The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-13

fireproof building, high on the hin be-
hind the other structures, until few
years ago, when the government de-
manded lease of 1t for a powder maya
zine to store the extra supplies from
the Vii powder mill. Just below the
temple grounds.
The old printing blocks are now pill
ed ceiling high on labelled racks In the
service hall. and the sixty thousand
carved boards. black with ink and age.
are carefully watched in their tindery
wooden store house.
The Rev. Ekai Kawaguchi, the Jap
anese priest who went to Thibet and
SUCCESSFULLY maintained his disguise for
fifteen months of study in the Sera
University in Lhassa, spent several
years at Obakusan, and the fifty
priests in attendance and every retain
er about the place speak proudly and
admiringly of him. His studies of Chi
nese and Tibetan books here probably
inspired him to his great undertaking
of seeking for more Buddhist texts and
studying the Tibetan ritual on the
spot; and despite his hasty flight from
Lhassa, he brought back a great treas
ure of Buddhist scriptures, including
several texts unknown in Japan.
The Rev. Kawaguchi is most anxious
to return to Tibet, now that it will
soon be possible to study and work
openly in Lhassa. A letter from the
Chinese Government Commissioner
who Is going in with the Younghus-
band expedition to join the Amban at
Lhassa. lately written to his friends in
Japan concerning that interesting un-
dertaking, and concerning so many
foreigners who have travelled to Tibet
and attempted to reach Lhassa. gives
fha ~ap.
Tibetan officials, and some sensation
al regulations are laid low by his rev.
Citations.
This entry of the English expedition
into Tibet will be a blow to many ex.
plorers whose regulations have rested
on their own narratives. Fortunately
the Japanese priest Is known of by
every Tibetan merchant and official so
far encountered by the English expe-
dftion, and~-messages have been sent
through to the Rev. Kawaguchi from
the friends in Lhassa who sheltered
and assisted him and were imprisoned
on that account. They have all been
freed as the result of his efforts in in
teresting Japanese officials in their be-
half.
vi town, on the banks of the Vii
river, just below where 1t issues from
Its picturesque gorge. has one endless
street, like most Japanese towns but
one sees little of it in the progress be-
tween the bridge. the Phoenix Temple,
the tea shops. and the railway sta
tion. The Biodo-in, or Phoenix Tenn
pie was chosen to be duplicated at the
Worlds Fair at Chicago In 1898, and
the little buildings in Jackson Park
repeated the design of this temple of
the eleventh century. The Biodoin is
now in the hands of restorers. covered
with scaffolding and mating. Its
bronze Phoenix Is on the ground, the
central Golfer of its pearl maid ceiling
Is against one wall, and the altar Is
boxed up while the roof is being re-
newed.
One of the famous wistaria vines of
Japan, more photographed than any
other in the Empire spreads over a
trellis more than twenty feet square in
the garden of the Biodo-i and its
three feet long tassels are now drop
ping their last purple petals.
A rough boulder cut with praises Of
uji tea is most striking monument.
as 1t stands high in the air by the river
bank and Is so Enthusiastically jap
anese. Where have we anything COM
parable to that in praise of American
wheat, corn or tobacco? And what does
1t look like, IL such a tribute has been
paid to any one of our staple products?
A monument In praise of pork, for in
stance.