The Savannah morning news., 1904-04-23
JAPAN, KOREA, RUSSIA.
Curious and Interesting Facts About
Peoples Now Talked About.

The Japanese are uHuSTSlZeQ because
they don't use chairs. From the day
It is born, the Japanese baby is taught
10 sit on the floor with it's legs dou-
bIed under it at the knees. This post
ure results in the actual dwarfing
Of the legs. Among the Japanese
coolies, who spend most of their time
standing up, working or running in
the open air, the legs are noticeably
longer than In the more sedentary
classes.
IT is believed that the general use
of tables and chairs in the empire of
the Mikado would eventually result in
adding several inches to the average
might of Japanese soldiers, which is,
at present, feet and inches.
COIors of Japanese Dress.
White is the color of mourning in
Japan and is therefore never used in
Ahe dress of babies. Red and yellow
are the favorite colors for the dress
of tiny babies, but after the first
month or two 1t is easy to distinguish
the sex of a baby by the color of its
clothes Little girls are still dressed
In the most gorgeous of colors and the
largest of patterns, while boys are
early shifted into more sober grays
Korea Is without Ambition.
and greens and blues and browns.
Korea is an extremely mountainous
country, says Angus Hamilton in his
work on Korea" Islands, harbors
and mountains are its most pronounced
natural features, and nearly the whole
of the coast consists of the slopes of
the various mountain ranges which
come down to the sea.
Mining and agriculture are almost
the sole natural resources. There are
great possibilities, however, in the
awakening energies and instincts OF
the people, which may lead them to
create markets of their own by grow
ing more than suffices for their imme-
date requirements. AS yet, notWlth-
standing the Improvements which have
been inaugurated, and the industrial
schemes which the government has in
troduced the reform movement lacks
cohesion. The nation is without am
bition. But the prospect is hopeful.
Destitute Russia
The Petersburgskija Vjaedomosti
gives in a recent number a very mel
ancholy view of the terrible condi-
tions which exist throughout Russia,
and especially in the country districts;
The barns are destitute of grain, the
rivers are destitute of water and fish;
the forests are destitute of trees, the
national spirit is also destitute, and
with that literature and art. And
honeywell, in that respect, it seems
there has always been restitution. 1t
is saddening to read the reports which
come from the country districts. Lack
of horses, lack of cows, Impoverished
fields, which produce everything but
useful plants In the rivers there is
only fish slime, and in the forests only
bulrushes and bushes. And among the
people superstition, darkness and
drunkenness, drunkenness, drunken
ness The formerly strong and noble
s0iri of 6pORnnr-
ated, and become dull and enfeebled.
The Russian town is sick. Its condi-
ton seems to be like that of a man
who, having lost all hope, is rushing
against the wall, but unable to get his
head through it."
why Koreans Wear BrOad-Brimmed
Hats.
In Korea they don't make a woman
take off her very best hat in the thea
ter, but they do or at least once did,
compel a man to wear his hat in all
his waking hours, and, moreover, a
very broid-rimmed hat. The reason for
this public edict was to prevent con-
spirators against the throne from
whispering to each other. Any one
would think some of the politicians in
this state were wearing broad-rimmed
hats, the way they seem unable to get
together
The Woman in Japan,
In Japan the tailor makes the wom-
an, writes Douglas Saden in Queer
Things About Japan" The Japanese
in d top hat or a cooked hat treats
his wife in a bonnet as his better half;
he let's her walk beside him, and pays
her all sorts of lofty compliments,
though there are no doors to hold open,
and it is no use offering her a chair
But once back in kimonos and clogs,
the new order changeth, giving place
TO the old. He is the lord of creation,
and she is the Asiatic wife, who fol-
lows him like a maid in the street,
mends and washes his clothes, wakes
MIN in the morning, and makes a cup
OF tea for him before he leaves his
august bed on the floor; and generally
plays the devoted slave to him and
his father and his mother and any
elder brothers he may have about the
house, and their wives.
Korean Dress.
The dress of Koreans is white. All
classes are alike in this, the quality
alone marking the difference; even
your ricksha coolie is CARRIED in Isa-
bella colored white. Writes Angus
Hamilton in his work on Korea" +
The officials are elegantly Superior
IN their manner and appearance. TIE
olstlnction in the costumes of the DIFF
rerent classes is evinced perhaps by
the difference in their prices. The
oress of noble costs several hundred
collars. The costume of the veom-
en- Is IN some respects peculiar to the
capltal. The upper garment consists
OF an apology for for a zouave Jacket
IN white or cream material, which may
oe OF SILK lawn lawn, or calico A few
lnches below this begins white petit
coat oaggy as a sail, touching the
ground upon all sides, and attached to
broad band. Between the two there
Is nothing except the bare skin, the
breasts being fully exposed
The Name Japan.
The vast majority of the Japanese
nave never heard of Japan" They
can their country Nihori, or Nippon, a
ndine mat has been in use for thirteen
OF fourteen centuries. Before that it
was called Yamato. Since the Japa-
nese nave traced a resemblance be-
t"een the position OF their islands off
asia and the Britifh Islands off Eu-
rope and have dete fmined on founding
an empire like the British Empire
t9ey have called their country Dai
c coinPpon-Great Japan. as we
IT, ours Great Britain
Here IS another name for
Japan. which means The Luxuriant-
a-flalns-the-land-of- Fresh Rice
i t-aIs-of-iong- fiEe-hundred -Autumns;
uI l nave forgotten how to spell 1t IN
japanese, says the writer of "oueer
A To