Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-07

TO her iatirels. and teiis al great length how
the Heavenly Emperor will say, 100 away,
car, thy teuf1tfr is In ruins. the SUBJECTS
tired out thy throne declininsi retreat ana
e stem the cord of thy crown" Which "
the poetic way Of Saying. repent and turn
to better Deeds
And SO the poem runs on, the fourth
stanza describing the battles at Port
Arthur and Chemuipo. and the fifth and,
happily, the last continuing the story of the
fourth, and winding up with mighty ef-
fort predicting the complete overthrow of
Russia. Here is the peroration:
Thy fate II already fxedi
Il is too late to regret. too late to prayi
And IL thou dost not wish for surrender,
Then prepare for destruction.
1t isn't too late, however. for the censor
to get In his good work on the poems. but
will he do it2 He has his hands full OF
trouble already coping with the corre-
spondents.
The aeishas' Economy.
The geisha girl Is rapidly losing one Of
her chief charms. and all on account OF
the war. She no longer universally dresses
her hair in japanese style. Her wonder
full native coiffures. at once provoking the
wonder and admiration Of the foreigner,
are giving way to foreign styles-or rather
limitations that are truly wonderful and
give the merrymakers of Japan q really
ludicrous look.
The eeishas of Osaka, an important BUSH
ness center. are primarily responsible for
the change. On the outbreak OF the war
they in common with the rest of the island,
began cutting down personal expenses, that
they might contribute to the war fund.
One of the geisha's chief expenses is her
hair; the geishas of Osaka hit upon the
Idea that II they would wear their hair
foreign style they could dress II themselves
and thus save this particular item entire.
The supervisors of gesha houses gem
q all
lures except native ones, so the Osaka girls
strafghtway petitioned the supervisors to
grant them amnesty during the length OF
the war, the geishas solemnly pledgfnR
themselves to turn every thus saved
over to the government for its war fund.
When the supervisors were convinced that
the girls were In earnest they granted
the petition.
The geishas in other centers have learn
ed of the success of their Osaka sisters.
and they, too, have petitioned and secured
the same temporary privilege.
The amount of money that the govern
ment Is receiving by reason of this conces-
sion is by no means slight A geisha pays
from ~ to yens as cents to $3.50 q.
month for hairdressing. The girls of
Osaka during the past month have turned
in over 1900 yen, or 81, OOO to the war fund
Thus they swallow up the ludicrous in
patriotism.
Died for His Emperor.
The lengths to which the Japanese will
go to further the cause of their august en-
peror cannot be better explained than to
tell the story of Saito Okuzo. who lived in
Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. 1t is a trait
that is causing many little tragedies to be
paralleled with the humors of the war
Saito was a crippled old man of sixty
three years, dependent his nephew,
Yoshiola, who visited him morning and
evening and saw that he did not want.
When the war broke out Yoshioka re-
caiyp6 n a a
serve to join the imperial bodyguard in
Tokyo. The young man was worried about
the future Of his uncle, but the old man
angrily ordered the younger to prepare i'm
mediately to obey his emperors call.
do not hesitate but leave at once was
the elders command.
The next day, when the nephew went to
mis- unce's house to say goodbye, the old
man could not be found. Inquiry estab-
lished the fact that he had been seen hob
bling toward the mountains. There, few
hours later, he was found hanging to the
limb of a tree, with this message pinned 10
his breast: Now you can go to serve your
emperor without anxiety
And one of the newspapers that told this
story added: And when the nephew read
the message he went to the barracks with
an unclouded face"
A Brave Samurai.
The all-but-forgotten incident that sixty
five years ago Russia began an invasion Of
Japan has been recalled by bit Of news
from the Island of Tsushima, which Is In
the Japan sea, about midway between
Japan and Korea.
At that time a Russian man-o'-war en-
tered the harbor. and without SO much as
a with your leave erected barracks on
shore, opened roads, surveyed the ports,
and began other military operations. The
Russians met no opposition until they at
tempted to pass the gate marking the
domains of the feudal lord, Ofunakoshi
Matsumura Jasugora. the samurai on
guard, refused them passage. and, when the
Europeans insisted, attacked them with all
the traditional fury of a samurai. driving
the invaders back at first, but later getting
killed for his fidelity to his lord.
This fracas Immediately led to an inter-
national hubbub that was only quoted by
the energetic actions of the English con-
sui at Shanghai, who automatically In
duced the Russians to withdraw from the
island.
The brave samurai was buried where he
fell near the gate and his grateful lord
erected an imposing tomb over his body
and placed on it a glowing inscription or
his death Now, the islanders, when their
country is at last with war with their IN
vader has at this late date made hero
of Matsumurl and are burning incense and
holding festivals at his tomb.