The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-09-30

tourists are always amused at a large,
oddly painted sign which adveruses
milk from his cows for sale. The em-
peror seldom leaves the new palaces at
Toxic, which are more modern and
comfortable than amy of the others and
We're only completed in 1888, They con-
slst of a labyrinth of one-story build
ings all connected by covered passages
and surrounding beautiful courts
Their architecture is Of the ancient Jap
anese style, with high roofs at sharp
angles and heavy gray tiles, and the
interior Of most OF them is finished i'm
the native fashion, with partitions Of
sliding screens and floor mating,
which the inmates use for beds, chairs
and tables, as it happens to be necessa-
ry. But several Of the rooms have
French furniture of ornate and expen-
| sive workmanship, much of 1t being
| rosewood, handsomely carved and in
| laid. The apartments occupied by both
the emperor and empress are furnished
in that way. Both prefer to sleep in a
modern bed and sit on chair before a
table, with knives and forks and china,
when they take their meals but the
emperor is understood to wear the ma
! tive dress except on occasions Of cere-
mony, and when the empress retires to
the privacy of her apartments she
throws off her close-fttlng waist and
corsets and puts on the more comforta-
| BILE kimino.
| Built upon uneven ground and sepa-
rated by long covered corridors that
may be cut away in case of a fire, one
is continually going UP and down stairs
and through dark passages when he
visits the pace, and 1t seems strange
to see steam heat and electric lights in
! apartments that are separated by gid
ed screens and lighted by paper win
dows.
The state dining room is very
Frenehy. The walls are covered with
oil paintings, the several mantels with
gilt clocks, and the side-boards with
china and crystal that resemble what
you see in the Chicago shops. The
ballroom has costly inlaid floor and
is decorated in white and gold The
throne room. which is used only on &C.
casions of the greatest ceremony, has
an inlaid floor, handsome chandeliers
of European manufacture, window
hangings of exquisite Japanese bro
cade, and a panelled ceiling ornament
ed with the imperial crest The throne
is a large armchair handsomely carved
and gilded, standing upon platform
that is covered with a red rug and I'M
der a canopy of red plush with gold
fringe and tassels.
The emperor has a, suite of private
apartments consisting of libraries,
studies, smoking and dressing rooms,
which are finished in the Japanese style
with implanted woodwork, paper win
dows and sliding screens, but the
floors are covered with moquette car
pets and the furniture was all import
ed from France, He has also fire.
place, the only one in the palace. in
| which pine wood is burned, but his
sleeping room is the Same unventilated.
unlighted and unattractive closet that
his ancestors used. 1t stands in the
center of a group of rooms which are
always occupied at night by his body
/ guard, so that the imperial person can
not be approached from any direction
without an alarm being given. There
are nine square apartments and the
emperor's French bed is erected in the
central one. The guards in the other
rooms are specially selected for their
bravery and fidelity and are descend
i ants of those who performed a similar
| duty for previous soyereigns.
All the formal banquets, breakfasts
and lunches given at the palace are
served in foreign style, except break
fast which the emperor gives on his
birthday to the members of the inperi-
al family-his uncles and his cousins
and his aunts. Then chopsticks and
lacquer bowls are used for the native
food, and sake, the native drink, is
served in little cups, as small and thin
as an egg shell. The empress often
gives a ceremonial tea, the famous rite
of Cha-no-yu, to her favorites among
the ladies Of the court, more to perpet-
uate an ancient custom than for social
enjoyment.