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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1905)
36 THE SU2nAY OBEGOKlAly PORTBiCNi), DECEMBER 25, 1904. ; ENTERPRISING FISHERMEN ARE THE JAPANESE ""SSSSSSS? ASHINGTON, D. C, Dec 27. (Spe cial Correspondence of the Sunday Oregonian.) I saw this morning a .specimen of the .emergency rations furnished the Japanese army. It " 'looked like a petrified bail ana of the largest size, and -when I picked "!t tip it made me think of a whet stone. I tried to scratch it -with my finger anJipll, hut could not dent the surface. I emelled It and perceived hardly an odor. 'Nevertheless it was all fish, compressed s--into a gigantic tabloid of brain and nerve l"ood. It is in' st:eh shape that it can be jPacked in bags and boxes and carried on T0ihe backs of mules or men. The soldiers e-juan carry 4t in their pockets or in their AE-haversacks, and a few chunks with rice would form a meal for a company. The f Russians are bringing their meat over cthe Trans-Siberian road. They have, to j'.have enormous quantities to feed the -Army and the cars are taxed to their ut ""most capacity. The Japanese ship their food in boats. It consists largely of rice "-and this fish, although other foods of dif ferent kinds are supplied. Indeed, the fate of the war may yet rest upon fish, l and the fight is largely one of the fish cater and the beef eater. Japan's Big Fishing Industry. 1 The Japanese are among the most skilled 'fishers of the world. They farm - 'the water as we do the land, and their ? annual fish product runs high into the mil lions. It was at the National Bureau of Fisheries that I saw the fish I havo de- cribed, and there I talked with Dr. H. M. Smith, who was sent by the United States Government a little over a year ago to Japan to examine into its fisheries Xor the - people of the United States". Dr. Smith's s coming was announced to the Japaneso " government, and during his stay in the 3 country he had with him experts from $ihe Imperal Fish Commission and also aiShe local fish officers of the various states. He traveled more than MOO miles through th c6untry. visiting the fisheries, and as a result has brought back much informa tion of value. Dr. Smith thinks the Japanese are the leading fishing nation of the world. Said he: T "The Japanese havo more than a thou w sand varieties of fish, and they cat them all in one shape or another. Their water v products annually amount to f30.000.000, ' and they have altogether about fiOO.000 fish ing vessels and !oats. They have many ships which devote themselves entirely to fishing, and more than 100,000 of their e boats are above 18 feet long. There arc, e I should say, almost a millon professional fishermen, and more than that who de vote themselves to farming and fishing combined. Here in the United States we have about 150.000 fishermen. Japan has 15 fishermen to our one, and that not withstanding the nation' is only one-half 4 the size of ours." "Tell me something about this fish that the Japanese arc using as war food, Dr. Smith." paid I, as I picked up the brown tvhctstonc-llke object referred to in my - first paragraph. "That is the bonito," was the reply. "It is caught by the thousands in the Jap--anese waters. In the year 1900 nearly --17,000.000 pounds of it were taken, and the annual output of it soils for something "- like 53.000,000. The bonito fish weighs three and often more pounds. It is a round fish. In curing it the bones are first taken t -out It is then squeezed and shaped with " "the hands as you sec it here. It is cooked c. and smoked, whon it becomes hard and 5ry and. will last for an indefinite period. '-Insects will not bother It It can be i shoveled about like corn, and can be car ried anywhere. It is eaten with rice or it 5'j may be shaved off in thin slices and made r"ihto soup. The Japanese are fond of it." Biggest Nets in the World. "How is it caught?" "Chiefly In huge nets. Some of the larg cst nets in the world are used in Japan for "" catching bonito. I saw one there which 1 mvr THE PHONOGRAPH I LOOKED in at the engine-room of the Bloomfleld-Cater Manufacturing Company (Ltd.) for the engineer was "Klrksy. and there was a golden half hour between the time he shut down steam and washed up that I coveted. I found Klrksy resting, with his pipe lit, smut-faced and bluc-overalled. "TIs a fair afternoon," I said, "but ' - bids to be colder." "Did 1 ever tell you." began. Klrksy jj honorably, "about the time Henry Horse 3 collar and me took a phonograph to 3 South America?" and I felt ashamed of K my subterfuge, and dropped into the wooden chair he kicked toward me. "" "Henry was a quarter-breed, quarter - "back Cherokee, educated East in the idioms of football and "West in contra band whisky, and a gentleman, same as .you or me. He was easy and romping x in his ways; a man about six-foot, with 'ft kind of rubber tire movement -a "Henry and me met at Texarkana and figured out this phonograph scheme. He had 5360 which came to him out of a land allotment In the reservation. I had run down from Little Rock on account of a distressful scone- I had witnessed on the .street there. A man stood on a box and passed around somo gold watches, screw 1 case, stemwlndcrs. Elgin movement, very elegant. Twenty bucks they cost you over the counter. At 53 the crowd fought for the tickers. The man happened to find a valise full of them handy, and he c passed them out like putting hot bis cuits on a plate. The backs were hard to unscrew, but the crowd put Its ear to the case and they ticked mollifying and agreeable. Three of those watches were genuine tickers; bu the rest, they were only kickers. "Hey? Why. empty cases with one of them horny black bugs that fly around electric lights in 'em. Them bugs kick off minutes and seconds Industrious and beautiful. The man I was -speaking of cleaned up 52S8, and went away, because he knew that when It came to wind watches In Little Rock an entomologist would be needed, and he wasn't one. "So. as I say. Henry had 53C0 and I had 52SS. The phonograph Idea was Henrys, but I took to it freely, being fond of machinery of all kinds. "Wc bought a fine phonograph in Tex arkana one of the best make and half a trunkful of records. We packed up and took the T. & P. for New Orleans. From that celebrated center of molasses and dlsfauchised coon songs wc took a steamer for yes. I thihk it was South America or Mexico I am full of ina bility to divulge the location of it tis on the rural delivery route, 'tis colored -yellow on the map, and branded with the literature of cigar boxes. "We landed on a smiling coast at a town they denounced by the name, as near as I can recollect, of Sore-toe-kan-garoo. 'Twas a palatable enough place to look at- The houses were clean and white, sticking about among the scenery - like hard-boiled eggs served with lettuce. There was a block of skyscraper moun watains in the suburbs, and they kept pret ty quiet, like they were laying one finger on their Hps and watching the town. And the sea was remarking 'Sh-sh-shl on the beach; and now and then a ripe cocoanut would fall kerbllp in the sand, and that was all there was doing. "The captain went ashore with us and offered to conduct what he sceme'd to was about 1000 feet long and 200 feet wide, with wings 250 feet long extendng out at each end. It took thirty boats to manage that net. The fish were first driven in betwen the wings, finding their way from them Into the great bag-like net 'at the end. Then the men fastened the net and gradually drew it up out of the water. They caught an enormous quantity of fish. Indeed, as many as 20.000 yellow-tall have beon caught at one time in such a net. The yellow-tail are large fl6h of somewhat the same character as the bonito. Those 20,000 are said to have av eraged 20 pounds apiece, making a total catch of about 400,000 pounds." "How Is the fishing carried on. Dr. Smith, by individuals or by trusts?" "It Is largely by individuals, although there are companies of fishermen which club together. The large nets tp which I have referred often belong to one village and arc owned in common by the fisher men of that village. Indeed, such a net often raises a town from poverty to af fluence. I knew one village which had been poor, but had grown rich through co-operative fishing by means of one net. The catch brought In about 550.000 a year, which Is a large income for a small Jap anese town." "Where are the chief Japanese fish erics. Dr. Smith?" "They are found everywhere along the coast. Japan consists of many hundreds of volcanic islands, some large and some very small. The water is very deep a short distance from the coast, and you have all kinds of fishing and almost all kinds of fish. There Is scarcely any part of the empire whero fresh fish may not be had dajly. Every one eats fish, and dried flsh are stored away and shipped to China, Korea and other parts of the Far East. "The government does more to foster the fisheries than here in the United States. We devote ourselves to propa gating fish In order to increase the fish supply. In Japan the. fisheries arc con trolled by the government. They are reg ulated and advanced In every way possi ble. In addition to the imperial govern ment, the various states have fish de partments "connected with them, and alto gether the industry receives large gov ernment aid." Red Herrings of Japan. "Does Japan have about the same flsh that we have?" "It has many similar to ours, such as like to call the obsequies. He introduced Henry and me to the United States Con sul, and a roan man. the head of the Department of Mercenary and Licentious Disposition, the way it read upon his sign. " 'I touch here again a week from to day.' says the captain. " 'By that time.' we told him. 'we'll be amassing wealth In the interior towns with our galvanized prima donna and correct imitations of Sousa's band exca vating a march from a tin mine.' " 'Yc'll not, says the Captain. 'Ye'll be hypnotized. Any gentleman in the audience who kindly steps upon the stage and looks this country In the eye will be converted to the hypothesis that he's but a fly in tne Elgin creamery. Ye'll be standing knee deep In the surf wait ing for me, and your machine for making Hamburger steak out of the hitherto respected art of music will be playing "There's no place like home." "Henry skinned a twenty off his roll, and received from the Bureau of Merce nary Dispositions a paper bearing a red seal and a dialect story, and no change. "Then we got the Consul full of red wine, and struck him for a horoscope. He was ' a thin, youngish kind of man, I should say past 50, sort of French-Irish in his affections, and -puffed up with dls consolation. Yes. he was a flattened kind of a man, in whom drink lay stag nant, inclined to corpulence and misery. Yes. I think he was a kind of Dutchman, being very sad and genial in his ways. " 'The marvelous Invention,' he says, 'entitled the phonograpli. has never be fore invaded these shores. Tho people have never heard It. They would not be lieve it if they should. Simple-hearted children of Nature, progress has never condemned them to accept the work of a canopener as an overture, and rag time might incite them to a bloody revo lution. But you can try the experiment The best chance you have is that the pepu ace may not wake up when you play. There's two ways,' says the Con sul, 'they may take it. They may become inebriated with attention, like an Atlanta Colonel listening to 'Marching Through Geofgla," or they will get excited and transpose the key of the music with an ax and yourself into a dungeon. In the latter case. says the Consul, 'I'll do my 'duty by cabling to the State Department, and I'll wrap the Stars and Stripes around you when you come to be. shot and threaten them with the vengeance of the greatest gold export and financial reserve nation on earth. The flag is full of bullet holes now.' says the Consvl, 'I have cabled our Government for a cou ple of gunboats to protect American citi zens. The first time the department sent me a pair of gum boots. The other time was when a man named Pease was going to be executed here. They referred that appeal to the Secretary of Agriculture. Let us now disturb the senor behind the bar for a subsequence of the red wine.' "Thus soliloquized the Consul of Sore-toe-kangaroo to me and Henry Horse collar. "But. notwithstanding, we hired a room that afternoon in the Calle de ls An geles, the main street that runs along the shore, and put our trunks there. "Tflras a good-sized room, dark and cheerful, but smalL 'Twas on a various street, diversi fied by houses and conservatory plants. The peasantry of the city passed to and fro on the fine pasturage between the sidewalks. 'Twas, for the world, like an opera chorus when the Royal Kafoozltm is about to enter. mackerel, halibut, herring and others. I did not find the shad. The favorite flsh is the, tat, somewhat similar to our red snapper. About 52,000,000 worth of It Is consumed yearly. "As to the herring," continued Dr. Smith, "that is one of the most valuable of the Japanese fishes. It runs in schools just as off the coast of Northern Europe. It Is caught in seines and tho product sells for about 5000,000 annually. " The herring are also dried and pickled for export." "How about eating flsh, raw, doctor. I understand that is common in Japan?" "It. is. and I assure-" you that raw flsh are not so bad when properly served. Take a fresh tai and slice t thin. Bring it cold to-tho table and cat It with chop sticks, dipping each bite in soy or bean sauce, and you will And It delicious. The Japanese, however, usually at their fish cooked. They have fried fish, baked flsh, ilsh soup and fish relishes of various kinds. They are good cooks and are especially skilled In the preparation of Gsh." Water Farms Pay $300 Per Acre. "The Japanese have many water prod ucts in addition to fish." said Dr. Smith. "They raise seaweed and water vegeta bles. Indeed; some of the bays are far more valuable for farming than the lands adjoining them. The Bay of Tokyo Is so valuable that it is held by the govern ment and leased out by the acre to farm ers. Some parts of that bay produce as much as 5300 per acre every year in water vegetables. The farmers cut brush, ti.i it up in bundles and stick it down into the sand so that it is almost covered at high tide. The spores of tho water plants at tach themselves to these bushes and grow, being fed by the water which rises and falls with the tide. From time to time during the year tho plants arc picked off and carried to tho market for sale.'They are used for flavoring soups and as a con diment. Several hundred thousand dollars worth of such vegetables are annually taken from Tokyo Bay. Sea Weed and Fish Oatmeal. "An enormous amount of sea weed is also produced in Japan." Dr. .Smith con tinued. "This is gathered and used in a variety of shapes. It is very nutritious, and is so much liked by the people that you will not And a Japanese family which does not consumo some of it every day of the year. "We have about the same va- AND THE "Wc were rubbing the dust oft tho ma chine and getting fixed to start business the next day, when a big, fine-looking white man In white clothes stopped at the door and looked in. We extended the invitations, and he walked inside - and sized us up. He was chewing a long cigar and wrinkling his eyes, meditatively, like a girl trying to decide which dress to wear to the party. " 'New York?' he says to me finally. " Originally, and from time to time,' I saj's. 'Hasn't it rubbed off yet?" " 'It's simple,' says he, 'when you know how. It's the flt of the vest. They don't cut vests right anywhere else. Coats, may be, but not vests.' "The white man looks at Henry Horse collar and hesitates. " 'Injun,' says Henry: 'tame Injun. " 'Melllnger,' says the man 'Homer P. Mellinger. Boys, you're confiscated. You're babes in tho wood without a chaperon or referee, and It's my duty to start you going. I'll knock out the props and launch you proper In the pellucid waters of Sore-toe-kangaroo. You'll have to be christened, and if you'll como with me Pll .break a bottle of wine across your bows, accord ing to Hoyle.' "Well, for two days Homer P. Melllnger did the honors. That man cut ico In Sore-toe-kangaroo. He was it. He was the Royal Kafoozlum. If me and Henry was babes in the wood, he was a Robin Red breast from the topmost bough. Him and me and Henry Horsecollar locked arms and toted that phonograph around and had wassail and diversion. There was vlnto tinto and vinco bianco to drink with every tune. The aboriglnles had ac quirements of a pleasant thing in the way of drinks that gums Itself to the recol lection. They chop off the end of a green cocoanut and pour in on the liquor of It French brandy and gin. "We had them and other things. "Mine and Henry's money was coun terfeit Everything was on Homer P. Mellinger. That man could And rolls of bills in his clothes where Herrmann the "Wizard couldn't have conjured out an omelette. He could have founded universities and had enough left to buy the colored vote of his country. Henry and me wondered what his graft was. One evening1 he told us. "'Boys,' says he '.I've deceived you. Instead of a painted butterfly. I'm the hardest worked man in this country. Ten years ago I landed on its shores and two years ago on the point of its jaw. Yes. I reckon I can get the de cision over this ginger-cake common wealth at the end of any round I choose. I'll confide in you becausfe you are my countrymen and guests, even if you have committed an assault upon my adopted shores with the worst sys tem of noises ever set to music ""My job is private secretary to the President of this republic, and my du ties are running it. I'm not headlined in the bills, but I'm the mustard in the salad dressing. There Isn't a law goes before Congress, there isn't a conces sion granted, there isn't an import duty levied, but what H. P. Melllnger he cooks and seasons it. In the front of fice I fill the President's Inkstand and search visiting: statesmen for dynamite: in the back room I dictate the policy of the government. You'd never guess how I got the puU. It's the only graft of Its kind in the world. Til put you wise You remember the topliner In the old copy books. "Honesty is the best policy "That's it. Tm the only honest man In this republic. The government rleties of sea weed, but the -most of it goes to waste. Take the kombu, for instance, which is made from kelp, such as is found along our Atlantic Coast. Tho Japanese use a. mllllbn dollar's worth of it every year and we let it go to waste. About the only sea weed thatwc take advantage of is. the .kind known as Irish moss. Wc gather about 540,000 worth per year.- Some of the Japanese sc"a weed is put'up in the shape of powder and used for soup and flavoring.. Some of it might be made Into a very nourishing breakfast food. Indeed. I have a bottle of such- breakfast food here now. I call it flsh oatmeal. "And then the Japanese make vegeta ble isinglass out of sea weed and ship it to Europe. America and China. They send it to Holland for soup and to China to be used in -place of bird's nest soup. It GRAFT knows it: the people know it: the boodlers know it; the foreign Investors know It. I make the government keep its faith. If a man is promised a Job ho gets it. If .outside capital buys a concession they get the goods. J run a monopoly of square dealing here. There's no competition. If Colonel Dio genes were to flash his lantern In this precinct he'd have my address inside of two minutes. There Isn't big money in it, but It's a sure thing, and lets a man sleep of nights. "Thus Homer P. Melllnger made ora tion to me and Henry Horsecollar in Sore-toe-kangaroo. And later he di vested himself of this remark: " 'Boys, I'm to hold a soiree this evening with a gang of leading citizens, and I want your assistance. You bring the musical corn sheller and give the affair the outside appearance of a func tion. There's Important business on hand, but it mustn't show. I can talk to you people. I've been pained for years on account of not having any body to blow off and brag to. I get homesick sometimes, and I'd swap the entire perquisites of office for Just one hour to have a stein and a caviare sandwich somewhere on Thirty-fourth street, and stand and watch the street cars go by, and smell the peanut roast er at old Giuseppe's fruit stand.' "'Yes,' said I, 'there'sfine caviare at Billy Renfrow's cafe, corner of Thirty fourth and ' "'God knows it, interrupts Mellln ger, 'and If you'd told me you knew Billy Renfrow I'd have invented tons of ways of making you happy. Billy was my side kicker in New York. .That is a man who. never know what crooked was. Here I am working Honesty for a graft, but that man loses money on it. Carrambos! I get sick at times of this countrs". Everything's rotten. From the Executive down to tho coffee pickers, they're plotting to down each other and skin their friends. If a mule driver takes off his hat to an official, that man figures it out that he's a pop ular Idol, and sets his pegs to stir up a revolution and upset the administra tion. It's one of my little chores as private secretary to smell out thesj revolutions and affix the kibosh before they break out and scratch the paint off the government property. That's why I'm down here now in this mil dewed coast town. The Governor of the district and his crew are plotting to uprise. Tve got every one of their nuxnes, and they're invited to listen to the phonograph tonight, compliments of H. P. M. That's the way Til get them in a bunch, and things are on the programme to happen to them." "We three were sitting at table in the cantina of the Purified Saints. Mel llnger poured out wine, and was look ing some worried; I was thinking. "They're a sharp crowd,' he says, kind of fretful. "They're capitalized by a foreign syndicate after rubber, and they're loaded to the muzzle for brib ing. I'm sick,' gotes on Melllnger. of comic opera. I want to smell East River and wear suspenders again. At times I feel like throwing up my job, but I'm d n fool enough to be sort of proud of It. "There's Melllnger," they say here, "Por Dios! you can't touch him with a. million." I'd like to take that record" back and snow it to Billy "Renfrow some day, and that tightens my grip whenever I see a fat thing that X could corral just by winking one eye and losing my graft. By , is very clear -and has much the same prop erties." They Eat Sharks. "I have been told. Dr. Smith, that tho Japanese eat sharks." "Yes. they do," was Aha reply. "They make 5200.000 a year out of their shark fisheries, and something like 580,000 out of 'shark flns. Many of the flns aro sent to China, where they are considered a great delicacy. As to sharks they aracven eaten in this country, being served up under other names. They eat dog flsh.. such as wo have in great droves along, our coast. "We. do not eat them, but they are excel lent when fresh or canned, and I predict that tho day will come when one will be able to buy either dog flsh or shark meat In the markets." they can't monkey with me. They know It. What money I get I mako honest and spend It. Some day I'll mako a pile and go back and eat caviare with Billy. Tonight I'll show you how to handle a bunch of corruptlonists. I'll show them what Melllnger, private sec retary, means when, you spell it with the cotton and tissue paper off.' "Melllnger appears shaky, and breaks his glass against the neck of tho bottle. "I says to myself. 'White man. if. I'm not mistaken there's .been a bait laid out where the tall of your eye could see it' "That rdght, according to arrange ments, me and Henry took the phono graph to a room in a dobe house in a dirty side street, ' where the grass was knee high. 'Twas a long room, lit with smoky oil lamps. There was plenty of chairs and a table at the back end. "By and by the invitations to the musi cale came sliding in by pairs and threes and spade flushes. Their color was of a diversity, running from a three days' smoked meerschaum to a patent leather polish. They were as polite as wax, be ing devastated with enjoyments to give Senor Mellinger the good evenings. I understood their Spanish talk I ran a pumping engine two years in a Mexican silver mine, and had it pat but I never let on. "Maybo 50 of 'cm had come, and was seated, when in slid tho king bee, the Governor of the district Melllnger met him at the door, and escorted him to the grandstand. When I saw that Latin man I knew that Mellinger, private sec retary, had all the dances on his card taken. That was a big, squashy nian, the color of a rubber overshoe, and he had an eye like a head waiter's. "Melllnger explained fluent. In the Cas tilian idioms, that the soul was discon certed with jojr at Introducing to his re spected friends America's greatest In vention, the wonder of the age. Henry got the cue and run on an elegant brass band record and the festivities became Initiated. The Governor man had a bit of English under his hat, and when the music was choked off he says: " 'Ver-r-ee fine. Gr-r-r-r-raclas, the American gentieemen, the so esplendeed mooslc as to playce.' "The table was a long one, and Henry and me sat at the end of 1t next the wall. The Governor sat at the other end. Homer P. Melllnger stood at the side of it I was Just wondering how Melllnger was going to handle his crowd, when the home talent suddenly opened the services. "That Governor man was suitable for uprisings and policies. I judge he was a ready kind of man, who took his own time. "Do the American senors understand Spanish?" he asks in his native ac cents. "They do not," says Melllnger. "Then listen," goes on the Latin man, prompt. 'The musics are of suf ficient prettiness, but not of neces sity. Let us speak of business. I well know why we are here, since I observe my compatriots. You ha2 t' whisper yesterday. Senor Mellinger, of our pro posals. Tonight we will speak out We know that you stand in the Presi dent's favor, and we know your in fluence. Tho government will be changed. "We know the worth of your services. We esteem your friendship and aid so much that' Melllnger raises his hand, but the Governor man bot tles him up. 'Do not speak until I have done. "How about salmon?" "The Japanese have salmon, but they are not so good as ours. They are like the poorest variety of the Pacific Coast salmon. The people consider them a great delicacy, and it is customary to send a big salmon to one's friends on New Year's day." "Arc there good fisheries in Northern Japan. Dr. Smith?" "Yes, very rich ones. There are many cod along the Island of Yczzo. and the fisheries still farther north are valuable. This is especially so- about Sagballn, the island which the Russians took from Japan. I understand that tho Japanese will demand its renrn. if they are suc cessful in the present var. If they, get it it will add 515,000.000 a year to their fishing product." By 'Tho Governor man then draws a package wrapped in paper from his pocket, and lays it on the table by Mellinger's hand. "'In that you will find 5100.000 in money of your country. You can do nothing against us, but you can be worth that for us. Go back' to the capital and obey our Instructions. Take that money now. We trust you. You will find with it a paper giving in detail the work you will be ex pected to do for us. Do not have the unwiseness to refuse. 'The Governor man paused, with his eyes fixed on Mellinger, full of expres sions and observances. I looked at MeJHnger and, was glad Billy Renfrow couldn't see him then. The sweat was popping out on his forehead, and he stood dumb, tapping the little package with the ends of his fingers. The Colo rado maduro gang was after his graft. He had only to change his politics and stuff six figures in his Inside pocket. "Henry whispers to me and wants the pause n the programme interpreted. I whisper back: H. P. is up against a bribe. Senator's size, and the coons have got him going.' I saw Mellinger's hand moving closer to the package. 'He's weakening,' I whispered to Henry. 'We'll remind him,' says Henry, 'of the peanut roaster on Thirty fourth street. New York." "Henry stooped and got a record from the basketful we'd brought, slid it in the phonograph, and started her off. It was a cornet solo, very neat and beautiful, and the name of it was 'Home, Sweet Home.' Not one of them 50-odd men in the room moved while it was playing, and the Governor man kept his eyes steady on- Melllnger. I saw Mellinger's head go up- little by llttle, and his hand came creeping away from the package. Not until the last note, sounded did anybody stir. And then Homer P. Melllnger takes up the bundle of boodle and slams it in the Governor man's face. " That's my answer,' says Mellinger, private secretary, 'and there'll be an other in the morning. I have proofs of conspiracy against every man of you. The show is over, gentlemen. " 'There's one more act puts in the Governor man. 'You are a servant, I be lieve, employed by the President to copy letters and answer raps at the door. I am Governor here. Senors, I call upon you In the name of the cause to seize this man.' 'That brindled gang of conspirators shoved back their chairs and advanced in force- I could see where Mellinger had make a mistake in massing' his enemy so as to make a grandstand play. I think he made another one. too. but we can pass that Mellinger's Idea of graft and mine being different, according to estima tions and points of view. "There was only one window and door in that room, and they were in the front end. Here was fifty-odd Latin men com ing in a bunch to obstruct the legislation of Melllnger. You may say there was three of us, for me and Henry, simulta neous, declared New York City and the Cherokee Nation In sympathy with the weaker party. "Then it was that Henry Horsecollar rose to a point of disorder and intervened, showing, admirable, the advantages of ed ucation as applied to the American In dian's natural intellect and native refine ment He stood up and smoothed back his hair on each side with hi hands as you have seen little girls do when th;y play. Fisheries of China. "How do the Chinese fishermen compare with those of Japan?" "I have not been in China." said Dr. Smith. "Indeed, but little is known about the water wealth of the country, except that Its flsh product Is enormous: It Is said that it has more than a thousand different varieties of fish, and that in Macao, near Canton, ono may have a dif ferent kind of fish every morning the year round. Tho Chinese must have much the same fish as Japan. They havo mak ercl. herring, shark and carp. They have shell fish, oysters and prawns, shrimps and- crabs. The-peoplo use cormorants for fishing. They have a vast boat pop ulation and there must bo fishermen everywhere." Cormorant Fishing in Japan. "Is there' any cormorant fishing in Japan?" "Yes, I have 'brought back some excel lent photograprs showing- how cormorant fishing Is done." said Dr. Smith. "I do not know that the custom originated with the Japanese, but it. is mentioned in Japanese literature as far back as 700 A. D. The people go out with the cormorants, some times using as many as 16 birds to one boat. Before tho birds are started out a string is tied, tightly about the heck of each to keep it from swallowing the fish. They arc also tied by long strings to the boats. Sometimes metal rings arc put around the throat to prevent the flsh from sliding into the stomach. The birds dive down Into the water and bring up thn fish, whereupon the boatmen pull them in. force open their bills and squeeze the threats until the flsh drop out. Then the birds are started out for a' fresh catch." "I suppose cormorants are raised for this, purpose?" ."Yes, and they are also caught in the Winter as they go southward. Onc trained they will work for years, the birds living to be 15 or 0- years old. Some cormorants are very Skillful, catch ing as many as a hundred fi3h per hour." Japanese Fish Canneries. "The Japanese are developing their fisheries from a commercial standpoint." Dr. Smith continued. "They have canning and pickling establishments and. are put ting up all sorts of things for export. Hero is a copy of the catalogue of their St. Louis fish exhibit. It treats of every thing from sardines to whales and shows what they are doing along various lines. The annual catch of sardines Is now mora than 23.000,000 pounds, and sardines are sold fresh, dried and salted. At the experi mental fish station of Aichi-ken they have been salting' down fresh sardines Into banols as an experiment, and if there is a demand for them .a million barrels may be easily cured In that way in one year. In the past many sardines have been pressed Into guano and ' sold for fertil izers. They arc now being- put up In oil. A great deal of the herring catch is used for guano, and this is so with other flsh." "Do they have much salt mackerel?" I asked. "Yes, and the government has been paying a bounty on mackeral cured after American methods. They hope to ship mackerel to this country, but so far have not been able to do so for lack of good barrels. At present mackerel are sold In Kobe at 59 per half barrel. Some mack erel are now being put up m oil. and this is so with gray mullet and other flsh." Whale and Fish Oils. "You spoke of whale fishing. Do they have whales near Japan?" "The whale hunt is ch'efly in the Corean waters." said the fish expert. "There Is a whale oil company which has three fac tories in Japan and many stations on the coast of Corea. It annually produces "1,000,000 gallons of whale oil. Tho Jap anese are also making cod liver oil for medicinal purposes. They make all they need themselves and export a considerable quantity. They make a fine clock oil from the dolphin, and they have recently be gun to make herring oil, sardine oil and shark oil. Indeed, they ' are quite up-to-date in the use of all their fish products." (Copyright 1904.) FRANK G. CARPENTER. O. Henry " 'Get behind me,- both of you,' say3 Henry. " 'What is it to be?' I asked. " 'I'm going to buck center, says Henry, in his football Idioms. 'There isn't a tackle in the lot of them. Keep close be hind me and rush the game." "That cultured red man exhaled. an ar rangement of sounds with his mouth that caused the Latin aggregation to pause, with thoughtfulness and hesitations. The matter of his prbclamatlon seemed to be a co-operation of the Cherokee college yell with the Carlisle war whoop. He went at the chocolate team like the flip of a little boy's nigger shooter. His right elbow laid out the Governor man on tho gridiron, and he made a lane the length of the crowd that a woman could have -carried a stepladder through without striking any thing. All me and Mellinger had to do was to follow. "In five minutes we were out of that street and at the military headquarters, where Melllnger had things his own way. "The next day Mellinger takes me and Henry to one side and begins to shed tens and twenties. " T want to buy that phonograph," he says. 'I liked that last tune It played. Now, you boys better go back home, for they'll give you trouble here before I can get the screws put on 'em. If you happen to ever see Billy Renfrow again, tell him I'm coming back to New York as soon as I can make a stake honest " 'This is more money,' says I, 'than the machine Is worth.' 'TIs government expense money,' says Melllnger. 'and the government's getting the tune grinder cheap. "Henry and I knew that pretty well, "but we never let Homer P. Melllnger know that we had seen how near he came to losing his graft. "We laid low until the day the steamer came back. When we saw the captain's boat on the beach 'me and Henry went down and stood in the edge of the water. The captain grinned when he saw us. " T told you you'd be waitln', he says. 'Where's the Hamburger machine?' "'It stays behind.' I says, 'to play "Home, Sweet Home." " T told you so,' says the captain again. 'Climb in the boat.' "And that." said Kirksy, "is the way me and Henry Horsecollar Introduced the phonograph in that Latin country along about the vicinity of South America." Goln Back to Missouri. I've heard from Old Missouri, And I've beard from County Pike; And I'm lookln for a letter From that dear brother Ike. Accordln' to the flsRertn. It kinder looks to me. That the who4e Bowers family Has joined the G. O. P. ... . I've roamed around for many year. O'er land and on the sea: " V And I think now Old Missouri Is good enough for me. I think I'll live and die thar In that old County Pike; And now I'll pack my traps, sir. And start for Brother Ike. I gaess I'll find things changed some' Since the day I roamed away. But I allers thought Missouri Would come out right some day. And now I feel like slngin' loud That old Tankee-doodle-doo, 'Cause Itfknowed when she got started She'd come out P JJ. Q. JOE BOWERS. EuKeae. Orecon. 1