St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-11-17

SHOPPING m JAPAN.

SHOPPING m JAPAN.
4 vlsas 60 the f.arxs silk stores of Eehl'
eoya and Dai MARI.
An occupation that appeals TO any
woman, and more especially 70 IN
American one. is shopping in the large
silk stores. EchigOya and Dai Mara,
which are tho Louvre and Bon Marche
Of this great capital, ~ regards size
and importance, ara places as full OF
entertainment as q theatee. Both Oc-
cupy corners on great thoroughfares.
the one on the Nihom Bashi. Muro
march,, aud the other ON tho Dilemma
Cho, and have waving. curtains Of.
black cloth with the crest and the
name painted in white.7 hanging as .
screen on the two open sides. Within
there Is the vast open space OF the
FIRST floor revealed in the, one glance.
The floor proper of this great room is
raised q foot aud . half from-the stone
walk surrounding it. and is covered
with the usual soft straw mats,
fitting closely together in one clean.
glistening floor covering. The sales
men and accountants sit here and there
over the vast area, the book keepers
being also cashiers and presiding over
low desks where they Keep books. pa
pers, change and writing utensils. The
shoppers, make groups on the mats.
and women with beautifully-dressed
hair and men In sober six garments
gain wonderful picturesqueness with
the heaps of rainbow sf.,brics heaped
and unrolled about them. Small boys.
selected chiefly with q view ito the
shrillness and piercing qualities of
their voices. one might think. take
something Of the place OF the ''cash"
in our large stores. These boys bring
out tho armloads and basketfuls of
silks from the gOdowns, for none of
the stock of goods is ever in sight
The purchaser asks for what he wants.
and the small boy is dispatched TO the
godown and brings out successive
loads 1t is etiquette for these small
boys to hail and cheer the arriving and
customer, as they do
it 3 by droning OUT. some
nasal chorus that is rather
amusing when half drowned by other
noises. We lifted the street curtain at
Dai Mara's the other rainy day. and
found the matted area deserted OF all
but solitary statues in the way Of at.
teutive clerks. Immediately the bat
talon Of small boys sprang to their
feet and began a caterwauling that
deafened us. When the chant was
over they hurried Of to one end where
a steaming bronze urn. various tea
caddies. and shelved box full Of tea
sets are kept to provide patrons with a
cheering cup Of pale, amber-tinted tea.
For an hour the small boys ran to ard
fro, baskets were carried back and
forth. and gold brocades, that 1t takes
n half hour of dissertation, and a con-
tinued calling for better or more, to
evolve from the godowns, come in
lengths of four yards aud a half for
the broad obs. or sashes, that are
the points of Importance and
show in the dress 'of a Japanese
woman. The silk threads are the
purest, and the brccades woven of silk
alone are as soft. thick: and yet pliable
as leather. and the masses of gold
threads while glistening like plates
and pieces of chased metal, give. stiff
ness. but not w-iry hardness, to the
stuffs The first quality pure. gold
thread brocades begin as low. rs $50 for
the 4l-yard lengths, but mount to $40.
$50. and even .$l20. as the quality Of
gold. the fineness of the thread and
weaving, and the thickness and weight
of silk used increase. The $l20 otis
was in the art loan exhibition. and was
q miracle of fineness. the individual
gold threads too fine to be noted. and
the design the old classic one of
dragons in the clouds. There were
two obs at $72 each that made ono
dream of the day when his purse
would be full enough to by only an
inch aud a half. One was on q delicate
gray-green satin ground with dozens
of six-inch gold dragons writhing up
from conventional spray, and wares in
gold and white, TO a sky full OF con-
ventional clouds of the most softly
tinted rainbow cOlors.. The other,
when unrolled. was . river Of sunshine
and light across the mats, a plate Of
gold inlaid with silken threads, that
would dazzle and blind ono in the SUM-
light. It's design was a geometrical
one OF interlacing lines and circles,
suggesting Greek crosses in some Of
the shapes. that Immediately made one
compare it with Russian cloth of gold
and the garments Of priests in rich
Roman Catholic churches. The modest
brocades that were bought after this
display Of gorgcousness appeared to
satisfy the establishment, but tantaliz-
ing visions Of the green and gold and
the solid gold obs havchaunted dreams
and made life all envy and longing for
possession - Teddo Cor. st. Louis
GLOBE DenaOcy0t -4
A Fund Of information.