The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-07

iards. It Is q sport pursued by the men
and deemed as desirable an accomplishment
as is tennis or polo in this country. The
site itself, too, is often care
have a reputation almost as great as
that of the bow and sword makers, aud the
kite is as carefully guarded from moisture
and excessive dryness or sudden changes of
temperature as either of these implements.
But in Japan it would seem that in the
past the flying Of kites must have reached
its highest development, though at present
the art is restricted within certain bounds,
which were long ago fixed by law on account
OF the following curious occurrence:
1t is custom, or rather was a custom, of
the feudal lords of Japan to raise as the
highest ornament Of their castle roof a huge
fish or shachinhOko. This was a finny
monster not unlike the dolphin Of the old
| candlesticks that stood on its head and held
a lighted taper in the END Of its tail. The
! figure was often fifteen or twenty feet high
and %as usually ma lie of bronze or copper,
and while new from the hands of the metal
worker was a dazzling ornament to the
castle town. But the metal soon took on a
dark, rich patina from exposure 70 the ele-
mentS, and soon ceased to shine as an adver-
tisement of its owners greatness.
Now, it happened in days long gone by
that the Princes OF Dwarf, near what is
very rich and powerful, aud they decided to
raise upon their palace a shachinhoko,
which should put to naught all the others
of the world. And to this end they called
all the cunning goldsmiths Of Nagoya and
babe them make a monster fish ten feet
high of silver and gold. 1t had great eyes
of shining black glass, and its head. tail
aud fins were cast in solid gold. IL cost
thousands of dollars and took twenty men
to lift it,
This wonderful piece of work was raised,
with great ceremony and the help OF many
hands, to the top of the castle, and here it
long stood the pride OF all the surrounding
country. No storm nor weather could dim
Its luster, and the first rays OF the rising and
the last Of the setting sun flashed from its
FURNISHED scales, SO that the traveller who
could see it from Rfar came tc use it as one
OF the landmarks OF his journey, as he did
with the great mountain peaks that served
to guide him on his road.
But such q weight Of treasure could not
long be exposed to the public gaze without
catching the eye of some one who made his
living more by his wits than by his work
The robbers OF the country were some of
the boldest in the world, and haunted the
mountains and Businesses Of the woods in
bands, sometimes stopping whole caravans
TO gather their booty. But even with the
greatest force that the free hooters could
muster they could not hope TO carry the
great castle by force, so their captain, be-
ing, as was proper the shrewdest one of the
band, devised him a scheme aud built a
great kite 25 feet square, and on one dark,
stormy night carried it and the rope to fly
1t, which was wound on a wheeled cart to
point on the road near the castle.
The kite had no tail, but in place of that
were two stirrups in which the robber chief
stood while his men flew the kite and him
with 1t high up over the castles topmosu
roof. Then with some maneuvering he
settled down like bird of prey upon the
golden fish and made the kite fast, while
with the tools which he carried in his belt
he tried to wrench off the golden scales
But the tough metal resisted him, and as he
had to work very quietly and carefully the
daylight almost caught him, and in his
haste TO mount his kite aud be off it got
away from him, and he was left seated on
the great fish, from which he had managed
to wrench only two scales.
When found by the warders aud carried
to the hall of Judgment below he boldly ad-
mitted bis guilt, and promised, If let go, to
come back and seal the whole fish at once.
The prince was so pleased with his fearless
address that he committed the robbers SEN
teuce, and ordered him to be merely boiled
IN oil instead OF being cut in small pieces
and roasted over charcoal. But fearing
that some of the robbers men might, IN
deed, fulfill his threat of making way with
the great fish, it was afterward ordered
that no kites should be flown over a certain
size, so that to this day the Japanese have
to be content with Kites no bigger than "A
barn door, which is no size at all for a
really enterprising flyer