l.4fijuujiil.i.iiSTO v?"
26
THE UKDAY OKEGONlAy. PORTLAND. SEPTEMBER 21, 1902.
TEA HOUSES AVND GEISHA erRLS
TWO. INSTITUTIONS OF JAPAN THAT HAVE NO
. COUNTERPART IN THIS COUNTRY
GEISHA GXKLS ILLUSTRATING TKE
TEA HOUSES and Geisha girls make
up that mournful ceremony, a Jap
anese banquet; the food is of no
consequence to a European. f
Taken separately they aro not bad; your
own dinners at the foreign hotel -would bo
much enlivened by performances of Gel
ebas they would do as well as a yeomanry
band. And tea houses are not so bad If
you don't take their tea, though their
teas are less awful than the dinners, un
less you do the correct thing and take
ealted cherry blossom with them.
Japanese dinners are a refined kind, of
torture; you are expected to sit on your
heels and eat off the floor, Lovely little
mousmees, with scarlet petticoats, come
and kneel before you. But what 13 the
use of it when you are kneeling yourself,
because, not being a Jap, you can't sit on
your knee? Besides, your mousmee spends
all her time in playing hide-and-seek with
your nake bottle. No good restaurant will
let you drink sake that len't hot enough,
and as you don't drink it at all, it ooon
gets below the proper point, and your
mousmee goes for more. You are behav
ing very badly. Tho Japanese never keeps
his sake waiting.
The food is a worse trial. Live fish
might do if you -could persuade yourself
to treat It like an oyster, but seaweed soup
MR. DOOLEY ON THE WAR GAME
ONE OF
IN THE
WHAT'S this here war game I've
been readln' about?" asked Mr.
Henncssy.
"It's a kind iv a blind man's buff,"
said Mr. Dooley. "It's a thrile Iv cun
nln an' darln' between th' Army an'
th' Navy. Be manes iv It we lam
whether th' inimy cud sneak into Boston
afther dark without annywan seein them
an' anchor in Boston Common. Ye an'
I know different, HInnissy. We know
how manny people are fti th' sthreets
afther dark. But th' Navy don't know
an' th' Army don't know. Their idee
is that a German fleet might gum-shoe
up th harbor In th' dark iv th' moon an'
whin people turned out fr their mornin'
dhram. thero wud bo th' Irapror Wlllum
atin his breakfast iv Hungayrlan goo
lash an noodlo soup on th' steps iv th'
State House iv Matsachoosetts. But it's
a gran game. I'd like to play it mcsllf.
It's as noisy as forty-fives between Con
nock men an' as harmless as a stceryop
ticon lectcher. If war an' th' war game
was th' same thing, I'd be an Admiral,
at lacte, be this time, with me face
gashed an seamed be raspberry Jam an'
me clothes stained with English breakfast
tea.
"Th Navy chose to be th' inlmy an'
'twas th' jooty iv th' Navy to dlvastato
th' New England coast On th' other
hand, th' business lv th Army was to
catch th' Navy at its neefaryous wurruk
an' tag.it befure it cud get Its Angers
crdst. To play th' game well, th Navy
must act as much like an inimy as It
can an' th Army must pretlnd to be Jus'
as cross at th' Navy as it is whin they
aro both on th same side. Friendship
ceases whin they set In.
"It's a hard game to follow if ye're
lookln' on an' puttin' up th' money, as
I am. Tve been readln about it in th'
pa-apers an I can't make out now wheth
er th' Inlmy is lootln th' breweries lv
Connecticut or whether th' definders iv
our hearths has blown thlm up in th
harbor Iv New London. 'I have th honor
to rayport,' says Admiral Hlgginson,
that I have this day desthroyed all th
forts on th New England coast, put th'
definders to rout with gr-reat slaughter
an' kilt with me own hands Gin-ral Mc
Arthur, th' Commander iv th lan' f oorces
a brave man but no match fr ye'ers
thruly. His las' wurruds to me was.
"Hlgginson. ye done well!" I ray turned
him his soord with th wurruds: "Gin'ral,
between two brave men, there can be
no hard feelin's." Th battle in which mo
gallant foe met his fato was th con-clu-slon
iv wan iv th mos' successful socyal
an' naval campaigns in th hlsthry iv our
counthry. I have th honor to inform ye
that promptly on th declaration Iv war.
I give an afthernoon tea to th' Duchess
i
Marlborough. Th forts at NewportJ
attlmpted to reply, but was unable to
spoor more thin three or four westhern
mlllyonalres an soon succumbed to th
inlvltable. I thin moved up th Sound
an' fell upon Gin'ral McArthur whin he
wasn't lookln'. Befure he cud load his
guns, we poored a perfect blankety-blank
hell iv blank catridges on him. He mads
a spirited reply but it was useless. We
out-fought him be nearly fifty thousan
dollars worth iv powder. In th' mist iy
tli' flamo an smoke, I discerned th'
caitiff foe standin on top lv a fort dl
rectin his wav'rin' foorces. "Hl-spy,
Gin'ral McArthur." says I in claryon
tones, an th battle was over to all in
tlnts an purposes. I have to isplcially
commlnd Cap'n McWttallop, who, flndln
FROVERBl "HEAR XO BVtt, "SHE
find lllrri rnrfmivnto nnA tiata4 mai
with pickle and fish juice, are novelties too
striking for the male European stomach.
"When you aro drowning jou catch at
straws, and when you are having a Jap
anese banquet you catch at anything you
know by sight, like a plum or a potato,
but it is only a subtler form of torture,
for the lilum is sure to be salted and the
potato cooked in syrup.
Even if the things were good to eat,
you couldn't help yourself with' chop
sticks; it's too much like eating soup
with a fork. Undeterred by your, not
eating, the dinner goes on for hours,
while you wonder which will happen first
your knee-joints give way or your calves
go flat. If you havo been to a Japanese
banquet before, you prop yourself up
against the waiL That is the only way
you can sit on the floor for hours. The
mousmees are so pretty and so nice that
if you do get up to leave they always
persuade you to kneel down again.
And when it is all over comes the un
klndest cut of all. Politeness demands
that you should make a separate excuse
for each dish you cannot eat; It's no use,
for as you aro getting Into your rlsksha
your mousmee hands you a pile of white
wooden boxes In which she has carefully
packed everything you could not cat, for
you to take to your honorable family, and
etiquette demands that you should take
them, though you give them to your
ricksha boy as soon as you are out of
sight. Etiquette is the Kaiser of Japan.
THE GREATEST SOCIAL AND NAVAL CAMPAIGNS
HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY
his boat caught between th fires Iv th
inimy, called out; "Lay mo down, boys.
an save th' ship. I'm full iv marmylade."
Th' ladles aboord was perfectly delighted
with th valor an hospitality Iv our- men.
Tonight we complctde our wurruk be giv
ln a dinner an "hop on board th' flagship.
Among those presint was an' so on.
"That's what th gallant Hlgginson says.
But listen to what th akelly gallant Mc
Arthur says: 'I have th' honor to rayport
that mcsllf an me gallant men, but largely
if I do say it that shudden't. mesilf,
crushed an' Innlhriated th intmy's fleet
at hlglK noon today. Las' night at th
first round iv Jacks, or midnight, as civil
yans wud cay, we rayceived a rayport
fr'm our vlgylant- scouts that th inlmy
were not at Bar Harbor, Pookypsle, Keo
kuk, Johannesboorg or Council Bluffs. But
where were they? That was th ques
tion. An idee struck me. War is aa much
a matther iv ingenoolty an' thought as Iv
fire an' slaughter. I tint out fr an a.Yen
in paper an' as I susplcted, it announced
that til craven foe was about two blocks
away At that very moment, th sthralns
lv th "Bloo Danoob" was wafted to me
ears an' me suspicions was confirmed. On
such occasions thero Is no sleep fr th
modhren sojer. Napolyon wud ve gone,
to bed, but slumber nlver crost me tired
eyelid. 'Twas 6 o'clock whin we cashed
in an' each wlnt to th' mournful jooties iv
th day, silently btft with a heart full iv
courage. At nign noon, we fell upon th
Inlmy an poorcd out about JS5.O00 worth
courage. At high noon, we fell upon th
lv near-slaughter on him. His mina was
choked with cotillyon favors an' ho did
not reply at wanst, but whin ho did, th
scene was thruly awful. Th sky was
blackened be th' smoke lv smokeless pow
dher an" th' air was full iv cotton waste
fr'm th' fell injlne3 iv desthructlon. A
breeze fr'm shore carried out to me ears
th' wails lv th' wounded taxpayers. At
12:13 I descried th' -bloodthirsty Hlgginson
an a good fellow Caleb is at that on
th roof iv his boat. "Hl-spy," says he,
"Hl-spy ye'er gran'mother," said I. 'Tve
had mo eyo on yo f r 15 mlnylts an ye're
a dead man, as I can prove be witnesses,"
I says. An he fell off th' roof. I was
sorry to take his life, but war knows
no mercy. He was a bravo man but fool
hardy. He ought nlver to've gone again
me. Ho mlghfvo licked Cervera, but he
can't lick me. We captured all th' mcn-iv-war,
desthroyed most lv th' cruisers
an ar-ro now usln th' flagship fr a run
about. Th counthry 13 safe, thanks to a
vlgylant an sleepless army. I will go
up to New York tomorroh to be meas
ured f r th' presentation soord."
"There it Is, HInnissy. Who won? I
don't know. I can't .tell at this mlnyit
whether I ought to be undher th bed
larnln' German fr th time whin a Proo
k 1 1.117 r U1U U f
shyan sojer'll poke me out with his sa
ber, or down at Finucane's hall callin a
meetin' to thank th definders Iv th' fire
side. Nobody knows. It's a quare game,
fr they tell me afther th battles has
been fought an th kilt has gono back
to holeystonln' th deck an th smoke
from th chafin dish has cleared away,
th decision Is up to a good flgurer at
Wash'nton. It deplnds on him whether
we ar-re a free people or whether wo
wear th yoke lv sarvlchood an' bad, Ger
man hat3 fr all time. He's th' offlcyal
scoorer an' what Hlgginson thinks was
a base hit, he calls a foul, an' what Mc
Arthur calls an' acclpted' chanst is an
error. Afther th' gallant lads in biuo an'
gold has got through, a wathry-cyed
clerk named Perkins H. SomethIng-or-
JCO EVIL," "SPEAK XO EVIL."
It is no good looking at Geisha while
you are going through these tortures; you
are not in & etato of health to make al
lowance for their voices or their music,
and their wit ia lost upon you, which Is
perhaps Just as well. Tho Geisha, except
in the kind of ballets you get at the Maplo
Crab, does not suit Europeans. She
dances without her feet, and sings without
a voice. She does not, as the unco guld
assert, belong to the oldest profession In
the world not necessarily. Her real func
tion is to console tho dissipated Japanese
for the absence of actresses in his coun
try. Mme. Sada Tacco Is a Japanese
woman, but a Western Idea.
Japanese ladles . have actors to fall in
love with, but the Japanese man has to
fall back on the Geisha, The ancient
Greeks did not have -actresses either.
Perhaps their plays were as dull (on
the stage) as Japanese plays, which run
their banquets close. The ancient Greek
was as wise as the modern Jap; he did
not want to be separated by tho footlights
and the catgut tortures of the orchestra
from his goddess. The wisest of the an
cients, like the Japanese, did not hang
about stage doors or send jewelry on and
off chance to actresses whom they did not
know.
If you ask a man to dinner and take
him to the Gaiety afterwards, you spoil
his dinner or lose half the performance.
Instead of going to the Gaiety, the Japs
made the Gaiety come to them. Japan
cos wives are not taught accomplish
other, sets down an figures out th vlc-
thry. Th man behind th' fountain pen
is px' boy. It's up to him whether th'
Stars an Sthrlpes still floats over an on
conquered people or whether five pfennigs
is th prico Iv a dhrink in New York.
He eets on his high stool an says he:
'Five tolmes eight Is twlnty-nlne, sub
thract three fr th' duchess, a quarther
to 1 o'clock an' SQ miles fr'm Narragan
sett pier is two-an'-a-half, plus th' load-wather-llno
iy th' saloon corapanlonway,
akel to two-fifths Iv th' dlfterentyal tan
gent. Huroo! MIsther SIcrcty, yo can go
home an' tell ye'er wife, th counthry's
safe.' He has to be a smart man. A
good bookkeeper, as th pote says, is
th' counthry's on'y safety. He mus' be
careful, too, d'ye mind. Th' honor Iv
th' Army an' th' Navy is at stake. Wan
or th' other iv thlm has been careless."
V'D'ye think a foreign fleet cud capture
this counthry?" asked Mr. Ilennessy.
"Not onless It -was op'rated be a throl
ley," said Mr. Dooley. "Supposin yo an
I had throuble, HInnissy, an both iv us
wa3 armed with bricks an' ye was on
roller skates an I was on th top Iv a
house, how much chanst wud ye have
again me? Ships Is good to flght other
ships. That's alL I'd sooner bo behind
a bank iv mud thin in th finest ship in
th' wurruld. A furrln' Inlmy thryin' to
get up to New York wud bo like a, blind'
burglar attlmptin' to walk on th' top iv
a hothouse with all th neighbors' an' th
neighbors' dogs waltin fr him. Th war
game to all right It don't do anny harm.
ments, but "virtues, which are their only
reward. Tho Japanese man wants some
thing moro than an actress. The Geisha
ia expected to be excellent In that way,
and to be at his beck besides; when he
is too . idle to attend any -more to her
dancing and singing, ho beckons her to
come closer and entertain him with her
blandishments:
Kot Always Beautiful.
Geishas are not always beautiful; they
aro always elegant and clever; they are
the best-dressed women in Japan the
Japanese do not think It ladylike-for their
wives to dress well. "Wives wear a sort of
half-mourning, and no' wonder. The
Geisha begins training for her future hon
ors early. Girls arc chosen for cleverness
at 7 or 8 years old beauty is only
considered skin-deep for a Geisha. They
are trained in dancing and singing and
the art of conversation.
The latter is most Important; a Geisha
has constantly to be bandying wit with
sake-fuddled admirers and to switch lov
ers on or off. She is expected to sing
and dance and play. Any music-hall ar
tist in London would promise, to shoot
herself It Bhe could not do better with a
.wcek'3 practice. But the training of these
Geishas extends over four years, and
is perfect of Its kind. The popular Geisha,
like the popular actress. Is much courted;
she often makes a brilliant marriage.
No Japanese could ..understand "The
Second Mrs. Tanqucray." Ladles with
pasts get married every day there; their
pasts are no objection, but they havo to
bo pasta when they marry; In that dl-vorce-mongering
land Caesar's wife ceases
to bo a wife if she is not above suspic
ion. It is hard for Europeans to take the
Geishas seriously for all their accom
plishments. They look like children, and
are children when they are not cats. It
la easy to recognize the Geisha; she looks
vm? cnsel wlth w,nS3 of rich brocade,
a child face, geranium lips and flowers in
her glossy hair. Tho Geisha may often
bo seen In rikshas with their duennas.
The houses In the Yoshiwara are glorified
teahouses, and may be used as such.
They remind one of the Arabian Nights.
TcanousesNot Teatotal.
But teahouses are apt to bo lovely;
It is their business, except those which
go in for the dull rcsDeclabilitv of bolne
Anns. A ,tcahouse Isn't teatotal. -It ui
generally not a.house at all, but a garden
full o Summer-houses and quite often
consists of nothing but a roof and a view.
You can never got to n view In Japan
without passing through a teahouse,
and your way to blocked by gay little
mousmees who rub their knees together
and bow and hlsa their .respects and give
you tea.
. They don't sell It, but you give them a
Chal-dai tea-present three-half-pence
(worth only three farthings) for five
cup3 of tea, and you needn't drink it.
One often wonders what they do with
the tea that isn't drunk in Japan; it
doesn't seem to go back in the pot for
tho next person, who won't drink It
cither. Perhaps tea plants are kept in
a good humor by having the tea put
back in the soli. Asj tho teashed Is
nuut across the path, this pretty per
formance Is a toll.
Beautiful as Dream.
Some, teahouses are as beautiful as
dreams of coming Into fortunes. They
m.ay be In the Chinese style with ma
sonary ornaments llko that described i
But it's like punchln' th bag an I'd
Jus' as soon thraln a man fr n. flfht h
Llarnln him to. play th mandolin, as be
lnsmrucun- mm in Dag punchln'. It's a
fine game. I don't know who won, but
I know who lost."
"Who's that?" asked Mr. Henncssy.
"Th threasury," said Mr. Dooley.
(Copyrighted. 1002.)
THAT EXPOSITION.
'Tm glad to hear," said Uncle Josh,
"The slto has been selected.
I ain't surprised a bit, by gosh;
It's Just as I expected.
I-thought they'd hie that Falr"away
In some outlandish holler.
And fix It so it wouldn't pay
Moro 'n two bits on tho dollar.,
"But then there's no use malcln' light
Or raisin much objection;
I guess them fellers think they're right
In makin' that selection;
So with tho rest I'll lend a hand
And 1 it takes all Summer,'
No matter where It's goln' to stand
We'll mako tho Fair a hummer.
"But If we do we'll have to move,
I think, a little faster;
We'll have to leave the mossback groovs
If we'd avoid disaster;
For Eastern men who cash possess
That's ready for lnvestln
Will tako their cash back home unless
Our Fair Is interesting.
"So let's tako hold and do what's rlgXfc
To make the Fair a credit
Take what I said about tho slto
As If I'd never said It.
I always want to do my best
For everything; that's goln', -To
let folks know this great Northwest
Can mako a mighty showln'.
"Don't let's fool 'round and wait and wait
And spell the Exposition;
Let's make It fit to celebrate
That famous expedition.
And then, the folks will go away '
Well pleased with our location.
And come again some other day
To find a habitation."
CHARLES K. BURNSIDE.
Eellwood. September, 1002.
THE DEAN OP TUB LOOM.
: , i
below; the may have exquisite old wooden
terraces overhanging a lako with the sa
cred mountains Fujiyama staring at them
like a house. to let; or they may be them
selves overhung with fragrant lavender
wistaria blossoms four feet long, which
sweep tho waters of a river In the midst
of a gay capita?; they may be dear little
dolls' houses, built of odorous unpalnted
pine wood, and planted In a retired cor
ner of paradlso like the point of Toml
Oka.
The dolls are always there, pretty lit
tle mousmees, who take oft your boots
to prevent your spoiling the deep, soft
prlmrose-jcolored matting or kicking the
house down- when - you "grow Impatient.
Time is a snail in Japan. There is a
tethouso in every temple, run by the
priests. If Europeans go there, they will
sell other things . stronger than tea.
RIksha boys' teahouses you always have
with you on the great high roads. Almost
any house may turn teahouse or shop
among the lower class Japanese.
Delightful as those thatched belvederes
are, where you pay your tea money and
look at the view, there is nothing a for
eigner enjoys so much as the city teahouse
with Chinese gardens.
The Restaurant Teahouse.
About inns I shall say nothing. Thpy
are respectable places enough for a land
which has no arbitrary rules about de
cency. It Is the restaurant teahouse at
which the Japanese defies our conventions.
RAG CARPETS
AFTER years of undervalue in tho.
industrial world, products of the hu
man hand are again to the fore. Handi
crafts are springing up on every side.
Not In competition with or antagonistic to
the machine, which has done so much to
bring utility and beauty. Into lives that
might otherwise have never known either,
but as a natural expression otlndivld
uallty, are handicrafts multiplying. Pe
riodicals devoted to hand-made arts
threaten to become as formidable as trade
journals. It Is the Inevitable result of two
growing ' factors In American life. Edu
cated wealth la spreading, and with It
deslro to possess exclusive objects of art
which bear the impress of individuality
and which cannot be duplicated, as are
machine-made th'lnga. Educated wealth
Is learning to recognize and appreciate
the intrinsic value of human skill as man
ifested In the various handicrafts.
Ready to meet this taste and demand
upon tho part of educated wealth are
men and women of ideas who have
learned to think and to execute "for
themselves. Breaking away from the em
ployer and the 'salary, they have set up
their tools under their own roof tree, and
from designs of their own fashioning, out
of clay, brass, copper, wood, straw, rags,
leather and other mediums, they arc mak
ing for utility and beauty articles that be
speak the thought that is within them.
In out-pf-the-way corners of large cities
are members of little handicraft shops
where a single worker creates and stamps
his or her hand-made work, as did the
Benevenuto Cellinls of the Middle Ages,
with their personal signature or trade
mark.
Knowing no taskmaster but the satis
faction of their individual sense of the
GEISHA GIRLS STUDYING.
Even a banker asking his family lawyer
to dinner does not includo wives; he asks
him to dinner at a restaurant, and en
gages Geishas famous for their beauty
and their wit, but not necessarily for
their morals, to make themselves agree
able to him. Both wives regard this as a
natural feature of hospitality. As you
drive- through Shiba at night you will
know where the Japanese gentleman is
enjoying himself In his primitive way by
large wooden lanterns with paper glasses
and projecting eaves, and by the ricksha
boys smoking and doubtless scandal-mong-erlng,
at the gates.
You will hear the tinkle of the samisen
and the poor little Geishas' voices. Some
times, If the night is hot, and the banquet
era have reached the drunken stage, the
shutters will be taken down and you will
see the party enjoying itself. The Japan
ese take their pleasure badly; tho host
and his guests sit in a semi-circle more
or less drugged with gorging and sake,
und the Geishas are ranged In semi
circle opposite, if they still have a soul
for music, or come closer and enchant
them with prettlness and wittlness. The
Japaneso do not laugh for pleasure or kiss
for dove; they have a derisive laugh to
show anger, and they giggle at wit, but
the hearty English laugh of enjoyment is
unknown to them.
A Spree In Kobe.
"We went to such a teahouse at Kobe.
I wanted to stay In the garden, the size
ARE COMING INTO STYLE
FASHION'S EDICT IS NOW TO REND YOUR GARMENTS
AND TREAD THEM UNDER FOOT
true, they withhold their work from the
buyer until it realizes as near as possible
their Ideal. Their own designer, executor,
taskmaster, their salary Is their profits.
These little shops nestle for the most part
under sky roofs, or aro buried in cellar
basements. So rapidly have they In
creased in number, and of such superior
excellence is the won: they turn out,
that In more than one large city depots
have boen established for their exhibition,
with hope of commanding a larger mar
ket than is possible-In the secluded shop
or studio.
In this refreshing revival looms a long
discarded art the weaving of rag carpets.
Asthe dean of New York carpet weavers
swings his gaily filled shuttles these days
he marvels at the change In the clientele
that finds it way to this basement home,
where his loom of nearly 40 years service
has long been a curiosity to the passer-by.
In lieu of an occasional housewife or tho
matron of a charitable institution comes
now, to the old man's perplexity, my
lady's maid with balls of cut rags, or a
monogrammed, perfumed note'asking him
to call at No. So and So and collect ma
terial prepared for tho weaving of a
carpet, rag or portiere.
"It's the Americans tho rich Ameri
cans," chuckles the old weaver, "who havo
set my loom a singing in its old age."
When the dean came from Bavaria with
his good frau less than 40 years ago ho
found in New York more than 1000 carpet
weavers, all doing a thriving business.
"I owned four looms," sighed the old man
with a blink in his merry brown eye. "All
the big stores bought my carpets, and
great ladles living in fine houses In Bond
street and Lafayette Place used to bring
me their line gowns cut up into strips to
weave into carpets not for the kitchen, i
would have you know, but for their own
beautiful bedrooms."
With the coming of the machine-made
carpet, among the first to desert the hand
weaver were the foreigners. Today the
dean know3 of but three hand looms on
tho East Side of New York, and doubts if
there are a dozen weavers who make their
bread swinging the shuttle.
"The old weavers have nearly all died
off, and their children would not learn
the trade. It was too slow. They fol
lowed the trend of the times and took
to the machine or sought work in other
fields.
"Ach! 'TIs hard, hard work," said tho
dean's frau, threaulng the loom. "All is
so big and heavy and clumsy." ,
"Como, come," laughed the dean, "you
would net give up threading- this old lady
and sorting out the bobbins and weaving
romances around each pretty bit of silk or
velvet for the wealth of the Vanderbllts."
"Wealth Is all very good," continued the
philosopher, light-hearted as a boy, de
spite his 70 years,, game eye, and Avenue
A basement home, "but it's not every
thing. There waa a weaver in my town
In Bavaria who made soap by day and
spun carpet by night. The lilt- of the
shuttles always set him a singing, and in
Bong he forgot he was poor, or tired, or
lonely, fl'hore was a very rich man who
lived near by who could riot sleep at night
for tho weaver's song. He sent for him
one day and asked why he sang all night.
" 'Because it makes me happy," said the
weaver.
" 'And It makes mo unhappy, ,sald tho
rich man, 'for it will not let me sleep. 1
give you fiCO If you do not sing at night.'
" 'Four hundred dollars,' said the poor
weaver, who had scarcely owned as many
pennies at one time in his whole life. 'I
take your money and I sing no more.'
"When people heard the story they came
from all sides to see the weaver. Every
one had a new way for him to Invest his
moneys until the poor weaver he know
not what to do. Every day he hid his
money In a new place. He could not eat
nor sleep, thinking some one would find It.
He put It inside his shirt and it burned
him. Every time he threw the shuttle
his throat parched for want of song. The
moneys and the song bursting to be out
made him so sad he could no more eat
of a back yard, which contained a river
and a waterfall and a lake, and ever so
many little Islands connected with hog
back bridges, garnished with pagodas
and mushroom-topped lanterns which aro
never lit, and shrines and lighthouses all
of mossy old masonry. The lake didn't
seem to contain any water, though I was
assured that this was the case. Its top
was paved with br.oad, lotus leaves, from
which sprang, like crowns standing on
scepters, huge rose-colored blossoms, and
all round the lake were freaks In maples.
The tour de force, a fir tree taught to
grow In the shape of a junk, looked as
like a ship as any other junk. Tho whole
scene looked like, a willow pattern plato
converted by the moon Into a garden for a
toy nation. It made mo feel quite like a
poet, but our host had not taken us thero
for poetry, but for a spree. We were sad
dogs. Our little Summer-house was only
llt by two rushlights on tall candlesticks
of wrought iron. Then some little mous
mees came and brought in Geisha who
could not sing and Japanese dishes which
we could not eat, and sake which we could
not drink, or we might have warmed to
our work. It was a cold night, as well as
cold cheer; there are moments when plc
turesquenes3 fails, even if there had not
been ladle3 with us. But we went through
It as one goes through a Masonic Installa
tion, realizing the adage that blessed are
they who expect nothing.
DOUGLAS SLADEN.
(Copyright. 1002.)
nor drink nor sleep. He was like a ghost,
and the carpets he wove lost their color.
One day ho could stand It no more. Ho
took the money and he went to the rich
man's house.
" 'I gives you your money,' said the
weaver to the rich man. 'I keep my
song. "
"He, he, he," chuckled the frau. weigh
ing great balls of rags sent In by an up
town hospital. "Money can not buy a
light heart."
"But it sends us customers." said the
dean; "rich costumers where onco we had
only tho very poor." Turning to tho long
bin behind his seat at the loom, he tossed
up merrily the sorted colors of the bobbins
waiting to bo woven Into a carpet to catch
the footprints of children of wealth.
Tho mainstay of the surviving hand
looms are the charitablo Institutions. To
keep inmates or convalescent patients
employed, cast-off garments are given
them to cut Into strips and prepare for
the weaver, for rag carpet strips are al
ways useful in large Institutions. Where
formerly tenement denizens found It more
profitable to buy machine-made carpets,
since old rags brought prices almost equal
to that asked for tho machine carpet,
which suggested luxury, they find today
it does not pay to savo them for tho rag
man. so mightily has the price fallen, ow
ing to the substitution of wood for rags
in the manufacture of paper.
On the other hand, ready-made gar
ments have been brought to such perfec
tion in the making, and at so small a cost
to tho consumer, that onco, where wealth
found it profltablo to dispose of cast-off
garments to second-hand dealers, they
now receive so little that, in lieu of poor
relations or sending them to institutions,
they are, in compliance, with fashion's
behest, cutting them up into rag carpets.
Does life offer a more literal way of
tramping Its vanities under foot?
Much of the durability of a rag carpet
depends upon the quality of Its warp.
Cotton warp wears better and Is much
firmer than wool or linen. The beauty of
a rag carpet lies largely in the quality of
the material used and the deftness with
which the weaver throws the shuttle.
Carpets confined to one material cotton,
wool or silk are more effective and dur
able than those of varied stuffs. Silk Is
the favorite fabric for decorative rugs,
always prized by the lover of skilled
handicraft. One yard width is the limit
of the carpet loom, which is not designed
to weave large portieres. They call foV a
separate apparatus. While the old-fash-
ioned haiKMoom does not admit of the
weaving In of designs after the manner
of tapestry, tho trained weaver he of
color preception and artistic sense can
achieve wonders in the blending of the
bobbins. Two pounds of rags are allowed
to one yard of carpet. Thirty cents a yard
Is the price of weaving one yard.
From the time the rags, cut and sewed
into strips, generally of an inch width
and wound Into great balls, are brought
to the weaver, until he finally rolls them
Into carpet for delivery to the customer,
they have six separate handlings. Con
sider tin's labor, and that one yard an hour
Is the largest output, at 30 cents a yard,
and well may it be sold that, for the hand
loom weaver. Time was made for slaves,
and Wealth Is a chimera.
England's Queer "Hon Sermon."
In three weeks there will be tho an
nual preaching of a queer sermon In Eng
land. It Is called the "Lion Sermon," and
Is preached on October 16, in St. Kathcrino
Cree Church, London.
About 250 years ago a man. afterward
Lord Mayor of London. Sir John Gayer,
was traveling In the far East. Eecoming
separated from the caravan at night, ho
found, himself confronted by Hons. He
prayed the prayer of Daniel for deliver
ance,, and his life was saved by the ar
rival of armed men ju3t in time.
That night was October 16, and Sir John,
when he returned to London, built the
church of St. Katherlne Cree, and left
money to insure that a Hon sermon should
be preached annually on that date.