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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1909)
New Movements That Have Been Inaugurated in JAPANESE SCHOOL. CHILDREN. (Copyrif ht, 1, by Frank O. Carpenter.) hundred public llbrarle-s. The Imperial II- OKIO Jaoan (Special Correapon- brary at Toklo bae now almost 600,003 vol- denes of the Bee.) Oome fly I I with me across the Pacific and I 4.1.. . ,i . .,i ,i little Yellow Giant of the other side of the globe. We shall look at him .. t, . ma mo BltBllll Ull Ills Villi II". U1I U1B mas., of Kast Asia, and see his work along the lines of our dvllzatlon. which is stirring up this whole continent. We may even hear the stamping of his feet wiilch Is causing our own country to wake up and take notice, and the whistle of his r.n.t.A.. At.. j i . . . m , 17 T lacionee which are now competing with u. for the iraae Or tne WOrlu It Is now twenty years since I wrote my first newspaper letter describing the new Japan. That was In 188S, two decades after the Shogun or commander-in-chief of the feudal regime had been overthrown, and jthe emporor made the real head of tho government. Japan had then adopted a, constitution, organized a parllment and started to build railroads, telegraphs and schools. I was given a guide by the govern- ment. and had a good chance to see the army, the courts and such other institu tions as were then In their beginning. Today I am able to look at the sume things and to mark their wonderful progress. Japan's New- Railroads. The country then "had only 4uo miles of railway and 400 miles more were under con struction. The chief road ran from Tokio to Kioto, and I had to make moat of my tourneys through the country by Jlnrikisha. Every part of the empire can now be reached by rail. There are more than 5 000 miles of tracks as good as those of the united States, and the government wants 1,000 miles more. In a talk which I had today with Mr. Bhulchi Hagiwara, the head of the com mercial bureau of the empire, he told me that Japan Is anxious to get capital to build these new roads and that It will wel come Investments of that kind from Amer ica. He believes that the government would build the roads now If it had the money, nd that It would accept loans and Issue bonds which would net about 7 per cent on the Investment. Japan is now constructing railways In Formosa and Corea. and the day will soon come when all of its Islands from 6aghallen to Formosa will be grid- Ironed with tracks. As to the service on these roads, It Is excellent. One can go by sleeping car to ii tne cnier cities and there are now more iimn inirty trains each way every day be tween Yokohama and Toklo. The distance Is eighteen miles and I traversed it yes terday in twenty-seven minutes. Japan's Ola; Postal Service. l "e "me or my first visit to Japan the new postal system had been lnuuiru- rated. It was introduced by an American named Bryan, who was connected with our I'ostofflce department at Washington, nd all of the machinery and other ar rangements were modeled after our own. The system was then three years old and it was carrying 57,000.000 letters, 40,000,000 postal cards and 18,000.000 newsDaner. year. Japan had then bearnn to mUk it. own postage stamps and 1 saw 100 Japa- Already at the experiment station two nesu giiis at work in the bureau of en- dlsooverl,' hav e" made which will graving and printing. ten(1 to decrease the number of deatha in Today this country manages Its postof- the mlneB' 11 nas been demonstrated that flees quite as well as we do and It has a nunnber of the -clled "safety" ex many Improvements which we have not .?l0JV,' " an'thl"B but aafe- Last v.ar it c.rri.., m ., , o. JWse of the government to continue . .. ...... ,tw,vw,ui,j nil I'tiM nf mall . .. J B . I , . , . .,IU , i,lee aimost auo.uuo.uw were lettirn T r . i . ., i , . abautMM(imn.n.r w , "T a ?h i i Wer half M , , , PPU U" V Japan ha rvlL i;Pa'C. "y"tem, Wh'Ch " Ca rylng packages every year, and ft has pes al savings banks all over the era- pire with millions of dollars of deposits. i ieiClrpr.s, tney are also under the govrnmut and their rates are far lower man ours. I can wire anyone in this city ior o cents a meuge and can send f.f- torn wuias anywiiere In Japan for 10 cents, l'lie rates are low to other countries and especially to Corea und China It costs 7R cents a word to Manila ;ind $I.0 a word to Washington, D. C. The huter hign rates are caused by the foreign cable sys tems. .Nation at acuovl. One of the greatest advance which Jpn Is making la along the lines of education. All Toklo seems to be going to school. The streets swarm with boys and girls In school dtevs, and this is so in all the, towns In the country. The government re quires that all school children thall wear uniforms. The boys have a sort of divided skirt which falls to below their knees, and above this may he a jacket or a kimono and a cap. The glrU wear plum-colored Bklrts with heavy plaits and kimono tucked inside. They go bare headed. At certain hours of the day the street re uirungea witn suen students, rang ni In age from to young men ana wUu... ... 30. There are more than 60,000 students at tending universities, academies and special schools In Toklo alone, and there are other colleges In Other parts of the empire. There are night schools in the cities for the work ing classes, and technological night schools as well. Altogether about I.OuO.OuO students are attending the elementary schools of the empire, and thrre are also 1.000 special and technical schools. There are kindergartens with teachers. There are Industrial schools of many kinds, schools for the deaf, dumb and blind, and also a girls' uni versity and Industrial schools where girls are taught. Uai ef BeeLi and Newspapers. At the same time a great publishing n- dustry has grown up. About all the books used In the schools are made In Japan, and an enormous quantity of all kinds I, m. ported. iJist year something like 28 0 0 book were puo ianea ana tne periomcale nuiubered LauO. Jimu has uiore than a I 0 HIV fjfu Hi times and Is visited dally by 400 people. There Is a big- library In Kioto and two In Dunks, nnn of the larsest book stores In world In situated In this city. It claims to blfl lo uPP'y ot Importance nor nuhlished. and t is far suDerlor n Its ' - equipment to any door store in warning- ton' lls cn,pf f,"niers are Japanese and ,ts book "re arf'y ln French, German and En"1,8h- In t,ie ,ir!e of newspapers there are slx- tepn dailies published ln Toklo alone and n hm 1 1 VO In nil Jnnatt. R( vrn n tyf th rhpf T I ' . " 7 ,hr.- . . .UR, BTtC'"L ! 'ZTl tuna navina as mvv.1 M iw,uw iui.uiatijii eacn- Jnnan's Smokeless Con I. Tho Jnpancse have often b.e;i called a nation of imitators and copyists. They un- dcrstand how to i.,iek out the best thinjs of OU1' civilization, and thy are takin? the cream of them. I find that they are now waking up along the lines of Invention and that tnls especially so as to war matt ri. Their troops are equipped w'th a special rifle Invented by a Japanese and they use field guns Invented by one of their gen erals named Arlsaka. These guns are man ufactured by Krupp, but the designs were sent from here to Germany. j Among the surprises of the Russian war was Japanese smokeless powder of great explosive power. Invented here, and they are now making a smokeless coal, which will enable their naval vessels to move about without a, sign of fire or smoke. This coal was- first proved duriog the Chlno - Japanese war and was again used Experiments in Life - ASHINGTON, Jan. 6,-In its ef w fort to stop the appalling loss of life ln the coal mines of the country the United States gov- 1?0Kll ernment la meeting with much ii ' i J kuccess. For several months an exporiment station under the direction of the technologic branch of the United Stales geological survey has been ln operation at Pittsburg, Pa., to discover the causes of mine disasters and to suggest remedies. With the establishment of this section and the agitation which preceded the necessary legislation there has been a fall- lng off in the number of deaths In the coal mines for the year 1908. While the, official figures have i.ot yet been obtained. It la stated that the number of deaths will be several hundred less than in il907, which was an unusual year. In December. 1907. rour explosions took the lives of 700 men. one of them at the Monongah mine In West Virginia being the greatest mining disnster ln the history of this country. There were S66 victims. In 1908 there wera but two accidents in which the loss of life was very heavy, one ln January at the Hanna mine, in Wyoming, with a loss of seventy men; the other, November 28, at the Marianna mine. In Pennsylvania, which resulted in 154 deatha. t, .p.A, 1 ' ' " experiments until the explosives of cour.iry are standardized ln such a niannff that the miner will have a definite iWwh.t they will do. Attr the government has gone far ln ,ta "raiment, a bulletin will Visaed recommending as perrul.alble ex- ;t Mves such as stand the tert. The facts vd concerning these explosives will bfcViIlect directly to stato mining bure the attention of the bureaus as well as tit) operators. Perhaps the most important and far reaching experiments so far at the station are those ln which it has been definitely shown that coal dimt l an Mninlirii nnaiiv as dangeious as the deadly fire damp. Many mining engineers and miners have insisted that It is impossible to explode coal dust unless there Is gas present. That the coal dust will explode ln a mine where there Is no gas has been repeatedly shown to several hundred operators and mlnere at the testing station. The experts at the station are seeking some method by which this dust can be prevented from being a serious menace to the miners. Experiments ln wetting It have been going on for some time, but nothing of a very definite nature has as yet been learned, unless it Is that the cool dust does not Ignite when there is a great amount of moisture ln it. Every effort is being made at the station to come as close to the conditions in a mine as possible. The tests of various dynamites and powders used ln blasting i .. , , , ,. . C. , I nlamn'oln ou"er Hiaiv i juiiurr n uie.i iih previously Dfeil filled with gas or coal dust. The cylinder is 100 leet long and six feet ln diameter, Safety valves have been placed all along the top and are left unfastened In such a manner that whenever there is an ex plosion the valves fly open on tholr hlngea. A series of portholes on the sids covered with one-half Inch glass enables those conducting the experiments to witness the results fram an observation house sixty feet away: An explosive mixture of fire damp and air or coal dust and air Is pumped Into the cylinder and the ex plosive which la to be tested la shot into it from one end of the cylinder, so that the flame goes right Into the fire damp or coal dust. Natural gas is used at this station tar fire damp, to which it corresponds VP,y closely. The cannon In which the ex- plosives are placed Is fired by electricity from the observation house which Is par- anei witn me cyunaer Itself. These Investigations ate expected ti ao- THE OMAHA I" aO in the war with Russia. It la made from coal dust which comes from mines near Nagasaki. The dust Is first washed with water to remove the mud and sand In It and ) Is then manufactured Into bricks. which are said to have a greater heating power than the coal of Cardiff. England, or any coal rrora tne united stales, me . . brick factory Is at Nagasaki and It Is now turning out 50,000 tons of these bricks every year, all of which are purchased by the Navy department. The brick coal is of two shapes, round and square. The square bricks are used In the battleships and cruisers and they r0 crushed before they are thrown Into the fire. The round coal is for the u- stroyers and the torpedo boats. This coal Is now bringing over $9 a ton and the gov ernment pays more than $500,000 a year for it. The mines from which the coal comes are small. The vein now used Is only three feet deep, but It Is said that another mine has been discovered in the Hokkaido, where the vein Is larper and the quality of the coal Is better. It would pay the United States to Investigate these deposits and find whether we have not a coal which can be mr.do to burn without smoke. Such fuel would be of enormous benefit toward the cleanliness of our cities. A large part of Japan's coal is coming from the Hokkaido, the island at the north, which we know n Yezo. It is one of tho least developed parts of the empire, and it may add considerably to Its mineral wealth. Mines were opened there about twenty-four years ago, and they are now producing 1,000,000 or more tons a year. The empire altogethj-r yields 12,000.000 or 13,000,000 tons and practically supplies the conlPllsn double purpose, not only a reduction In the number of men killed In the mines, out also a saving of the waste i ,,- -, , ' - - M ' .v. .? :.- . - , " " t ' ' rM """"" """ 10 "' rT" - -' r : 1 ?rz' f tlt vr - ? .... ) . .-- , f-. - . . i, -i '' r--. ........ - . . . ' jii . : . -.. . tfv :i- - . ... i - .i. K. , . i., fc.. . . ' ,f " ' ' , " ' ' " , j. , , " "-if ..i"" .'. , - nr . ' ." (!( l 7", Quaint Features of Life Observed Here and There First dwlrn of tne Year. RAVING the cold. Helen Wilcox, B a teacher In the Oreat Kills public school. Staten Island, New Year's afternoon, on a wager HjftM she would be the first to enter Si the water in 19U9, went to tne beach at Annandale and swam around in the Icy water for more than twenty min utes. When admiring friends asked If she was not extremely cold she stopptd and talked with them. "It's all right when you're used to it." said the girl. Her teeth did not even chat- 7 V I 1 l" sne stooa on me ueacu. a lew uwys ago irieiiua uareu jhim m ii- cox to gj Into the water In the winter. Rhe promptly bet she would be the first Staten Island woman to go in the water ln the new year. In summer bathing garb she left her home at 4 p. ru. and went to th beach. There she waited a few minutes for two girl friends who had said they would go In the water with her. As they l not PPear she ran Into the ley cold ahe swam thirty yards from the beach and was In the water almost half an hour. Miss Wilcox went Into the water In last February, when snow was on the ground, and w" BOt Inconvenienced. Girls Whip Mchoal Teacher. Because she flatly refused to promise to give them the customary holiday treat of Mtidv. the tarcAr arirlfl In th Wa H u -lAnl Calloway county. Mlesourl. dragged their teacher. Miss Mary Fox. In the road. Her clothes were soiled by the mud and her dress was torn. Still the plucky little SUNDAY liEE : .TAXtTARY FOREIGN OFFICE AT TOKYO. coal for alt the ports on this side of the such as are used In the schools. Instead Asiatic continent. It will probably have a of on the floor as formerly. From data great Increase of Us coal supply through Its new possessions In Corea and Formosa. The Corean mines are said to be especially valuable and soon or later they will be the property of the Japanese. Analysing; Tear Drone. It Is surprising how fast Japan Is ad vancing along hygienic llnea. The nation is Increasing not only In population, but in Its general health and physique. The sanitary arrangements used for the army during the war with Russia resulted in a lower death rate from dtseaMe than that before experienced by any great army in any great war. They had their food ar rangements so systematized that the troops were kept healthy, and their hospKals were sfl many and so good that most of the sick got well. The doctors showed them selves able to deal with the situation, and they carried their Investigations far beyond those of the ordinary surgeon. In certain cases they even analyzed the tears of the soldiers In order to learn more about their condition. A nation must be healthy to Increase In population and that especially In a laifH that has no Immigration. There are al most 20 per cent more people In Japan now that when I was here in 1888, and there has been an increase of 13.000,000 since 1872. Ths nation Is stronger now than it was then. The people look healthier. They 24,000,000 yen rJd In and a surplus of six months, and about per cent on the Important than the signature and ray stand more firmly on their feet, their over 14,000.000. The yen Is worth 60 cents, dally balances of Its depositors. ments are chiefly made by seal, shoulders are broader, owing to their mill- The president and all officers of that bank Another Japanese bank, the Dal Ichl ' tary exercises, and It is claimed that they are Japanese. It has branches In the big Glnko, the president of which is Baron Japan and Our Tanle. have materially increased their average cities of Japan and agencies all over the Shlbusawa, has a capital of 10,000,000 yen I railed this morning on the vice mlnls- of height by sitting on chairs and benches east. It pays 6 per cbnt on deposits of six and there are foreign banks with capitals ter of foreign affairs, Mr. Ishll, and had Saving Appliances for Miners EXPLOSIVES CHAMBER IN WHICH TESTS WILL BE MADEv in mining coal. The use of Improper expo- elves as well as the Improper use of suit- able explosives results annually In the "schoolmarm" of 20 years refused to sur render and promise to furniah candy for the fifty pupils ln her care. The Wade school Is thirteen miles from Columbia, ln what has been known as a quiet neighborhood until this outburst of rebellion broke loose last week. The pu pils kept Miss Fox out of the school two days, when she went to her home. The district is now divided into two fac- tions, those for nil those against the teacher. Two or three fights between the men of the district have resulted. The custom of "treating" the pupils at this season of the year still prevails In thd rural schools of central Missouri. Ioar Party I0inl la Fight. Nearsightedness on the part of a dach shund, which mistook a stuffed dog tor the genuine article and e tucked it, resulted In the breaking op of a Pittsburg, Pa., ca nine party In a free-tor-all fight In which the gayly adorned tree was wrecked and about $40 worth of furniture destroyed. Two men, named flrlese and Beymer, pro prietors of a hotel on Federal street, have a dog named Our Teddy. It was decided some days ago that Teddy should have a party with a real tr.-e. Invitations had been sent out to the owners of dogs of high and low degree to come to the affair, and as a result about SuO dog and mon grels lined up. There was a taxidermy dog in the middle of a table, which looked Ilka the real thing, and Herr Heinrlch. a dachshund, which had come to the party on the chu.ui held by Jimmy Flaherty, got through his collar and made a low tackle of the dummy aui- t 10. 1009. - given by an army surgeon, showing the examination of the several hundred thou sand men who have been drafted Into the army in each of the years from 1852 to 1902, It Is proved that the average height of the people is steadily Increasing. This Is furthered by special exercises which all school children must undergo. Wealth of Japan. There Is a general Idea In America, that Japan is very hard up. This Is so and I shall wrlto more of II in the future. She has an Immense national debt due to her late war and th Improvements which sh late war and the Improvements which sh has made In building up this country, and she la just at that point where for a time the capitalists of the world are refusing t lend her any money. This condition seems to be only temporary, and the finance department has already Instituted a scheme which promises to put the na tion again on its feet.. As to tho country Itself, It has numerous rich men and great material wealth. There are many banks and stock com panies which are paying big dividends, and the foreign papers published here devoto a largo part of their first pages to financial advertisements. A copy of the Yokohama Journal lies before me. In It I see a half dozen banks advertised, each of which has a capital of millions. Here Is the Yokohama Specie bank, which has waste of great amounts of coal. The use of too high charges ln blasting or the use bf unnecessary violent explosives shatters mal, which had annoyed lilin by Its unso ciable stare. Lord Snarleyow, a British bull, got Into the game, and there was a mix-up, which was not straightened out until the place had been swept by a storm of carnage and Teddy, the host driven to shelter on top of a chiffonier. Catamount t-'igbls Farmer. Kdward Gillette, a farmer, of Bakers vllle. Conn., was savagely attacked by a large wildcat or catamount Thursday, and but for the fact that he carried an ax would probably have been killed. A quarter of a mile from his home, where he had set traps around a spring for foxes, he found the catamount ln one of 1 lie steel traps, caught by one paw. With a chain attached to the trap he started to drag the animal to his barn to Imprison it alive, but before he had gone half way Uie Infuriated cat got loose and attacked Gillette, Jumping at his head. Gillette dodged, and when the ani mal sprang at him a second time a well directed blow of his ax killed the beast The animal weighed thirty pounds. Still n Baby at 83. The experiment of treating with thy roid extract a girl physically and men tally undeveloped has had remarkable success in London. The patient, Mildred Hart, although IS yeare old. had the de velopment of a child of only I years, and was thirty-three inches tall. Her teeth were the same as a child's, her skin cold and harsh and her features were unde veloped. The soft yit vn the top ef a baby Land of the Mikado . vV V; " Vs t v .. If' :-'W4 Tii f ", ' - ' ' : " ! -.... "t ' " V ' . -- f V..-.- ;.: i K. ISHII, JAPAN'S VICE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. months and 24 per cent on current accounts and notwithstanding that its gross profits for the last six months were over 1,000,000 yen. It pays dividends of 12 per cent and will add a half million dollars this year to Its reserve fund. Just below this advertisement Is a statement of the Mitsui bank. This Is owned by the members of the Mitsui family, who advertise that they assume an unlimited responsibility for all the liabilities of the bank. The Mitsui bank has a capital of 6,000,000 yen and a sur plus of 11.600,000. Its deposits now ap proximate 70,000,000, or almost (36,000,000. That bank paya 6 per cent on deposits of much good coal, converting fuel Into dust which may itself be explosive and become productive of much further damage. Such explosions often loosen the roof of a coal mine which may fall later. In addition to the actual experiments ln testing explosives Important experiments are being made In rescue work. One part of the station has been fitted up as a miniature coal mine. This is a large glass encased, airtight room which contains diffi cult passages such as are found In coal nines. There are also various obstructions aucn ma would be found in a mine after It had been wrecked by an explosion; also dummies weighing 150 to 200 pounds, repre senting asphyxiated miners. This room 1 filled with deadly gas and a rescue corps of men who are being trained in the work enter daily, clad in helmets which supply them with oxygen while they work. The men remain In thla chamber for two hours, removing obstructions, picking up the dum mies, placing them on stretchers and carry ing them away. There is also in the room machine which records the amount of work a man may be expected to do while wearing one of these helmets. One-half of the large building ln which this rescue room Is located Is used as an auditorium and several hundred miners and operators have watched the rescue drill through the large glass windows which separate the auditorium from the gas-filled chamber. It la not the intention of the United States government to furnish rescue corps when ever there Is a disaster. The present corps was organized with the idea of encourag- lng the mine owners and miners themselves to form such organizations. Invitations have been Issued to operators throughout the country to send picked men to the ex periment station, where they may watch the government rescuers at work and later go through the same training themselves In order that tney may gain the necessary confidence ln the use of these helmets, Already a number of the large mining com- panles have taken advantage of this In- vltatlon and are organizing rescue corps at their mines, fully equipped with oxygeu helmets. She had no head could be felt on hers. appetite and waa mentally unobservant. Thla continued to October last. A phy sician then diagnosing the absence of the thyroid secretion took charge of the case. He administered twelve and a half grains of extract of the thyroid glands daily. The patient has now grown two and a half inches. Her skin is moist and warm, her face is considerably developed and she has cut several new teeth. She is constantly hungry. The most wonderful thing, however. Is In her mental condition. She lias become extraordinarily loquacious, using a vocab- ulary she could not have acquired In two months, which hows that she uncon sciously lialened to and stored up words without the power of employing them. 6 Clock Told of Death. and Mrs. Frank Masaey of Fourth Mr. street, New Castle, Pa., are ln possession of a cloc.k which Is looked upon with awe and wonderment, as they feel there is something uncanny about It. Several days ago the clock struck at U:ft p. m., and then stopped, something which had not oc curred for a number of months. Some one in the room remarked. "Sixty- three, and Mrs. Massey said. - J lure la 8,utes, U.j ilcheut of all the consuming pa something wiong; I feel that something toni and on Xh west the vast population has happened to Brother I-ewis." - of china, whose trade promise, to Increase Within a few hours she received word enormously with the Introduction of west that her brother, aged 88 years, had died Prii civilization. We have one of the best suddenly at Allentown. Pa.. Just about the locutions of the commercial world and w time the clock struck. The clock was given .hall do all we can to take Mr' rightful to Mrs. Massey by her brother forty years j.lace In its trade." a ' FRANK O. CARPENTER. I) ranging up to $20,000,000 and with enor- nious reserve funds. Among these Is tha International Hanking company of New York, which haa a capital and surplus of $6,600,000. As to Japanese banks, they are to be found all over tho country. There are more than 2,000 of them, and their capital. all told, amounts to more, than a half billion yen. Nearly all the leading banks of Toklo are paying dividends and some very large ones. The One Hundredth bank ln 1906 paid 30 per cent. An odd thing about these banks Is that each has Its eat at the head of Its advertisement. The deal of a man or a business firm Is more a short chat with him over the financial situation as it exists here today. He says that the hard times will not be of lmg continuance and that the new arrange ments which have been made by the gov ernment will lead to a rapid Improvement. Bald he: "One of the chief causes of our ack of prosperity is the depressed condi tion which has prevailed ln the United States during the past year. Your country Is our best customer. Our trade with you amounts to more than $200,000,000 and in ordinary years we . sell you more than $100,000,000 worth of Japanese goods. In 1906 our exports to the United States amounted, to more than $125,000,000. Your panic of last year has materially decreased the demand for our goods and this Is one cause, i f our financial distress. In deed, our relations with you are so close that we feel any change of the business situation in your country. Japan In Ivianctanrla. The conversation here turned to Man- churia and I asked Mr. Jhll whether it was so that the Japanese were capturing all the trade of that country? "It Is not so," was the reply. "Indeed, our trade ln Manchuria la so small that we are ashamed of it. We are doing all we can to get a hold there, but are not succeeding as we should. Our exports are less than $1,000,000 in value, which is ut amaU Part of the for!lgn itrade " Have the Japanses any advantages over other nations as to that trade?" "No, I think not." "But, Your Excellency," said I, "I have understood that your steamships are car rying Japanese goods at especially low freight rates and that bounties are given on such of your manufactures as are ex ported to Manchuria." "That is a mistake," said Mr. Ishll. "we have no such bounties. Our goods 'have to ..and on their own footing. It Is true tnat we are subsidizing our steamships; for wc believe that it pays us to increase our merchant marine in that way." Japan Friendly to Uncle Sam. "What Is the feeling here as to thi ignited States?" .it , 0f xho friendliest nature. This talk about war and ill feeling Is only found ln the yellow Journals of the two countries. and especially ln those of America. Our friendship with you began with the open- lng of Japan In the days of Commodore Perry, and it hue grown steadily. I be- lieve that the best of feeling exists between the better classes of both countries and that such a feeling will continue." "What do you think of the Chinese boy cott of Japanese goods?" "it was somewhat of a surprise to us, as It was to the United States when the Chinese boycotted American goods. It seems to me that this Is one of the ele ments we shall have to reckon with ln our Aslatictrade of the future. The Chinese have learned the power of such combina tions, and I believe that they will use them more or less against other nations with whom they are trading. Indeed, I see no remedy for such a situation except that of arbitration. One ran not fight an Indi vidual because he refuses to buy his goods." Japan's Fat are. "What Is to be the future of Japan? Is it to go on fighting with other nations, or will It now devoto itself to the arts of peace?" "As to that." replied the vice minister, "I would say that we are a nation of peace rather than of war, and we hope that our career will he along the lines of peace and commercial prosperity. We have plenty to do at home without engaging in trouble with any other nation. Our first business will be to reduce our war debt, and while doing that we want, if possible, to make for ourselves an important place In tho commerce of the world. We are situated between two of the world's greatest mar kets. On the east we have the TTnHo.l