News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-11-13
Ellis Japanese VitG.
BY W. c. KITCHIS

Her name was Chiyo, end | knew
both her and her two children very
well. | have called her wife, but,
legally, she was nothing of the kind.
Many men from Europeand America,
during their residence in the East,
form mOrganatic alliances with ma
tive women. There is nothing really
immoral in these, except that they
are grosslY lY One-sided and uni Just. For
example, the mOrga1atic marriage of
a foreigner with a native woman,
while giving the husband the com
forts of a home, and often the devo-
tlon of loving and worthy compan-
ion, leaves the wife wholly at the
mans mercy. He can, at his pleas
ure, desert her, take her children
away from her, disown her, and,
whenever it suits his liking to do so,
he may drive her away from his
home.
Such an arrangement is cruelty un-
fair. Thanks to the growth of
more healthy moral sentiment
through the labors of Christian mis-
siOnaries, morganatic marriages are
less frequent now than formerly. In
deed, not a few foreigners have been
shamed into doing the women with
whom they have lived for years the
tardy justice of making them their
legal wives by Christian marriage.
But | know at least one missionary
who looked with but scant pity upon
the wrongs of the morganatic wife
You will hear more of her in the
story | am now going to tell you
Chiyo was the japanese wife of one
Broggles, a well-to-do tea merchant
of Yokohama Broggles was an
American, hailing from Maine, if
remember rightly; but no matter
about where he was from. He was
still a young man when he went to
the East; a very good sort of a
/ Joufg seil0Wf, tSIoy-7-<.sive hCasSi sj.i5s
by those who knew him twenty years
ago. Everybody liked him, and he
seemed to have a good word for
everybody He was delighted with
the country and people; he became
fairly prosperous in his business; and
he made up his mind to spend his
life in Japan, which he did
Broggles first met Chiyo at a little
wayside tea-hOuse III the Hakone
Mountains, and he liked her at first
sight. She was only seventeen then,
and her face was as pretty as a pic
ture. There are no girls in the world
more picturesquely beautiful than
Japanese girls, and none Others are
gifted with such delightfully."- engaging
manners. Broggles became a fire.
quent guest at the way-side tea
house. He understood very little
japanese in those days, but love is a
wonderful interpreter of stammering
tongues. Chiyo was passionately in
love with Broggles.
He bought her out and out from
her parents. did hear the exact
amount which he paid old Kori for
his pretty daughter, but it is so long
ago that | have forgotten it. How
ever, | know Frenchman down in
Kobe who paid thirty-seven yen for
his wife. At the present rate of eX-
change, yen is worth spventy-three
cents, United States gold.] BroggleS,
am sure, paid even more than that
Iof ChlyO. IhlngS are much cheaper
IN Japan than in either Europe or
Ameri.a. For instance: you can hire
an able-bOdied man for, five yen per
month, and he finds himself
l. first became acquainted with
Broggles and Chiyo through their son
Ruka. Ruka was one of the pupils
Ill my Eurasian school in Tokyo. He
was sixteen years old, and was, |
think, the brightest lad | ever met.
A teacher cannot avoid being partial
to his best scholar, aid Ruka was
my favorite. The Other. .lundred and
twenty-seven boys of the school saw
that | thought more of him tfan of
all the rest of them put together; but
there was no jealousy. They all loved
Ruka.
Ruka invited. me to spend the