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