The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-08-24
'JApS ARE PROGRESSIVE.
INTERESTING NARRATIVE ABOUT
THEIR ODD LITTLE ISLES.

ooooc-The Country Rapidly Grow.
ing in Wcalth-Rloe the Chief Food
and Principal Crop.
Nearly -four thousand islands com.
prise the empire of Japan. with to-
tai aroa of lG2. 1853 square miles. on
| ly Eve hundred Islands. however, are
Inhabited. the remaining isles being
mere hcars of rocks The chief
! Land area ST.i1l square miles; Shi.
koku, south Of and separated from
Hondo by a shallow channel. area
| 1890 square miles: kiushin. west of
Shikolu. with the Bungo channel be.
tween, area 1857 square miles; Yezo,
north of lIondo. with an area of 30. li3
square miles: and Formosa. off the
coast Of China. area 13.4iS square
miles.
The Japanese Archipelago occupies
the same latitude as that part Of Amer
lea between Savannah and Halifax.
Formosa. which Japan obtained as
the result of the ChinoJapanese war;
lies between the same parallels as
| Tampa and Havana. The chief
group is separated from the Philip
pines to the south by the Bashi chan.
mel, from China by the Formosa chan
mel. 80 To a hundred miles wide; from
| Corea by Broughton channel, less than
a5 miles wide; from the Russian island
Of Saghalien by La Perouse strait, %
mil NffI n aHat l. hxs hn
liurile strait. Between the Japanese
archipelago and the Asiatic coast Of
Corea aud Manchuria les the Sea Of
Japan.
The population Of Japan was csti-
mated at 43.t52,o9S, according to the
last census, taken in 1898 There are
four classes In the following proper.
tions; Imperial family. 90; nobility.
1851; gentry. 2.105,G9G; common peo-
pie. 4l.050.5GS. In these figures are
included 1853 Amos. of Hokkaido
10.So1 Japanese living abroad, and
1864 foreigners. In addition, how.
ever, are the 100000 inhabitants of
Furmosa. so that the present popula.
tion is estimated at 50,0O0,000. Hondo
the chief island. is the most densely
populated. having 3S1 to the square
mile. and its southern districts have
415 Inhabitants to the square mile
There were rs towns having a popu.
lation of 10000 or over.
Because of the insular character Of
their nome the Japanese in recent
years have taken n greater interest In
their army, so that at the beginning
of the war with Russia they possessed
ships with total tonnage of 100000
Aside from -four torpedo gunboats. 20
torpedo boat destroyers, with 10 build
building. Japan's feet has a dispiace.
mcnt of ,974 tons. II consists of six
battlcships, six armored cruisers and
ii protected cruisers. or the battle.
ships four have displacement of
more than $1,000 tons each. The re.
mainder are of more than 1000 tons
All are supposed TO have n speed of
is knots an hour. The armored
cruisers are of 10000 tons. The pro.
tected cruisers range from 200 to
400 tons displacement. One has n
speed of "a knots an hour. Japan has
four wellequ!pped doclSyards, capable
of both constructing and repairing
ships. In the Japanese navy In 1902
there were two admirals, nine vice-ad
mirals. 225 rear admirals, 60 captainr,
ll9 commanders. lG7 lieutenant com
manders. 22O lieutenants, sos sub-lieu-
tenants, besides other subordinate Of
fcers and 81, ,GSS sailors.
The Japanese army has 4 war foot.
ing Of 421,000 men. Military service
Is compulsory, and the army has
adopted Germany as model. 1t is
divided into three groups, the perman-
ent establishment, of 1900 officers and
10000 men; the reserve, of $4,000 ad-
ditional men; and territorial re-
serve" which would bring another 200.-
900 men into line. The artillery num-
bers 1900 guns, and the cavalry 10000
horses.
Since Japan was opened to the world
ii has been rapidly growing In wealth.
Six great banks and 1902 smaller in
stitutions carry on the banking busi-
ness. The Bank of Japan, founded in
1882. has a capital of sl5.500.000. In
the 6S1 banks there were deposits in
1900 amounting to SlS9,534, $50, or
$275 per capita. The unit of circula-
ton is the yen, worth 30 cents, which
is divided into 100 sen. Smaller coins
are 8, 10, 90 and so silver sen pieces.
zFivefold has been the increase of the
foreign trade in the last five years. ia
pans imports and exports in 1901
amounted to $272 100000. The leading
countries from which Japan obtains
her imports, and the value OF the com
merce. are as follows: England. $685.
656.S00; United States, sSl, ,224 GOO:
China, s14,S9O,200; Germany, S14,491.-
500, and British India, s11,703,O00 The
United States leads as the market for
Japanese exports, and IN 1900 bought
| $2G,145.000 worth. The British island
of Hong Kong stands second with s19,-
52l 600; China, s15,SSG,2O0; France,
| S9,5f1, 500; England, s5,577,500 and