The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-12-16

Empress and. by the way. hear good
words about.Her Majesty every where 1
go. She is just about as old as her
husband. She is full head shorter
than the average American woman, has
slender fs1re, very straight and very
dignified. She appreciates her position
and walks like an Empress. 1t is now
more than a year since she adopted
foreign clothes, and her jet black hair
is combed in foreign style and a foreign
waterfall sits upon her shapely crown.
She has a fine complexion, much
lighter than the ordinary Japanese,
and she has that dropping of the
lower lip which is a mark of Japanese
beauty. The only pictures that are
now procurable of her are those
in her old court dress, but these give
fair idea of her feature, and her face
is decidedly aristocratic. "She does
not" says the court chamberlain,
paint her lower lip nor black her teeth
as was the former custom of Japanese
wives, and she wears now straight
bang of hair across her forehead" Her
first European costumes, so society
lady of Toxic tells me, was ordered
from Germany, but the Germans did
not feel competentfor the task and sent
her measure to Worth, at Paris. The
clothes were made and shipped back to
Berlin, and the German dress-makers
there exposed them as their own and all
of the capital of Germany was called on
to inspect the clothes which the En-
press of Japan was about to wear.
Such an action would hardly be posi-
BILE in the case of a European Queen,
and l have heard it condemned with
much indignation here. At present
[ am told that the Empress buys her
clothes, as far as possible, in Japan.
She is thorough little Japanese Queen,
and she is anxious to do everything to
advance her own people.
"She is" in the words of the court
chamberlain, especially interested in
Japanese women, and she tries to pro-
mote their. advancement in every way
She is very charitable and she is especi-
ally the patron of the Red Cross society
and of the Toxic charity hospital. She
often visits the hospital and her influ-
ence is given for the good. At the late
eruption of Bandaisau she sent money
at once to relieve the sufferers from
the volcano, and she is especially inter-
ested in the education of Japanese
women. There is a female school at
tended by the girls of the mobiles, which
is known as the Empress school. She
watches very closely over this and one
of the pictures upon its walls consists
of some poetry written by her. The
Empress of Japan is a fine Chinese
scholar and she is one of the best poets
in the Empire. Many of her poems
have been set to music and have been
used as national songs, and quite 6
number of them have been published in
the Japanese newspapers
"Tell me something of the daily life
of the Empress said [.
"She has," replied the court cham
berlain, ian establishment of her own
and it is quite large one. She has hel
maids of honor, her private secretaries
and the ladies of the court to deal
with. Her morning is occupied by the
reading and writing of letters. She at
| tends to the supervision of her various
charities through others chiefly, and in
the afternoon she devotes herself to
social duties. She receives at this time
| the wives of the ministers and the prin-
cesses VINO may call upon ner, ana II
they come at the proper time these
sometimes take tea with her. She
sometimes invites these ladies to meet
ings to discuss matters relating to tue
charity hospital, and she has a grand
marshal and a chamberlain. She is,
you know, the first Empress of the new
order of things, even as the Emperor is
the first Emperor. She wears but little
jewelry though she has some diamond
rings and bracelets. She is a fine
horse back rider and often takes a turn
on one of the horses of the imperial
stables. She wears European riding
habit and sits her horse we'll,