The Hawaiian gazette., 1904-03-04

1
MICA" and Hugo's Les Miserables," ii
the order named. Among English mel
of letters, Byron and Tennyson are thu
most popular The names of Steven
son, Hardy, Meredith Mark Twain an,
other recent writer's are rarely me
i with while that of Kipling occurs no
! even once. Among Continental wri
| ters, Tolstoi, Schopenhauer Heine, ana
! lola are frequently mentioned; ana
Nietzsche's "Zarathustra" is charac.
! terized more than once as the creates,
work in the last decade of the nine
, tenth century.
Another significant statement about
books:
In medicine German books have prac-
tically driven from the field works IN
other languages In politics and di-
plomacy, however French works are
preferred: Walkers Political Econo-
N.Y." Jevon's Money" and Bastiat's
Science of Finance" have a large sale.
In law. German works are beginning
to predominant. Taine's English Lit
erature' heads the list in works OF
reference in several higher institutions
of learning. Works on antiquities and
CthIioioSy, IHp-
ology and religion, are said to be prac-
tically devoid of demand; but philo-
sophical works find good sale, with
Herbert Spencer in the van.
The position of the wife in Japan
has improved materially within recent
years, but in many parts of the en-
pire it still remains unenviable. We
quote:
A Japanese woman was subject to
the three obediences:" as a maiden,
to her father; as a wife. to her hus-
band and his parents: as a widow, to
her oldest son, whether real or only
adopted. A daughter might even be
called upon for the sake of her parents
to sacrifice her honor and enter
brothel; and she was still considered
virtuous, because personal chastity
was lower virtue than filial pety.
A Japanese, like Grecian wife was
to her husband a faithful slave, "some-
thing better than his dog, little dear
err than his horse" she was both
drudge and plaything, to be cast
aside as capriciously as a child throws
away a toy. She must tamely submit
to having concubines brought. perhaps,
right into the house at the will of her
lord; or she herself might, under slight
and tlimsy preteXts. be divorced and
sent back to her parents. The follow
ing seven reasons for divorce were
laid down by celebrated Japanese
disobedience to father-in-law
or mother in-law: barrenness; lewd-
ness; jealousy; leprosy or any like foul
disease; garrulousness and prattling
stealing
Another interesting work on things
japanese is H. Irving Hancock's |
japanese Physical Training" &c. p.
Putnam's Sons) sub-titled THE system
Of Exercise, Diet, and General Mode
IF Living, that has made the Mikados |
People the Healthiest, Strongest, and /,
Happiest Men and Women in the
World''-from which it may be infer
ed that Mr. Hancock is an enthusiast, |
as indeed he is. In fact, he is willing |
to stake his reputation on the state
ment that a Japanese, weighing one |
and twenty pounds, trained in |
iu-jitsu, eXcels in strength, an Ameri- |,
can athlete of one hundred and sew |
pounds. Jiu-jtsu, according |,
% Mr.. Hancock, is not only a unique |
system of attack and defense, but is |
also a regime whereby perfect health |
may be attained. OF the origin OF |
iu-jitsu, the author has this to say:
1t was discovered that by pressing
humb or fingers against certain mus !
lies or nerves momentary paralysis |
could be produced. 1t was also dis
covered that by employing the harden
ed edge of the hand to strike a piece
IT bamboo at certain angle of impact |
me could beak the stick. If one could |
ones own nerves and mus
lies, why not another's? If man
could break stick by sharp blow
lie not train himself in the same way
o break the arm of a dangerous an
agonist? And that was the begin
ling of the creation of the science of
iu-jitsu.
japanese wrestling and jiu-jitsu are
ntirely different The wrestlers are
Usually big men (all over six feeD and
ralned from infancy to their profess
lion. The jiu-jtsu experts, on the
ther hand, are of ordinary stature
ir. Hancock says:
Some years ago a contest of the
-reatest interest took place in Toxic
The wrestlers brought forward their
'est man. The descendants OF the
amurai selected man whom they
onsidered a worthy representative of
heir art. The wrestler was to employ
lis own tactics, the man of the samurai
o enjoy equal privileges along his own
ines. Thousands of spectators assem-
lied to witness the affair At the sig
Ial the two men rushed at each other.
n fifteen seconds by the stop-watch,
he wrestler lay on his back and adj
nitted defeat. In n point of height
here was something like foot In favor
Il the commoner. He weighed twice as
much as did his little opponent.
The author is equally doubtful of the
uccess of an American pugilst under
Ike circumstances:
If six-foot American boxer We're to
on gloves and enter into combat with
japanese descendant of the samurai
everal inches shorter and of much less
Weight, and If each We're To fight ac-