomacy require, the Japanese minister
t the same time la the typical, common
Senae, twentieth century business man lm
Ms legation home. He goes about tht
modern American house In a business sao"t
tout and striped trousers; runs up and
downstair In the moBt unconventional way
and Interests himself with every detail of
legation work.
"How do you do? What can I do for
you?" is his greeting, as he meets the vis
itor In his parlors downstairs, suggesting
a. banker ready to talk finance and invest
ments. Only a slight accent In speech dls-i
tlngulshes this quick, alert little man from,
an up-to-date, hustling American business,
man,
"What are tho la'est deevlopmenl In tho'
far east?" '
At that question the business man dis
appears and the cautious, trained diplomat
appears. He is all courtesy, but by adroit
questions Informs himself of his visitor's
Object. His answers are given with nil
frankness, apparently, but upon analysis ;
reveal nothing that could be construed
Into the dlvulgence of a state secret Hub!
In the least to injure his home government.
"He has not one confidant in the diplo
matic corps," Is the verdict of his fellow
diplomats. This does not mean that
Kogoro Takahlra is repellant or unpopular,
but merely exhibits his confidence in his
wn Judgment and policies. Close as Great
Britain is to Japan in the game of world
diplomacy, Minister Takahlra never con
fides in the British ambassador in Wash
ington or seeks the latters advice. His.
only communications are such as must, in
the ordinary course of diplomacy, be mad
between embassies. Mr. Takahlra does his
own- thinking, makes his own plans and
follows his own policies.
The Japanese legation, has the name Of
being the moat exclusive la Washington:
This means greater secrecy in Its conduct
Of Intricate diplomatic communications and
notfoiiallons. it means at the same time a
haipy escape from a maaa of UlplomaUo
gouHtp and criticism for which member
of the corps are as noted as Dorcas sew
ing circles. If you want the latest bit of
scandal affecting prominent diplomats, do
pot seek it at 1310 N street, where the
Japur.es legation Is located. Frivolous
gopslp is not Indulged In by the minister,
rior doea he countenance It among his le
gation staff.
. It must not be surmised from this that
Minister Takahlra Is a stern, austere man
Without human curiosity and feelings. He
Is a very sociable creature, and no one
njoys a atory or JoRe more thoroughly
than he, although he Is not noted as a
raconteur hlmnelf. He can appreciate,
however, wit and humor, and Is sufficiently
xpert In the English language to enjoy
puna and plays on words. Ordinarily tha
minister hits little to say and has the repu
tation of being a very quiet man. but when
interested in any subject and In his visitor
be becomes a charming conversationalist.
In another way Minister Takahlra re
embles the Yankee and the Oct Mental
type of man. This Is In his Intense lovo
for out of door life, especially hunting.
He has In his legation a coilec.lon of choke
bore run and other sporting firearms
that .would make ex-President Cleveland
fairly Joaloua. He haa an enviable record
for bringing in strings of mallard and can
vas back ducks from the waters along the
lower Virginia shorea. His many friends .
in Washington have- reason to know that
whon the minister goti after ducks he gets
them, for, with characteristic generosity,
be sends ha pipers of the birds that fall
before hts gun to his acquaintances. He
is an excellent shot and haa all the pa
tience necessary to alt In a blind half a day
in sleet, snow or chilling' rain watting for
the erratlo ducks. When the birds appear
be seldom m If sea If they come within ranse
Of his gun, and ha frequently drops on
With each barrel.
In tha autumn Mr. Takahlra always enjoys
several weeks of quail shooting In the Vir
ginia stubble fields. He haa passed one or
two summers In Virginia occupying an old
Colonial mansion, and has become thor
oughly acquainted with the best territory
for quail. At first he kept a pair of fine
bunting dogs, but the restrictions of tha
legation yards and kennels proved un
healthful and they died. He now depends
' on tho dogs of local hunters and the gentle
men whose guest U Is In the "Old Domin
ion." Hunting Is the nearest approach to a fa4
that tha mluluter possesses. He cares not'a-
V
i . r
V t .
1 1
'SsK A
H
AD
MINISTER
ing for such American games as base ball
and foot ball.
Minister THkahlra Is an Indefatigable
worker. He can be found at his desk late
at night, and Is always ready to attend to
business at an early hour In the morning.
When he returns from a dinner party he
will throw aside his evening coat and, put
ting on a comfortable smoking Jacket, enter
upon several hours' labor at his desk. He
works in his library upstairs and consumes
Innumerable cigarettes while "engaged with
tils correspondence. He always has at hand
on his desk hot water and a supply of the
finest tea grown In the Orient, with which
ho compounds numerous cups of that bev
erage that cheers him in his labor without
clouding his brain.
Despite their reputed excluslveness, Mln
Ister Takahlra and his suite are extremely
popular In Wushlngton society. They havi!
adopted western ways and a function at
the Japanese legation Is much like that It-,
the best appointed American home. Tho
minister is an excellent host and Invitations
to his dinners and receptions are prized by
Washington society.
While his legation is not so gorgeous ail
others and cannot compare with the Eliza
bethan palace that shelters Sir Uung Cheng
ard his Chinese suite, it Is capacious
enough for refined entertaining. It is a
modern American home, with large double
parlors, high ceilings and a spacious din
ing room on the first floor. The furniture
and decorations of the legation are a mix
ture of American and Oriental. Japanese
curtains hang at the doors, while the floors
of the parlors are covered with a warm
crimson American carpet. Teukwood cabi
nets. Oriental stands and tables mingle with
upholstered chairs and sofas that probably
came from a Michlgun factory. An Im
mense tiger f kin ornaments the floor of the
front parlor. In the living rooms upstairs
the same conglomerate furniture is found.
There are office desks of American manu
facture mixed with Japanese tables and
spindly, frall-looklng Oriental chairs.
Minister Takahlra la a great readtr and
has a choice selection of the books of his
own country and also of China, te'ng
equally familiar with the latter. In these
busy times, however, he gets little oppor
tunity to wander In the enchanting fields
of Oriental literature.
"What's the news this morning?" Is h's
first inquiry as he reaches the breakfast
table.
. At his plate he finds the Washington and
Baltimore morning papers and an hour or
two later he receives those of I'hllude'phla
and New York. He is an omnlvorcus news
paper reader. He skims through dozens
every day." Every "extra" cried on the
street must be bought and brought to him.
He catehfs at a glance the most Important
Items and he runs through the papers with
the Instinct and trained sight of a veti ran
axchanga editor. He studies them with
IT
TAKAH1RA.
especial view to catch public sentiment,
especially that on the eastern situation.
He believes In the newspaper as the popu
lar educator of the day and as a diplomat
ist ha recognizes Its value In disseminating
his side of any Issue. Newspaper corre
spondent are welcomed at his legation.
Minister Takahlra and his staff have not
abandoned all their Oriental customs, but
retain with r great reverence some of the
ceremonies so popular In their Fatherland.
On the emperor's birthday pictures of the
emperor and empress of Japan are placed
In a conspicuous manner In the parlor and
the minister, his household and suite pass
before them, bowing low and according
them the same courtesy and reverence they
would were their sovereigna there In perron.
This custom having been observed, a lega
tion dinner follows, In which Japanese
dishes predominate, and the emperor and
empress are toaeted and patriotic speeches
and sentiments are Indulged.
- The Japanese minister Is a diplomat by
profession, -having entered the Imperial
service In 1876. He wu trained In the For
eign office at home and his career Illus
trates the success of his teaching. During
the twenty-eight years he has been in the
diplomatic service he has held posts of high
honor In China. Corea, Holland, Italy, Aus
tria and the United States. He Is a gradu
ate of the best Japanese colleges at Toklo
and is a man of Intellectuality and culture.
He is learned In Chinese - philosophy and
language, as well as In that, of his own
country. He speaks and writes fluently In
several European languages and Is an able
English scholar.
This Is not his first service In Washing
ton, as he was appointed attache to the
Japanese legation In this country In 1879
and became Its secretary In 1881. A brief
review of hlsaareer Illustrates the succesa
that he has met with In the diplomatic
service. He became secretary of the for
eign office In 1S83; was made charge d'
' affaires In Corca In 1S8B; acting consul gen
eral at Shanghai In 1S87; chief of political
bureau of the foreign office In IBM; consul
general at New York In 1891; minister resi
dent to Holland in 1892; envoy extraordi
nary and minister plenipotentiary to Italy
In ISM; envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to Austria In 1806; vice min
ister for foreign affairs In 1899, and ap
pointed envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to the United State in 1900.
Minister Takahlra, soon after his appear
ance In Washington as representative of
Japan, frankly stated the great object of
Japanese diplomacy, for the accomplish
ment of which he was to work Industri
ously, "We want the power that flows from a
great trade and a great prosperity at home.
The efforts now making by Japan to In
crease tha commerce between herself and
the United States and the rest of the world
are, . In themselves, a guarantee of long
peace, Tha two countries are seeking; the
same object, but each can obtain It best
and quickest through the peaceful compe
tltlon of trade, which will bring about
closer relations of friendship and commer
cial Interest between the two people.
"Japan feels very near to the United
States. This feeling of friendliness began
with the visit of Commodore Perry to our
shores, which let In a great flood of new
life from the west, and It has Increased
as American Ingenuity ha shortened tha
distance, measured In hours of travel, be
tween the two countries.
"It has also bten very greatly Increased!
and deepened, I am sure, by the astocla
tlon of the armies of the empire and of tha
republic in the movement to safeguard tha
highest Interest of civilization In the east.
This association revealed In a striking was
the fact that the United States is now
'an eastern power, and that tho Interests'
of America are very closely related t
those of Japan. It wai the begin n ng, I
believe, of a new Impulse In the develop,
ment of a far greater trade In the Pacifla
and of warmer feelings of friendship."
"Tho Japanese minister has been abro
lately truthful and straightforward In all
this controversy," was the unusual com
ment of a high State department official
a few days before hostilities broke out
between Russia and Japan.
In such a delicate situation, where (.ha
favor of the United States was so flncerely
desired by both parties, this compliment
la unusually significant and represen.s tha
Japanese diplomat In an unusually favor
able light. All negotiations that have
taken, place at the State department lit
which Oriental questions were Involved
have hitherto been characterized by am
biguity and In some cases by downright
duplicity. It was refreshing to the depart
ment officials to do business with a diplo
mat and with a government who-e repre
sentations were found to be true and ac
curate, EDWIN A. DOUGLAS.
Salt Lake Drying Up
That the Great Salt lake Is certain In
the near future to disappear from the map
has long been the belief of scientists. That
its disappearance will come much sooner
than has been expected, and possibly
within a quarter of a century, is the con
clusion that has been reached by certain
Investigators who have recently made care- ,
ful studies of its fluctuations.
In an article in a recent number of tho
Scientific American an account is given of
some of these investigations. One calcu
lation Is made from an examination of tha
surface level of the lake, which for thirty
years has been steadily lowering, with only
a single period of rising tendency. In tha
last sixteen years the net fall has been
eleven and a half feet, and In the last three
years It has been three feet. Inasmuch as
the rate of fall Is Increasing, and as tha
deepest part of the lake has only forty feet
of water, this form of calculation Indicates
that the lake will be dry within forty years
at the outside.
Another calculation Is based on the cubic
contents of the lake at the present time as
compared with the contents In 1&S6, when
adequate measurements on which to baso
an estimate were made. By this method
the disappearance of the lake is scheduled
to occur within twenty-five years.
Three theories have been suggested t
account for this tendency. One Is evapora
tion, another Irrigation, and the third that
there exists a subterranean outlet Tha
last mentioned theory Is little better than
a guess, but the first theory is unquestion
ably true to a certain extent, though
whether it will account for the rapidity
with which the level has been lowered in
recent years Is doubtful. As for Irrigation
more evidence can be produced to show
its effects in decreasing the water supply
of the lake. Irrigation was commenced by
Brlgham Young in the forties, but It was
not till 1880 that It was adopted on a largo
scale, and It Is within the period since then
that the lowering of the level has been
most swift.
There are Indications on the mountain
sides, and also on the nine mountainous
Islands in the lake, that the depth of tha
water was once 600 feet greater than at
present. We are therefore witnessing now
the speedy completion of a physical change
that has been In progress for many cen
turies. Most great physical transforma
tions of the surface of the globe move so
slowly that they will give evidence of
themselves on the map only after many
generations. This one bids fair to make a
material difference In the geographies
which our children's children will study.
Chicago Record-Herald.
Picnic Horror
"Oh, I'm so tired!" panted the girl In tha
pink shirt waist, flopping down on tha
grass. "And I've lost all my handker
chiefs." "Will a handkerchief rest your' asked
the young man with the tennis shoes, ex
tending his own.
"No, but a nap kin," she said, closing
her eyes sleepily.
At which the ants attacked the lunch
basket even more uavagely than befora.
Chicago Tribune.