Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-04-11
WHY JAPANESE ARE DwARFED.

A Missionary Says the Mikado's People Don't Sleep Enough.
 A slight, fair young lady, with keen
 gray eyes and bright, intelligent face,
 arrived in San Francisco recently from
 Boston, registering at the Occidental
 hotel as Miss Mailes, of Osaka, Japan.
 Those who take an interest in mis- sionary work in Japan will at once
 recognize this as the well-known Mary
 Mailes who has done such noble work
 in the remote districts of the milSado's kingdom. Over eight years ago she started for Japan on behalf of the Episcopalian church of Boston, de- tcrmincd to devote the best years of her life, and possibly all of it, to the en- Lightennent of the people in the i'm terior of Japan. Speaking of her work to Chronicle reporter Miss Mailes said: "Whcn landed in Japan in 1885
 l found that at Osaka and in the sur rounding district had a mammoth un- dertalling on my hands, for the twin sisters, ignorance and vice, held full sway. l found many obstacles in my
 way, but in time made an impression on the better sort of women, and before
 long had several converts. I confined l my work entirely to the women, and did not seek to go beyond religious teaching. So far from cities where
 Europeans congregate I determined
 that the labor of giving an English | education to those people was unneces- | sary. Moreover, there are schools at all points throughout Japan where the | natives can procure European educa- tion.
 ''I used to find the remarkable polite ness of the Japs quite trying, and it took mo considerable time to perfect myself in the various matters of eti- quette, to violate which is an unpardon- able sin. Here are two instances. On | entering q house it is essential that the visitor shall sit meekly on the floor near I the door until requested by the hostess
 to take the seat of honor opposite the | door, which is raised a few inches from | the ground. The invitation must be politely refused twice and accepted on the third asking, with a show of reluc- | tance. In asking the visitor to take tea the same performance is gone | through. Only when the cups have
 been proffered the third time do you ac-
 ccpt them. As to the diminutive stat
 ure of the Japanese, my theory is that | IL IS Illc TCSulG ol SICGp hUIl rest when children. The babies and l little ones are allowed to remain up | just as long as their parents do, and l | have seen numberless cases where fa- thers and mothers who do with little sleep themselves will keep their children | up until two and three o'clock in the morning. When I told them that it was the custom in America to pack the little ones off to bed early in the even-
 ings they expressed great horror of
 what they called such cruelty.
 Notwithstanding the statements made by various travellers, do not think that the Japanese are a happy people. How can they be when cruel
 immortality forms the principal feature
 of their everyday existence? To give his son an education or provide the
 means of his advancement, father will
 unhesitatingly sell his daughter to a
 life of shame and degradation. This
 sort of thing is quite the custom of the | country, and should parent be in
 want the daughters will voluntarily | sacrifice themselves to provide the | means to relieve their necessities"