The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1879-10-25
Dining In Japan.

| day wheat WAS strong, and prices one TO
two shillings above those of Wednesday.
Dining In Japan.
There is no plan, no form, in Jap.
anese dinner, simply to dine with COM
fort. OF the quality of the food have
not confidence enough in my Judgment
| to give an opinion. Dining has appeared
to be one of the misfortunes that came
with Adams fall, and I have never been
able to think of it with enthusiasm. I
know that this is painful confession, the
display of ignorance and want of taste,
but it cannot be helped. gave myself
seriously to my dinner, because I am
fond of Mr.. Yoshida, and his gracious
and refined hospitality. Then / thought
it would be something that might want
to write about. But the dinner was be-
yond me. / cannot say disliked it, and
l liked it about as well as nineteen out of
twenty of the dinners you have in New
York. 1t was picturesque and pleasing,
and in all its appointments 80 unlike any
thing in our close and compact way of
/ living that you feltsomehow that you were
having good time; you felt like laugh
ing, and if you gave way to your impulse
I it would have been to roll about on the
floor in the delight and abandon of boy
hood. If you did not want to eat you
could smoke, and if not to smoke to drink
I-and there was drinking, smoking and
/ eating all the time. Your attendants
were maidens, comely and fair, who knelt
/ in the middle of the floor and watched
you with amusing features, tanning you
and noiselessly slipping away your dish
| 4 h,..r.
modest, so graceful, that you became un-
conscious of their presence. They be-
came, as it were, one of the decorations
of the dinner. They watched the guests
1 and followed their wishes, as far as COM
fort was concerned. Beyond that I saw
no word or glance of recognition. At
home your servants are personages with
1 all the attributes of human nature, and
sometimes in form so aggravated that
| they become serious care, and you dine
under fear in the presence of some oppres-
sive responsibility. But our maidens
might have been sprites, they were SO far
/ from us, and at the same time the grace
/ and quickness made the mechanism of
our dinner smooth and noiseless. MY
| main impression was that we were having
a good time, that we were amusing our
selves, playing, romping-not dining. I
have never been upon the stage, but can
fancy that If / had taken part in comedy
| I should have had the same sensations
with which enjoyed Mr.. Yoshida's din
ner-that was having merry time and
| giving others merry time. To chat
and listen, to lie prone on the floor and
see the red lanterns among the trees,
to see the universe beyond, the calm
and infinite stars, to run into light and
airy talk about music, and books, and
songs, and folk lore, TO hear our friends
tell us of the martial songs of Japan,
and chant for us some of their stirring
strains; to try and tell them something Of
our own martial songs, what our soldier
boys sang during the war; to note the
energy and conscientious desire to please
} and give instruction with which the
Colonel sang John Brown, and "Sher.
mans March Through Georgia" and
Johnny Comes Marching Home
these are the impressions I recall
, Neither the Colonel or myself knew any
thing about the words or music of these
songs, nor about music in general, anG
:, would have given large part of oul
fortunes il for that evening at least VIZ
, had had any musical faculty. But wha
could we do? Our friends were curious
on the subject and there was no way O
: changing the theme, and we told all W,
: knew-who John Brown was, and wha
: Sherman marched for, and who Johnn,
0 was supposed to be. There was line i
the Sherman song-something about tn
soldiers marching of with turkey COB
. blers-which amused our friends, al
/ though it was difficult to explain to ther
o the meaning of the word ''gobblers.
! Our evening with the Prince was yer
d pleasant. He lives in palatial style
: He has many children, and children
n children have come to bless his declinin
years. He took an apparent pride i
Z presenting us to the various members {
his family. Our dinner was serve
:, partly in European, partly in Japanes
. style. There were chairs, a table, knives
$ forks, napkins, bread and champaign,
:. This was European, There were chol
q e sticks, seaweed jellies, raw fish, soups
! fish and salvi. This was Japanese. Thel
n was as surprise special complimel
y to our nation-a compliment that can
in the middle of the feast-a dish
d baked pork and beans which would ha,
v done honor to Boston. Who inspire
j. this dish and who composed it are my
of teries. 1t came into our dinner in
s. friendly way, and was so well meant az
rs implied such an earnest desire to plea
er on the part of our host that it becan
idyllic, and conveyed meaning that
d. venture to say was never expressed by
a dish of pork and beans since the Ma
n flower came to our shores The dim
10 over, we sat on the porch and looked O
y, upon the river. In the courtyard the
ct were iugglers who performed tricks not
n - - =
= go around the edge of an umbrella, al
b keeping bevy of balls in the air on Il
in wing like birds. Then We returns
lg home, part of the way by river, and
Us the night had fallen in the meantim
and the sea was too high for us to We
ture out in the boats, the remainder
a carriages. Correspondent N. Y. Hy-al
I'll AN ANEcDoTE OF THE LATE CHARL