The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1903-10-06
YOU WILL ENJOY
This Very Interesting Let
ter From Hugh S.
Mead,
A Former Teacher In the
BellefOntdine Schools.
Now In the Philip
pines.

Through the kindness of Sam
uel West, who was pupil under Mr..
Mead when he taught in Bellefon-
taine. we are privileged to give to
our readers this very interesting let
ter.
CAPIz, PANAY, p. l., July 10, 1903.
My DEAR SAMUEL:
A good, active atheletic associa-
tion can do great deal for a school.
In the Philippines we can do about
as much with baseball as we can with
books. The boys here like our Amer
lean games, and seem to learn them
very easily. The Paniton boys, whom
1 had last year, put up as good a
game of ball as American boys of
their age. The Fourth of July had
them come to Capiz, to play the
Clpiz team. Four or five of the best
Panitan players are in our provincial
school of Capiz, and so play with us.
The Panitan boys won by score of
6 to 2. but it was quite an interesting
game. My Panitan track team also
won all of the races here the Fourth.
Here we have the advantage of be-
ing able to play baseball nearly every
afternoon. We play a little every
afternoon after school, and then on
Saturday afternoon we go to the
beach and have a full game, surf
bath, and general good time. Yes
te.day the Public School beat the
lSpanish College to 8 in six inning
| game. ~
Yes, we had a very pleasant vaca-
tion in Japan and China. On the
way up from Iloilo to Yokohama a,
there was bad storm for five or six
days, and for about day and d half
did not take much pleasure in any
thing, but before we got into the
worst part of the storm, was abe to
Thoroughly appreciate the magni6-
lcent wave effects. I believe nothing
is more awe inspiring, nothing more
lgrandly beautiful than the sea, when
it gets up a good motion; motion
that seems to stir up from its very
depths.
In Japan itself everything, from
the first glimpse of pearly, dream
like Fugiyama, the sacred mountain,
to the last fading view of the p:ctur
Iesque rocks and beautiful pine clad
islands out of Nagasaki harbor, seem
ed to be arranged for the sole pur
lpose of arousing ones sense of the
aesthetic. The whole country is one
The people themselves are no les
Interesting than the country in which
they live. In going from the Philip
pines, one cannot but be impressed
with the energy, push and resource
fulness of the little Jap. Two of thu
principal characteristics of the Fill
pino are his laziness and inertness
1t is said that just recently a boa
load of rice sent to certain provinc'
to relieve a famine. brought on bl
the Filipino laziness and contemp
for manual labor, had to be takel
! back to Manila, because no one coul'
be found to unload it. The japanese
are neither afraid nor ashamed o
, work, and this accounts for the pro
gr, So they have made. They have
taken some large strides in the las
forty years. They have good rail
way service, and the cities, in mos
vast landscape garden. Camelia
roses, cherry blossoms. plum bios
SONS, azalais, peonies, iris, wistaria
lotus, violets, chrysanthemums, ant
a dozen other flowers are found every
wherc. Then too, the bamboo ant
pine, the palm and maple grow pro
miscuously side by side, respect II
which Japan seems to be especial.
favored.
respects are not much behind Ameri
can cities. Still things seemed t
: me to possess certain air of art
E ficiality. While wandering abou
: the eryptomerio shaded temples O
5 Nikko, the large, attractive parks q
}, Toxic, the gayly decorated streets G
:. Kioto, or the busy manufacturin
a section of Osaka, l could hardly pel
lsuade myself that was in a re;
lcountry, and now as think back
lseems more like a dream than eve
T The little, neatly matted, furnitur
n less, Japanese inns and tea house
t. are like toy houses and those simpl
:. graceful, rosy checked creature
d dressed in bits of the rainbow, lii
e wax dolls.
IS In China too, we had an interes
ing time. AS business man Il
Chino is a rival of the Jew, but
other respects he is greatly inferi
10 to the Japanese. OF course the
~ conservatism is their most mark
characteristic. Shanghai, the pri
cipal commercial city of China, a
~ the city having the largest foreii
population in the East, is not mu
he different than a large American
C. European city. From Shanghai
nd took fine trip up the great Yang'
RS. river. The Yangzte flows through
er, richest part of China, and the
rs. are many large and prosperous cit
aH along its banks. At Nanking, {
place where we stopped, we met so
Presbyterian missionaries who
Gently attended Wooster College
Ohio. Their name is Seaman, ar
believe they said they remembe
~ NT;s0 Iobpsop Who used IN visit