The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1885-02-18
A STATE BALL IN JAPAN.
CURIOUS SCENES WITNESSED By =
YOUNG AMERICAN.
The Decorations, the Music, tho
People Present., their Dress and
How they Acted.

People Present, their Dress and
How they Acted.
A young American describes in the
New York Eeening Post ball given in
honor Of the mikados birthday, at To-
kiyo, Japan, by the Japanese Minister OF
Foreign Affairs Count Jnonye. The
writer says the ball was held '.at the
splendid building of the Rokumeikwan
the swell club of Tokyo. All the Of
ficers of the empire, the foreign lega-
tions, and great many outside foreign
ers were invited.
''The club itself is a very fine one and
the building will compare favorably
with most of our home clubs. On the
night of the ball, it was beautifully dec
grated inside anC out. Outside, strings
of colored lanterns hung in all directions
and fireworks kept going all the evening,
so that the unlimited crowd without had
fine entertainment provided for them.
Inside, the decorations consisted of bunt-
ing and flowers, mostly chrysanthemums,
which are now in full height of perfec-
ton and are of every imaginable shade
and size. The music was supplied by
the naval and military bands and was
very good. The floor was excellent, and
enjoyed the dancing very much, al
though the space allowed for the dan
GERS by the curious crowd of Japs was
very SMALL
81 wish could give you a good idea of
the scene the ballroom presented, dressed
with gayly-colored flags and filled with
a crowd in which were mingled nearly
all the nationalities of the world. 1t
| I 20,
fair or ball might, but then the people
all had the advantage of being in their
own costume, and carried them off better
than any mere masquerader. First, the
Japanese officers and gentlemen in gold
coats-really very little exaggeration,
for most of them had such profusion of
gold lace that you could see little cloth,
and this little was covered with insignia
and orders as rule. The four royal
princesses, dressed in the new (revived)
court dress, and were accompanied by
six or eight maids Of honor in the same
dress. This court dress consists of loose
crimson trousers, which are so wide that
| they look like a loose single skirt, and
/ loose jackets of gorgeous material with
tremendous sleeves; the hair Is done in
two broad fat plaits, which stick out on
either side of the head and join in a sin
gle, rather careless twist which hange
straight down the back. Altogether,
it is very ugly and unbecoming. Only
the princesses and their train were
dressed in this style. Many of the Japan
ese ladies wore beautiful European cos
tunes, but they do not look well in them,
having neither the height nor the figures
necessary for them. The Japanese ladies
dressed in their own ordinary style of
costume of costly and beautiful material
looked very picturesque and pretty,
much better than their sisters in the at
tempt at foreign style, to my mind.
Their dresses consisted of the ordinary
kimona, made of elegant silk crepe of a
soft shade of grey, with simple white
fichu at the throat and plaits of some soft
white material at the feet. where the
skirt separated slightly in walking.
"The Chinese minister and his suite
in their court costume were walking
gravely and slowly about with their red
buttoned hats and most elegantly bro
caded silk and satin garments, looking
for all the world as if they had stepped
off the pedestal of some tea shops sign.
Koreans with high hats made of some
thing which looks like wire gauze, Rus
sian, French, and English naval and
military officers, in handsome uniforms,
one or two United States naval men, in
plain blue with brass buttons, looking
rich and well to me, compared with the
scarlet coats and profuse gold lace, and
mass of undistinguished humanity
in the regulation black dress suit, made
up the the remainder of the assemblage.
"All kinds of dancing could be seen
on the floor. Some of the Japanese la
dies and gentlemen had been practising
for some weeks, and went through the
square dances well. A few essayed the
waltz, and one naval officer, with the
faculty in dancing that seems to go with
all naval men, got on remarkably well.
One little Jap girl danced the lancers in
good style with the regular Japanese
clogs ora rather difficult feat, think.
The Germans spun around, the French
hoped up and down, the English walk
ed sedately round each other, and the
Americans danced. But the supper
room was perhaps the most strange and
curious sight of the evening. The sup
per itself was very fine, being supplied |
by an artistic French cook, and consisted !
of everything imaginable in the edible |
line. The Japs swarmed about the ta-
bles like flies, and seizing a plate,
would shovel upon it everything |
within reach, oysters, salad, ice !
cream, boned turkey, jelly, cold fowl,
charlotte de Russo, etc., and then eleva-
ting the plate to about the level of their
mouths, cram the food down in an indis-
criminate mass. AS soon as they had eaten
all they could possibly hold, they put the
plate down on the floor wherever they |
happened to be and left it there. Cham |
pagne flowed freely, and the Japs seemed
very fond of it, gulping it down glass
after glass, and l saw one or two navi-
eating the polished floor, among the
empty plates with great difficulty.
Many of the Japs, after having eaten
all they could, filled their pockets with
the most easily carried viands, doubtless
for the ladies at home. We left little
before one o'clock to take the special |
train back to Yokohama and so did NOT