Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-11

on the following day, and we were glad to
obey him, for long before morning we got
mOrtally tired of living on the floor of the
Mussshiya with only futon between US
and it, and ouly paper Aide between male
and female. Fortunately, we knew what
we were rlsking in the way of victuals, so
we brought supplies of the foods and drinks
BETTING civilized stomaehs. It was
rather iun at uightfall watching the closing
up of the hotel. First of all, they carefully
fixed a row OF papef shutters all around our
sitting room, ana one up the middle to di-
vide male and female, and then they slid
wooden shutters all round the outside, the
last cae OF which had a feeble wooden bolt
TO keep the whole from being opened. But
the whole affair was f1imsy that it would
have given way if 4 drunken man had
reeled against il.
A tea house OF very different kind was
the Maple Club (KovoIwan) at Shiba, the
most fashionable Japanese club, to which
every parsonage from the court downward
belonged. l don't think there are anv sleep
ing rooms. The swell Jap goes there to
banquet himself and look at dancing girls
and play at fox and geese (under Japanese
name). We had banquet given us there,
the most unique thing in which L ever took
part. 1t began at o'clock in the afternoon
and ended about 6. 1t cost me the skin OF
my right hand aud ali its nails but one.
Take Your Best Stomach Along.
The moment we alighted from our
'rikishas the pretty little musumes made us
sit down and took off our boots. They had
the maple leaf on their dresses, and con-
Quoted us up the maplewood stairs into
maplcvood double chamber, whose shoji
were beautifully painted with maple trees at
various seasons, and woodwork ornamented
with maple lea! piercings. The big, soft
silk futOus (cushious) on which we sat were
ornamented with maple leaves, and the bean
-four waters they brought US with the pre-
hminary cup Of tea were maple leaves of
various tints. We were ranged in a semi
circle trying TO squat on our futOns in the
second position" OF rifle shooters We
each had ar hibachi (charcoal finger stove)
and tall candle standing on the floor
in front OF us, though it was only
. o'clock in the afternoon. When our
host clapped his hands 4 troop of little mu-
sumes, shoeless, in white stockings with
split toes, and very picturesque costumes,
shu1fied In, carrying the three-footed red
lacquer trays which contained the first
course Of the banquet. l am not going to
describe the iOod, as it makes ME rather i'll
10 think OF it, but l remember the rapture
with which | found myself the sole object of
attention 10 4 demure little damask-cheeked
Oriental, who commenced operations bv
touching the floor with her forehead and
then Squatted upon her launches like
puppy, 10 watch me eat, which | never did,
In front OF her she had a little saucer and a
bowl Iull Of warm water, and an Apollin-
aris-shaped bottle of hot sake. In theory,
she would have to be pouring ME out saucer
Jul utter sauceriul of hot sake, between each
drink dipping the saucer into the hot water
10 cleanse and warm it with the same
motion. But the first stopped
me, and l had the Phlis-
tine next TO me sent for a bottle
of beer, and then this Daniel produced from
his overcoat pocket large paper of sand
wicbes, and we were independent OF the live
fish and the sea slugs and the salted plums
and the syruped potatoes and all the other
nastinesses OF the japanese epicure, which,
by the by, we should have TO eat with chop
sticks always served Joined together, TO
show that they have never been used before.
You have 10 break them apart like those
Boston matches, which are called hell-some-
thing, from their brimstoniness. Then there
was charming diversion. Pretty, exquis-
ltely dressed girl musicians entered the back
chamber with koto, biwa, and samisen, and
were followed by the famous maple dancers,
dressed in the most gorgeous brocades imag
Unable, with everything down to the backs |
Of their fans and the tops of their hairpins |
mapled.
An Accident and Surprise.
The plainuve, quaint twanging CON- |
meuced. and the fair dancers danced. as is |
usual in Japan. with everything but their |
feet They wrIggled over at angles of about |
200 degrees, and exhausted tragedy and |
comedy with their fans, making the most |
awful grimaces with their powdered, eye |
browless, giit-lipped faces, of the crane
necked, elongated, oval type considered so
aristocratc and lovely in Japan. 1 was
seized with burning desire to photograph |
them, unllmbered and got into position, with
nv Kodak and fash-light cartridges. / lit
the fuse. Nothing seemed to happen, so
took up the cartridge, when it went of with
the usual gun-accident promptness, remov-
ing all the skin and four of the nails of NV
right hand. In the midst of nv pain l |
couldn't helm being amused as 1 saw the
dancers and singers disappearing like rsb-
bits. They knew it was dynamite, but grad
ually the nerves of the establishment were
restored to a tone which enabled them
TO bring oil and -four Il have al
ways been in the habit of burning my
hands since 1 was two years old, SO 1 |
knew what remedies TO apply. Sweet little /
musumes brought me all kinds of restora-
tives, and piled up soft silk cushions behind
me and under nv arms till it was like
sitting in an armchair, and then the prettiest
of all the performers knelt before me, and,
touching the ground with her forehead,
asked me through the interpreter if 1 was
well enough to stand the rest of the per-
formance. 1 answered "that the honorable
music and dancing might 60 on" which it
did for the balance of the four hours, with
an extra dance for my benefit at the end. and
then we went to our 'rikishas, 1 escorted by
all the females in the establishment, players
dancers and mattresses, carrying the BAN
quet had been unable to consume done up
In neat little white wooden boxes. And
then the lamps were lit and We darted off
into the darkness of the cryptomeria groves.
One thing remains to be told. About a
week afterward l received a series of ex-
Quislte photographs. The dancers, to ex-
press their sympathy, had had themselves
specially photographed in full costume and
in the attitudes of dancing on purpose
for me,