The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-30
Ind nstrial rsoEress--Ths Religion Q
ClesnlInsss-Drss aad Orsamsnts
Chat About ans and Babies
Ispecial Correspondence.l

WHICH mike llIc WUTUu llVluS.
One would suppose that language SO full
of praise and eHanatihg from such a dis
tinguished source would have immensely
to flattcr. But the contrary proved to be
the case. The Japanese AS they have be-
come modernized have become intensely
world to know it.
To the ordinary tourist, however-the
''planet pilgrim. Z" as he is sometimes called
here-old Japan is infinitely more interest
ing than the new because from the mo-
ment you land at Nagasaki or Yokohama
your experience is filled with fresh impress
sions and scenes SO strange, 80 unlike any
thing you ever have imagined that you
never seem weary in dwelling upon them.
The women and children are exact fac
SMILES of those on the fans and porcelain
that are familiar; the coolies interest you
with their immense strength, endurance
and swiftness as they whirl their jinrick-
shas and other burdens around the corners
and through the crowds, and it would take
q folio volume deliberately illustrated to do
justice to all the varieties of Japanese COS
tune.
Although the cleanliness of the Japanese
has nothing to do with godliness, it isnever-
theless a noteworthy factthat in this respect
they excel the rest Of mankind. The habit
dates back TO their earliest civilization and
is referred 70 in their mythology. In To-
kio there ava some 900 public baths, and it
is calculated that fully 800, 900 persons
bathe daily at a cost Of about half a penny
Of English money per head. In winter they
battle in very hot water. Every private
house has it's own bathroom, but where
there are neither bathing establishments
nor private bathrooms the people take their
tubs out of doors and until of late years
thought nothing of bathing in public. A
Japanese crowd is therefore said to be the
sweetest in the world. The same bath usu-
ally does for all the members of a family,
men taking the first place in the order of
their age and position, the ladies next,
then the OUNCE children and finally the
servants.
The country abounds in hundreds Of
mineral springs, many of which are famous
for their curative properties. One Of them
is known as The Big He'll" Another is
so rich in acid that it is administered as an
excellent lemonade. Invalids enter baths
at from 10 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and
their healthy friends go in with them for
the sake Of killing time agreeably. l can
not vouch for the truth Of the statement,
but I lave been told that some of the bath
ers stay in the water for a month at a time
with u stone in their lap to prevent them
from floating in their sleep.
Another habit peculiar to this diamond
edition Of humanity" is that Of pipe smok-
ing, but in it, as in many other things, the
Japanese display a supreme refinement.
The coarsest cody, the toughest farm la
borer, the lady of rank, the merchant or
the minister of state are equally content
with the diminutive little instrument that
at the most permits of but three whitfs.
The pipe commonly employed is brass, but
silver is more fashionable, and this is fire.
quently engraved and deliberately inlaid.
A fine pipe will cost as much as $50, but
then it is apt to be handed down as an
heirloom. Ladies' carry them in little long
embroidered silk cases, with silken pouches
attached, fastened by an ivory or jeweled
button. Men wear a pipe sheath of ivory
and the diminutive smoking box, which
contains a brazier and other implements,
at their girdle. In aristocratic houses the
smoking box is sometimes made of lacquer
and the brazler of bronze, both being quite
handsome. The Japanese have u saying
that 'at the bottom of a pipe there lives
poison" and they wonder how 1.-THE rec
haired barbarians" can smoke to the bitter
end.
Fans also play a large part in the socia
life, customs and artistic development o
this interesting people. They are ms com
mon to one sex as to the other and have
language of their own. When u gentleman
of the old school pays a visit, he always car
ries his fan in his girdle sash, and his frs
Snlutation ia made Inv Ii yinp his fan in from