The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-22

interesting Experiences of Americans
i'm the Far East.
Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore Sun.
Il think probably the most entertaining
experience we had in Toxic" said Miss
not long since, in speaking Of her travels
in Japan, twas a Japanese dinner.
I'VE had been invited to dine at the
small servants went down on all tours in
salutation, removed our shoes and es-
corted us to the dining-room, a small
apartment minus chairs. table. everything.
on our heels on the floor, which was COW
cred with faultlessly white mats. Our
places We're marked by a circle Of small maa,
Is a difficult position for foreigners to as
sumo and almost impossible to maintain.
With inward misgiyings: but with a show
or great ease, l subsidized upon my cushion
and for fully five minutes lny roubles
seemed over. Alasi soon numbness at
tackled my astonished members, then paral-
ysiS; finally movement or i~naction became
l thought, uneasily, as 1 looked toward my
friend, and In her eyes caught an nsw
ing signal of distress.
a that moment a troupe of little serving
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES with the dinner.
First we were served with tiny handleless
cups of tea and most beautiful confection-
cry, shaped into pink and green maple
leaves and delicate rose-tinted waxen mys-
teries. They were works of art. but ]
qualled before them, and for me hat course
was purely ornamental. Before each Of us
a ttCn pldCtQ ii ldCQuSItu ldDlt, you a
foot high, holding several dishes. / have
never been considered tall, but / felt
awkwardly so for those surroundings, espe-
cially that dolls table and those toy dishes.
AT first glance i did hot recognize a sin
gle acquaintance among the delicacies, so ]
began to take an inventory of them. On a
piece of glass were carefully arranged thin
slices of raw fish and a small bowl of dark
sauce. A plate was divided in halves by a
slice of white and yellow cake made OF
sweet and Irish potatoes. On one side OF
this barrier was a small piece of boiled
lobster, half a microscopic bird, preserved
cherries and chestnuts: on the other two
sugar-coated Irish potatoes. one white. the
other red. L next uncovered a lacquered
bowl. 1t was filled with a brown soup, In
which fioated pieces of fish. My neighbors
were eating this with chopsticks. Tremb-
ling. / took up the bits of wood and tried
to do likewise. With every movement those
detestable chopsticks slipped in my fingers
/ worked with desperate energy, but gradu-
ally the few solid portions of my SOUP
crumbled TO nothing. For fresh material ]
had TO turn TO a gelatinous substance called
soy. on which rested a piece of broiled eel.
Two little girls served sake, the rice
wine OF Japan. from slender. long-necked
vases. Here was a fresh trial. The sake
which tasted much like diluted sherry, was
served hot. I felt proud of my fortituds
when / had swallowed some with an un.
moved c~ountenance: There are some very
elaborate ceremonial rules for drinking this
wine. which. 1t is needless to say, We die
not observe.
"One after another new and curious deli
cacies were placed before me until a signal
was given and the musumes rose and re-
tired TO the end of the apartment. One
side of the wall slid back and revealed a
picturesque group OF eXquisitely dressed
girls. They were the maikos. or dancing
girls, and their accompanies the geishas
At first the sight of painted, powdered
marvelously costumed dancers trailins
beautiful robes and waving tinted fans
was charming, then the monotony OF II i'm.
pressed me. 1t was not really dancing, blu
posing, and such neat, exact posing that
felt as though looking upon some mechan.
ical toy and expected every moment II
would run down. All the while the wailine
voices OF the geishas rose higher and high.
er. while with an ivory striker their deli
cate hands sounded the strings of the SAM.
sens. a most discordant instrument. AS
the last plaintive note ceased the screens
were drawn and we resumed our dinner
Other dances followed at intervals until
rice was brought US as a last course and
the japanese feast was over"