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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1905)
July 23, 1005. TFIE : OMAITA ILLUSTRATED ' DEE. is i. ) f f Asakusa . 1 .. ,. ! .ii. '. t ; TT5MFT.H OF'nrB GODDESS APAN doran't even play like any body else. In her pleasuring; In her ordinary auromer holiday foolishness, she Is, as in all things else, quite unique, quite Isolate. apart from all other peoples; selfish. Re entment avails us nothing, however, for he In entirely Indifferent to our approval In all thing save the one In which she Is able to command It. She Is a Gurgan- ' tuan baby defying precedent, and though we cannot eat with her, we cannot drink with her, we can not even play with her. we must acknowiodirn her one of us. and not the least of us, ir the ireat comity of nations, because she In superior In that thing which has counted for superlo.-lty always In all the history of all the wot Id. The closer one fete to Japan, the more one knows about her, sees of her. the less one Is able to understand that thing which he has done. Is doing In Manchuria. The .other day down at Asakusa, the Japanope Coney Island, the conglomerate pleasure place about which I am going to write, there was a juggler In an outlandish comlc-opcra costume sitting In the shadow of a sacred Buddhist ikntern delighting a gaping crowd wtth skillful tricks of necro mancy. He took from his big kimono leeve a bit of brown paper, common un attractive brown paper, and proceedad, after carefully showing It to the audience, to roll It up Into a little round ball about . the size of a robin's egg. He showed It to us and smiled foolishly, shrugging his shoulders comically, then he . rolled It around a time or two again,' opened his hands and presto. It was gone. Of course, he reached up and produced It from the back of his neck with a child-like smile which made the audience laugh as if It had not seen the same trick done a thou sand times before. But this was not all. Again he began to slowly roll It around and then he shut it up in one hand and blew upon it knowingly. Pretty soon be began to pull out from between his fingers yards upon yards of crepe paper cut In fine strips. He blew upon his hands again, gave It a funny little flip and a perfect cloud of confetti flew out over the heads of the people. He made believe to shut his hand up very tight and then he began to dig Into It with his other fingers and In a moment he pulled out a whole flowering : peony bush of crepe paper which spread Itself out Into perfect gorgeousness. No body could have expected more than that, but that was not all. He began to push one Anger vigorously Into this wonderful ' closed) fist and pretty soon a long stick began to appear which grew and - grew until It became a huge umbrella which ha opened, with a click In answer to the en thusiastic plaudits of the crowd. Gen Ins of Jnpaa. Well." I thought, "If that doesn't ex actly Illustrate the genius of Japan I never saw anything that did." There it was. Marvels out of nothing. Japan Is unfolding marvels of Itself every day be fore an admiring world and to ever In creasing applause, but to us, Its visitors. Its most Intimate observers, it Is as the bit of brown paper, revealing to our un assisted mental vision absolutely no evi dence of the wonderful powers with which It Is endowed. This is the thought which goes with me always as I wander around among It crudities and oddities trying to i bridge the gulf which Is fixed between us and her fixed as surely as broad oceans are fixed between our shores. Even In the midst of the country's most recently Imported modernities this thought Is sure to Intrude Itself upon one, but In such a place as Asakusa it is the uppermost Idea. What Is Asakusa f It Is difficult to determine at first whether Asakusa is a place of prayer or a place of play, but one very soon con clude that a far as one' self 1 con cerned It Is a place of neither. It la a temple. Everything In Japan which rise an ' inch above the dead level of single storied, gray-tiled monotony Is either a temple or a new building In "foreign style," so-called, somebody says, because It la a style foreign to anything else anybody ever saw. Asakusa Is an ancient temple wherein she of a thousand hands, Kwan non, goddess of mercy, sit enshrined In gaudy splendor. So ancient. Indeed, 1 it that Its beginnings are "lost In obscurity," as the guide books say about so many things. I I situated away down on the Sumlda river, which flows sluggishly through the heart of Tokyo and out into Yeddo bay, and near the spot where It stands, a fisherman, they say, drew up In bis net, sometime about the year 600, a re markable little Image of the Goddess of Mercy, which possessed miraculous powers. It was about one and one-half Inches In height and was supposed to have been fashioned by god hands, so perfect was it In every detail, but knowing the wonderful skill displayed by some of the least of these people In the art of good carving I can imagine nothing more god-like than a lasy fisherman digging daintily away at a small bit of wood through long summer days and finally dropping his finished Image overboard with a prayer to the dirty it was made to represent for much lurk in his fishing. It would be a beautiful ad dition to somebody' art-curlo collection anyway, but this is a fate that is not likely to be In store for It since it is en siirtned within the holy of holies of this great teinfle of Asakusa and Is never linked upon by. other than priestly eye. The tt-inp'.e Is enormous and there la a popular Joke about the disproportion cf its ne to the sise of the image it wa built tu shelter. But there is much at Asikusa Ivah'.t- the dunlnuttve goddess. Kuannon is a very much beloved dlety and to her all tli unhappy and unfortunate go In prayer, anO ihe bids them be light of heart be cause the time la not far off when the which she holds aloft In one of her many hands shall sever the thread which Muds them to earth life and they may then go to the River of the Three Road wUer perchance they may be able to choose that one leads upward to Nirvana, the divine absorption Into blissful Nothing ness, and over the country, pleasure and piety intermingle themselves so freely: hy It Is so difficult to discover Indeed where one leave off and the other begins. The approach to the lemp:e at Asakusa ' . the Garden Where Japanese Mix Pleasure and Piety . " ..:-"V i - OP MSRCT AT 'ASMCCtX. Is a sort of "Midway" where - one may buy at little gaudy booths any kind of toy' or brilliantly colored sweetmeat or fan tastic gewgaw ever manufactured In Japan. And In this "Midway" the tricksters, the fortune tellers and the owners of trained animals pitch their little tents to tempt the unbroken ' llneof worshiper or on lookers who from morning until late at night every day of the world clank-clonk their thousand wooden shoes over the flag pavement toward the temple. But It is not like anything that anybody ever saw hi any other place. I use the word "Mid way" because it has come to have a pe culiar meaning which more nearly de scribes this place than any other that 1 know. It is, or may be, even a Midway riaisance to the Japanese, but this It can never be ' to the foreigner' who hurries along, silently pursued by a crowd of staring little orientals to whom he In the most curious thing to be seen lu all the place. I remember one day at the World' fair in Chicago, following down the Mid way, in company with two or three other girls my age, a poor little Japanese maid who. In her native costume and queer little wooden shoe was the strangest creature imaginable to us. We didn't even try .to be respectful. We didn't keep at a little distance and endeavor to veil our curiosity by a pretense of Interest In something else when the gtrl looked around, we simply stai ed at her, that's ' all, and made re- , m'.rrts which she probably Imagined were anything but friendly. Well, I've often thought of that musuem over here In Japan -and the, memory of her ha helped me to control my resentment against the gaping crowd that have so many time made life a misery to me. If she Uvea anywhere on the beaten track In Japan, as she doubtless does, she ha bad opportunity to take revenge upon me and I venture she ha don 'it, too, telling her less traveled and world-wise neighbor at the same time about how rude the "green-eyed bar barians" are at home In their great cities and how they follow and' laugh at helpless little foreigners. It I a digression, I know, but I Just happen to think of . the exewrience of little O. .Tuki Ban, the Geisha girl who became the wife of young Mr., Morgan of New fork. He took her home and introduced tier to .tha.JPlerpont Mor gan strata, of American society, where How Cuban Government is Developing (Copyright, 1906, by "frank O. Carpenter.). lANTIAGO DE LAS VEGAS. Cuba, s July 20. (Special Correspondence of The Bee.) The Cuban govern- w) menc is preparing to develop the . .J Island. It ha established a de partment of agriculture, and Is sending out exp?rt to prospect the different provinces, testing the land and reporting upon Its value. Many samples of soil have been sent to the United States Agricultural de partment for analysis and advice, and a variety of experiment are being made In fertilizer and new branches of farming. This is so not only as to sugar and tobacco, which are the main crops of the lslan-L but also as to fruits, vegetables, hennequen, sea Island cotton and other things. The ex periments are largely carried on by Amer icans. The most of the employes are grad uates of our Agricultural department at Washington, and here at Santiago de La Vega, about fifteen miles from Havana, a government experimental farm la in opera tion, under such management, with an American director, who was brought here on the recomrucndatlon ef Secretary Wil son. -4- Caba a Ulgr Farm. Before I describe i station, let me say a word about tli.s Islam. It 1 one of the biggest farming proposition on earth. It ha more good soil than the valley of the Nile, and It promises to be the great winter fruit and vegetable garden of the United States. Cuba lies In Uncle Sam' front yard, with a abort water road to hi kitchen door. The island la about as big us Pennsylvania, and, although It la moun tainous In places, the soil la good to the top of the hill and almost every bit of It can be farmed. Japan has a greater area and It aupports between eS.OjO.OOO and 5u,0u0.0u0 people; but only about 10 per cent of it I tillable. Java Is a big a Cuba, but it is largely taken up by mountain ranges, with active vol canoes and arid lands. Nevertheless, Java supports 25.0i)O.QuO. Cuba today ha less than 1,500,00. and it is safe to say that it will some time rival Java iu its products, though It -.111 always have a less population, for a Javanese can live where a Cuban would starve. The two Islands raise about the same crops sugtr, tobacco and tropical fruits, with coffee cn the uplands. Java is now growing tea 'and ouinlne, but these articles have not been subject to experiment In Cuba. So far less than one-third ol this island has been laid out In farms, and at the close of the war only I per cent oi Us area was under cultivation. There is more now, but ' it Is safe to say that not one-sixth of the Island 1 used. The best cultivation Is done In the provinces of Havana and Matansas, and also In the tobacco fields pf Pinar del Rio. At present sutar Is the. most Impor tant crop, being produced In all the prov inces. Tobacco comes next, raised chiefly In I'inar del Rio, and away down at the foot is coffee, which was orce more im portant than sugar, and which now, owing to the tariff and other conditions, will again com to the front. Cats't Experimental ktatloa. The agricultural farm at Santiago de La Vega I the center of this new agricul tural development. It Is run by the gov ernment, which gives It large appropria tion and pushes its work in every poasibl way. The direcor la Prof. F. 8, Earle, who waa for years connected with tb United States Department of Agriculture, and who at the time the Cuban government asked for a maa for thla work, wa about it :: ' : .;.:.V-;V : '. HIGHEST STRUCTURE politeness and consideration for the feel ing of others Is supposed to have reached It highest development. Everybody re member how she was received. She very sensibly wore her native costume with lit tle white tabl, or ankle socks, and straw sandals, and she Instantly became exhibit A in New Tork drawing rooms. The young gentlewomen of the smart set treated her very much as If she were an oddly dressed doll brought In for their amusement, to be looked over and picked to pieces at their pleasure, and O. Yukl San, they say, bore It most patiently. Society did not have the excuse, moreover, of knowing that he was "only a Geisha girl," and conse to go to Porto Rico to take cnarge of our experimental station there. The Cuban salary was a large one I think 15.000 and as Secretary Wilson had other good men he alolwed Mr. Earle to come to Cuba. This was about a year ago. The farm ha been purchased, the buildings equipped and an agricultural department, with a corps of scientists from Washington, are now here at work. The farm itself comprises ISO acres. Its buildings are great Spanish barracks, run ning around a central patio of an acre of flowers and plants, and also many cot tages which have Been erected for the farmers. The barracks are o one story. They are of great extent and are well fitted for government work. ' I spent some time going through the buildings and afterward took a walk with Prof. Earle over the farm. The establish ment Is thoroughly systematlxed, and In It all sorts of investigations as to plant breeding, fertilizer testing and plant and animal diseases are going on. In the bo tanical department I waa shown about 20,000 specimens of Cuban plants and flow ers, and In the gardens nearby saw many new vegetables and fruits growing. New Fruit for Cwba. In the banana fields there are a score of varieties which have Just been introduced from Porto Rico, and near by twenty va rieties of peaches and fifteen varieties of Japanese persimmons have been planted. There are figs from California. Japanese walnuts and all aorta of grapea which rtw well In the southern part of the United State. Among the molt Important experiment are those with citrus fruits. All the best known limes, lemons and pomelos are now being planted or budded. More than forty different varieties of orange have been planted for comparison and study, and also a large number of pineapples of different kinds. -...-.- v.?-: - ?ART OF TUX it fry:---' V ' IOOKINO OUT THROtWH TTTB OATTfWAT OF .'-- . 'a. ;.r. :: V.,.-.; :t;'--;: : ;---: ' '.. '' .V .'". ..''. v-vv IN" JAPAN-TOWER IN THE ASAKUSA' quently used to being stared at and talked about. They had been told, I believe, that she was a Japanese countess or some thing of that sort and waa therefore en titled to their consideration. This ha ab solutely nothing to do with Asakusa, but It is good, for Americans In Japan to re member such ljttle Incident when they feel like doing violence to a Japanese crowd that will, not permit them- to walk along the; street In peace, for we are just as cortou creature to them a they are to ti. " ', ; - ' ' Wltala taa Tewiple Tard. '.At Asakusa "on Is glad enough to hurry The pineapple Industry Is rapidly Increas ing and the department Is making great ef forts to get the best varleNs.' The exports of pine last year were in the neighbor hood of three-quarters of a 'million dol lars, and ' 99 per cent of these 'went to the United States. The two chief Cuban pines are the Plna de la TIerra and the Havana white pine. The latter Is the sweeter and larger, but It does noi keep well. There are other pines which are smaller and less juicy, but more hardy and. bettor for ex port. The white pineapples are consumed In Cuba. They: sell from 40 oenta to tl.17 a dozen. Professor Earle tells me that Cuba wTll lorgely supply our winter market with vegetables. He has been experimenting with lettuces and finds that they grow well. The choicest varieties thrive and Is more tender lind Juicy than our lettuces. In walking thro'igh the garden I saw lettuce head as big t small cabbage, and Mr. Earle -ald he tad raised one this year which weighed more than three pound. Lettuce can easily be shipped abroad, and there 1 no reason why they should not go from here to our chief cities. It Is the same with celery. Thla plant is supposed to thrive only . In a temperate climate, but it grow luxuriantly In the nation garden. The stalks are large n.d tender, and they can be bleached Just a easily as at home. The experiment with tomatoes have re sulted In excellent yields, and a number of American have begun to raise tomatots for export They grow well and the profit at great. Indeed the stories told are so rosy that I hesitate to repeat them. It is aid that tomatoes, cabbages, egg plants, potatoes and cucumbers. If properly . handled, will yield anywhere from ISO to toOO per acre, according to soil and ship ping facilities, and oranges, pineapple fend lemon much more. The government- 1 making experiments In stock breeding. It ha recently Im :.v- , ii u U - ' A- I J UAZN SCTLDXNO AT CU BAN AGRICULTURAL TXAXUt, tV( : f A a a : .i 1 ASAKUSA. v : X ' j- .t t-- PLEASURE GROUNDS. through the "Midway" and get Into the shelter of the great temple where one may at least take refuge up against a pillar and become the observer of one' observer. Within the temple yard there are many trangenessee. Flock of acred pigeons light with common barnyard chicken over the half-cooked beans one buys for them from the wlsened little old women who sit under the huge votive lantern watching their store and knitting per haps, or gossiping. A fortune teller In priestly garb Intone a "Namu Amlda Butsu" (Glory to the Eternal Buddha) as he wait under his big yellow paper um brella for some believing one to come along ported aome choice Duraam, Hereford, Jersey, Polled Angus and other bulls and cows and many of these are kept at Santiago de Las Vegas. They will be shipped. I suppose, to the provinces best fitted for stock. Prof. Earle tells me that most of the cattle now here come from native animals crossed by Importation from South America and Jamaica, Porto Rico and others of the West Indies. The common beasts Imported are mostly of the long-horned, raw-boned variety and so far the Venezuela stock seem to thrive best. The Agricultural department ex pects to take this stock as a basis and cross IV with the best of foreign breeds. The department Is also experimenting In raising beets and - the various grasses for rattle food. I am told that one acre of the best Cuban grass will keep a cow the year around. There is one variety of pasture known a guinea grass, which grows so high that it is above your head as you ride through It on horseback. Leaving the agricultural station I drove about two - miles farther on to visit a fruit plantation belonging to Mr. Adam Gray, an Insurance man of Cincinnati. Mr. Oray came to Cuba about five years ago and . bought several hundred acre ot i&nd at 25 an acre. He ha added to hi purchases since then at higher prices, hi last one costing him more than $150 per acre, and he has now all told 100 acre within a half hour' ride of Havana. The land I near the railroad, and a switch ha been constructed to it, so that his fruit can be sent to the Havana harbor at the lowest possible cost. At present he 1 hipping pineapple. It cost him only ST a carload, and I am told he can put pine apples, oranges and grape fruit Into the market of New Tork and Chicago more cheaply than they can be sent there from any orchard In Florida or California. He ha now about 200 acre of pineapple un der cultivation, and hi crop this year will be worth about $40,000, amounting to In tr-i ' . al BEAUTIFUL GATEWAY AND TAOODA with a few rln to barter for' a glimpse into his future state. A seller of pink sundrted dough cries his wares In strident tones beside a purveyor of yellow literature .which shrieks aloud for Itself In inch color a never came from any printing press but Japanese. Under the temple steps Is the Inevitable old woman with evil eyes and blackened teeth sitting beside a cage of wild spar rows, all fluttering plteously against their prison bars. Sho sits and grins and rubs her hands and when some kind soul 1 moved to purchase the freedom of one or more of them she bows very low and chuckles, then she probably sends her boy off to watch the flight of the little suf ferers and to catch them again when they stop to rest their tired and stiffened wings. One mounts the long, broad temple steps In the midst of a clattering throng and In astonishment turn to look upon the scene spread below. The great twofold gateway through which we have come Is painted a brilliant flaring red and the Intricate art by which the timbers are joined under the deep eaves Is emphasised by touches ot bright blue and white which 'lights up the Interstices and makes the whole structure look like a huge puxxl In bright colored building blocks. Scene for a Drama The author of "A Japanese Nightingale'" should have copied the Interior of the place for the temple scene In which her poo' little singing girl Is made an unwilling vestal virgin, but they say the author of "A Japanese HlghtlngalV never saw Japan so one cannot wonder that her temple wa like nothing that ever grew in this coun try of temples. The Asakusa shrine would make an ideal scene In a Japanese drama If it were cleaned up a bit and a few of the aacred dominlck hen chased out of It. To describe it is quite Impossible. The altar, all gold leaf and gewgaws. Is behind a huge wire net, put up to protect It from the chickens, likely, and outside this net all 1 motley madness. Great lanterns, a much as fifteen feet long and eight feet In diameter, are suspended In either end of the high celled room and all round them are smaller ones, each bearing It mes sage to the Japanese mind In huge black Ideographs splashed upon It yellow ur faoe. Goblin shaped drums sit here and there with little cotton wrapped mallet the Island neighborhood of 25,000 crate. He ha 260 acre of oranges and grape fruit embracing about 120,000 trees; and when he has set out the full BOO acres which he expects to plant the orchard should, yield in the neighborhood of 500,000 boxes of orange and grape fruit every year. A Business Proposition. A plantation like this is a bualnes prop osition. It requires large capital and It wilt probably bring large profits. The work upon It is thoroughly systematized and the business will be run like a great American factory,, with due regard to the cost element. As soon as Mr. Gray bought the farm he put It In charge of an. expert agriculturist named Schmidt, who had been employed by him In the United States. Mr. Schmidt Is a graduate of ( on ot the chief agricultural college of Germany. He had charge of the emperor' garden In Berlin at one time and later studied fruit culture In France. He aided Mr. Gray In picking out the property and then started to clear It. It had all been under cultiva tion, but had run down during the war, and parts ot It were covered with' tree and underbrush. The trees were all cut and the timber made Into charcoal. Char coal is the chief fuel of Havana, and Gray had no trouble In disposing of hi 10,000 bag which came from the clearing. After thla he began to set out the farm and ha gradually increased the cultivated area un til he now ha almost 600 acre of oranges, grape fruit and pineapples. Hundred ef Acre of Pineapple. I wish I could show you thla farm a It appeared when I roue through It today. It extends for more than a mile along the road and at the front and aide of it run a long row ot magnificent palms, each from 100 to 150 feet high, with a trunk like a marble column, out of the top ot which great fan-like leaves quiver In the wind. The roads are of a rich fed loam, as soft and as smooth as a race track. They are wide, and in many place shaded by palms and mango trees. We rode a long distant through the pint-apple fields, the pines ex tending out on all Hides of us In a great bronze carpet. Near the carriage the fruit was distinctly seen, the great round balls of red and yellow set In long green leaves tipped with pink. Farther away pines and leaves blended together, and the whole under the sun became a gorgeous cloth more splendid than the dreas of a queen. The pineapples are planted In rows, but the plants are sot close together and they yield a great number per acre. I am told they bring on the average about 2 cents apiece when sold, and that each costs the farmer about 1 cent to raise. The pine apples of Cuba are large, and those which I had on the Gray farm, fresh from the fluid, were delicious. ' Orimti In Cuba. From the pineapple fields I went on Into the orange orchard, where I met the man ager, Mr. Schmidt, and the son ot Adam Gray, a young man of 22, who has Just graduated at Yale college and has come to Cuba to help work thla farm. When I saw him he waa superintending the spraying of the fruit trees. He tells me that Cuba has five different varieties of scale and that it paya to spray. In company with Mr. Schmidt, I walked . through the groves. The orange trees are planted twenty feet apart. They are care fully plowed and hoed and are watched like a choice orchard at home. The trees are now about 4 year old and they have Continued on Pag Eight) n IN TITE TEMrLE TREASURE GROUNDS. lying near which the priests uee at ln tervals to beat a steady ta-ta-ta-tump ' tump-tump accompaniment to their In toned sutras. The floor Is not covered with mats as most temple floors are, but 1 made ot great rough cedar planks Which give forth a continual hollow echo of hundreds ot clonklng wooden shoes. . Over on one side sits dear old lUnxuru the healer of all Ills. He would be a pitiable old chap If ho were not so -much beloved for he was once an honored Rakkan, er dlsclplo of the great Lord Buddha and got himself turned out of the holy circle for remarking one spring morning upon the beauty of a p.isxlng woman. Since then his Images are not allowed within the al tar rails of the temples and are usually outside In the porch. It seems, however, that the Buddha had a fellow feeling in his heart for Blnsuru after all, for to com pensate In a measure for all he had taken away from htm he gave him the power to heal all suffering and pain and that 1 why he Is one of the favorlto deities of Japan. His worshipers keep his naked, wooden body all wrapped up In queer little red cotton ruffles and his bare head cov ered with a funny little white cap which makes him look more like a statue of a cook than anything else. At Asakusa the people stand in line before hltn awaiting; their turn to rub that ot him wherein or whereon they are themselves afflicted, and If he weren't sufch a solemn and such a useful person he would be very funny, for he Is rubbed into the most fantastlo de formity. Sufferer from rheumatic have rubbed hi knee and elbow until they are all rubbed away; those afflicted with catarrh have quit destroyed his nose, while multiplied headaches have worn great hollow In hi wooden temple. In deed Blnsuru 1 never a whole Image no matter where one may find him, arid hi popularity seem to always Increase with his Increasing dilapidation until some times he can hardly be recognized as a man at all. I lingered near him at Asakusa to watch the line of worahlpera perform their odd little ceremonies, but a priest came along and stirred up some smouldering In cense nearby where I stood and I had to escape from the stifling odor which arose In puffing sacred cloud to the ' grimy, rafter. Qaatat Feature of the Garden. One had to thread one' way carefully among the kneeling people before the screened altar and permit one' self to be carried along with the crowd out through the side entrance to the gardens, where all was holiday merriment. Queer show of all sorts Unod the muddy" avenue down one side of the garden and If on doesn't mind getting splashed to the knee It la possible to derive a modicum of amuse ment from the glaring signboards and the "barkers" who sit at all the entrance lifting up their ' voice In mournful invita tion to people to come and view the wonder within. It Is always muddy in all such places In Japan. The Japanese like It that way, evidently. ' If the sun begin to dry the mud up a bit a water boy, who seems Intent on overworking himself, comes along with two palls on the enda of a atlck balanced on one ahoulder and a big bamboo dipper and proceeds to throw great puddlea around one'a feet and he call it sprinkling. Of course, those who wear leather shoes mind it, and aa they are tbout one out of every 999, they don't count. -All the othera, men, women and children, wear wooden geta which stand up on little stilts about five Inches off the ground, so what car they for a few Inches of slush, more or less? Asakusa I not respectable. Having prayed their prayer to Kwannon the peo ple , go out into her temple environ and revel in Joy far from godly. . There are many "tea houses" where tea I a mere pretense and where Kirln "boroo" on draught Is the favorite beverage. "Boroo" aa they call If la, by the way, manufac tured In Japan with almost as much suo cess a ha been achieved for It In Mil waukee, and "the beer that made Osaka famous" Is an advertisement which 1 quit as well known on this side of the earth as a similar one 1 upon the other. "Storming of Naashan. There 1 one thing now at Asakusa which bears some resemblance to a place of amusement, and that la a panorama In "foreign stylo" of the storming of Nan shan. The Japanese fleet off in the blue water of Klnchow bay on the east are sending lurid, wonderful shells through the air to meet those hurled by the Russian fleet from Tallen Wan on the west, while on the hills between the two armies are locked In a struggle that la simply beauti ful. Nothing teases the valiant Japanese. He says to the cringing Russian "Take that! and that! and there now!" and then strikes an attltudo on the highest point In the landscape Just where the light from a bursting shell may Illuminate his noble mien aa he overlook with sorrow the fear ful havoc he has wrought. Barbed wire entanglements, big guns, shrieking shells. Insurmountable obstacles, all difficulties of war are mere Incidents, background a It were against which this Japanese atti tude may display Itself before the admiring eyes of Japan. 'But the wonderful part of it la the fact that it Is only for the eye of Japan. To the world they turn an en tirely different face and the world exclaim "How modest!" There are absolutely no limits to Japanese genius, but I think the greatest thing It achieves 1 this conceal ment of Itself. A mask is held up before the world and the wor 1 Is told It Is Japan, and only by accidental flashes or revelation do we recognize the fact that It Isn't. W foreigners are permitted to live In the coun try, but we are shut out of Japan as com pletely a we ever were In the day before Commodore Perry came into Yeddo bay with hi gunboat. They play a little game of Jlu-Jltsu with us and win all their points by yielding, and we know they win but we cannot help ourselves. We must ad mire. They are quite Isolate, apart from all other people, selfish, but they are on of us and we can only hop that for our own peace of mind they may continue to coa ceal themselves. ELEANOR FRAN XXIX,
