Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1903-11-17

Ceremonial Tea Infuslng q Part Of HeI
Tealnfno

Ceremonial Tea InfusIng Part Of Her
Training.
One Of the most wonderful products
OF the new Japan Is the schoolgirl. She
shufies gracefully to her academy in
the clogs and kimono OF old Nippon
to study with docile facility Euro
pean college curriculum and at least
one foreign language. as the pioneer
of the new education There are thorns
In her path, too. undreamed OF by the
Occidental student. The foreign Ian
guage begins at the wrong end OF the
book, and reads from left to right In
stead of up and down: she finds diff
Guilty in concentrating her attention
when raised on chair and imprisoned
by desk: her wadded kimono. COM
Portable in her fireless. paper walled
home, is far too warm for the stove
heated classroom. and she is always
liable to be married in the midst OF
her studies.
In spite OF these handicaps. she
readily acquires even the higher edu-
cation. and is almost painfully anxious
to excel. often overtaxing her fran
little body and bright eyes in study
ing by the foggy flares of the andon
long after her elders are asleep. Her
own language. by itself, presents
fair field for her industry. for in or
binary reading and writing at least u
600 characters are used, and scholars.
owing to the admixture OF Chinese,
must master twice as many.
In addition to the new Western
learning. so far, at least. she has re-
tanned that of the Land Of the Rising
Sun, where the proverbial "tuppence'
must always have been paid. She
studies, as her ancestors. the Daimyo
and the Samurai, studied. the art Of
opening and shutting doors, polite
handing of teacups gracious reception
of presents. and so on-in fact, so
careful and elaborate are her etiquette
lessons that no possibility OF unpre-
paredness for emergencies is left to
the japanese maiden. who gains an
entire self-possession through thor
ough knowledge of how to act on all
ccasions-important or trivial = to-
gether with habitual politeness and
charm.
In the department class she masters
the difficulties of walking in clogs and
sandals, of sitting on, and rising from,
the floor. and OF bowling with grace in
her tight kimono-her bows are often
literally to the ground, remember.
The arrangement of flowers Is a de-
lightful lesson, and important. consid-
ering that a flower vase is often the
sole furniture in a room. Much time
Is spent in demonstration Of how they
should not be grouped, our old bou-
quets being the earliest object lesson.
In Japan tea infusirg-quite diff
ferent thing from ordinary tea making
lis a very serious study. The num-
Der and depth of the salutations, the
order OF serving-everything, in fact
from the heating of the water to the
washing of the tiny BOWLS prescrib-
ed by a rigid and elaborate etiquette,
a mistake in which would be fatal to
a well bred girls reputation.
The reduced gentlewoman instructs
in these dainty arts. but her lessons
are growing unpopular and girls too
engrossed in sterner studies to pay
hearty attention to the minute exact
ments of old Japanese formalities.
Boys schools have already discarded
her counsels of perfection, and prob
ably in a few generations middle-class
girls will make their Salutations and
their tea minus the exquisite polite
ness of the Honorable Madame Eth
quette.-Lady's Pictorial.