Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-01
TRANSPORTATION IN JAPAN.

q
crowd Of people, but as soon as the
representative Of the law has disap-
peared with his captive everybody
laughs. There is no sympathy for the
poor fellow on his way to the GALA
boose; nobody threatens the officer; 1t
is all only very good joke, which is
momentarily enjoyed and forgotten.
This characteristic levity has given
rise to one of the peculiar institu-
tions of Japan-the tea house and
the geisha girl pronounced gaysha).
The tea house is to the japanese
what the saloon, the club, the hotel
rotunda, the restaurant. the theater,
and few other resorts are to the
men Of other lands-a place where
rest, refreshment Of any kind, and
recreation may all be had in abun-
dance. In Japan a man does not go
to tea house to enjoy his own COM
pany; so, IL on pleasure bent, he re-
quests the attendant to summon a
geisha girl. A geisha is not neces-
sarily social outcast, though it Is
said she Is not always proof against
either gold or temptation; she is a
girl who has been sold by her parents
to master for the purpose Of being
trained to do just what she does-to
amuse individuals or social parties In
need of entertainment. In her way
she is accomplished. She has an
abundance of repartee, and can talk
with liveliness thata Western belle
might envy; she can play innumera-
BILE games with cards and other de-
vices; she can sing In a high falsettO
voice that will bring tears to your
eyes, and she can dance with a grace
that will surprise stage manager.
Her dancing, it Is true, Is mostly
posturinR, with graceful manipula-
tions of the fan she always carries,
but her attitudes are all tasty and
generally refined, her postures are
never contortions She Is always
richly dressed, this being a part Of
her business, and while the larger
share of her earnings is absorbed by
her master, the presents she receives
are often sufficient to constitute a
handsome income in themselves. All
depends on her popularity. II she is
much In demand at the entertain
ments Of the wealthy, she may look
forward to becoming the wife or fav-
orite OF some rich man. who buys her
freedom and installs her In his house.
She does not generally remain there
long. The retirement In which Japan
ese women live soon becomes very
dull to q professional beauty, who
has passed her life In pleasing the
public, and after few months OF Sc
clusion she Ia generally again seen in
the street, where the sisterhood re-
side, ready to enter on the business
of entertaining with zest all the
keener from having had a temporary
respite. The professional entertain
ers of the Island Empire-they do
for the japanese what the
dancing girls of India do for the
ennuied men Of that country-enable
the hours to pass more quickly and
shed over the scenes of revelry alight
that would not otherwise be obtain
able, for the Japanese wives are not
allowed to see much company, and
are consequently rather stupid.
There is one thing that can be said
for the Japanese; no matter of what
rank or condition in life, they are al
ways entertaining to the stranger,
whether In their palaces, more ornate
and highly adorned than even those
of the Chinese; whether at their de-
votions In the temples that are daily
finding fewer worshipers within their
walls; whether travelling to and fro
In the quaint sedan ,falrs which an