Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-13

ana are very much admired as the very
height OF beauty. Not having enough rot
ten logs and worm-eaten boards to satisfy
the popular craving for that form of adorn-
ment painters. scuiptors and other artists
are busy making them. And everybody has
garden-a miniature park and lake. with
a waterfall often not bigger than a tea
pot lot of rocks and powders arranged
around pond about as big as a soup plate
a stone lantern. a few dwarf trees and a
glorious display of rhododendrons. azalias.
brlght-leaved naples. copper beaches and
other ornamental plants and flowers.
Dwarf Trees
Some of the dwarf trees are marvellous
| 1t Is a mystery how the gardeners man.
aged to preserve accurately the shape
| and proportions while they prevent the
| growth of plant. l understand that
| fine collection has been sent to st. Louis.
among them miniature trees that are three
and four hundred years old. There is a
popular impression that these are dwarfed
| by secret processes. but that Is mistake.
| Their growth is arrested by clipping the
| ends of the twigs and the roots. SoIe gar
deners have greater skill than 9TH and
can produce better effects. and some have
| methods that they do not conceal. but gem
orally speaking everybody In Japan raises
dwarf trees
| Nor Is 1t the only trick of the gardeners
| At Nara the other day we saw tree with
| seven different kinds of flowers upon ii.
/ 1t was seven different kinds OF a tree
| wysteria. camelia. japonica. cherry. maple.
| isu niwatoko and nanten, the three last
| being native to Japan and unknown to
| American botany
There are few beggars. hawkers or takers
| In Japan. No children run after you cry
| in "Backsheesh," which you hear all the
way from Paris to Nagasaki. but there 1t
! stops Occasionally some blind decrepit
| person sits at the gate of temple asking
! subsequently, old woman; but she IS
| very modest about 1t and makes her sup
! plications in a murmur that you can scarce
| ly hear. Coming directly from Spain, italy,
| Egypt india and China, where the streets
| are crowded with clamoring beggars this
| Is a grateful relief. Instead OF begging
| for backsheesh" the urchins In the streets
| of Japanese cities yell ''BanZaii'-a tabloid
| of a word. which literally means a million
years. and has been adopted as an ok
| preston of extreme patriotism and a prayer
| for the preservation of the empire against
! Its enemies. 1t contains the essence OF
| 1.-The Star Spangled Banner, THE Mar
| Sellaise, God Save the King" and The
Watch on the Rhine" all compressed into
| single ejaculation. Often as you pass
| through the streets groups of brfght-eyed
| school children whose attention is arrest
| ed by the appearance of a foreigner VIII
suspsnd their games for instant and
! with the grace and gravity of Chester
field say:
Honorable stranger. good morning."
Through Avenue of Pines.
| One of the most beautiful of the groups
| of temples around Kyoto are known as
the Hgashi-Otani, and they are reached
| through a glorious avenue of ancient pine
| trees. Above them, on the hillside and at
either end of the grounds, are cemeteries
| and vaults of peculiar sanctity, because
| they are the burial places of the remains
of the founder of the Hong wan-ji sect OF
| Buddhists and other famous saints. war
riors and statesmen. Hence the privilege
! of burial in these grounds is much Sought
| and highly priced. although cremation pre-
walls almost universally in Japan Every
| day of the year several families go there
| with the ashes of the dead to be deposited
| In the vaults and to set up ancestral tab
let's in the temples. The priests accept the
fee place the ashes and the tablet upon
| the altar and perform what we would can
a mass for the repose of the soul OF the
| dead.
After the services the urn containing
the ashes IS placed in a marble vault In
the hillside and the tablet is slowed away
with thousands of others. to be brought
| out and worshiped on the anniversary.
| which the priests remember by their rec
ord. They have thousands of similar tab
lets in their care and must keep an efab-
| crate set of books, for the patrons OF the
| temple pretty sure to appear upon
the day appointed to bring their annual
offerings to the temple and say their
prayers, and 1t would be a great disap-
pointment If their particular tablet was
| not in its place. / did not ask them how
they did 1t. but I suppose that the tablets
for each of the 36J days are kept In their
own separate receptacles and somebody,
| whose business 1T is. brings them out.
dusts them and sets them up on the altar
| when their day arrives. And when the
| great bell. with its deep rich. heart
| reaching tones sounds the hour of sunset
the tablets can be put away again until
| they are wanted next year The tablets
are usually little slabs of lacquered or
gilded wood eight or ten inches high and
| two or three inches wide, fastened in a
little pedestal. and inscribed with the
name borne by the person in life, the
posthumous name given him to bear
through all eternity and a brief, concise
list of his virtues.
Lost Fathers Ashes.
very unfortunate man lost the ashes
Of his father the other day, and is in an
awful fix. He is a prosperous farmer liv-
ing in the country about eighteen miles
from KyotO. After the old man died his
| body was cremated the ashes placed in a
| little lacquer box, tenderly wrapped in
| silk brocade, and brought to town by the
| eldest son. who intended to purchase a
| suitable urn Of brass or porcelain and
place them with an elaborate tablet in
| the Higashi-Otani temple. He arrived I'm
| the early evening, and leaving his
precious package in his hotel room, went
out to call upon some friends During his
absence a sneak-thief. undoubtedly at
| tracted by the richness Of the wrapping
| stole the package and made of with it,
At least. 1t has disappeared and cannot be
recovered. although the police searched
|
| ashes Of his father. the only thing left
| for the son to do was to place the tablet
| upon the altar and have the prayers said.
| Sometimes lock Of hair of the dead Ia
buried with the ashes. or is often placed be-
tween two slips Of glass. so that 1t can
| be preserved forever.
Near by this temple in the midst OF n
| beautiful bamboo grove. is a tiny house
| called the "Moon-fower Cottage" An in
| scription at the entrance tells us that II
| was the residence of Saigio, or Sdaio a
| priest of noble blood who lived more than
| 700 years ago. and died in the year 1893.
| He was famous for his artistic taste and
his ability as poet as well for his
piety. There is familiar picture Of the
| volcano Fujiyama, the pride of Japan with
| this priest standing in the foreground You
| will find ii in half the houses OF the en-
| pire. 1t represents Saigio silently contem-
plating the grandeur of the sacred noun
| tain, which was the theme of several Of his
| best poems He wrote so much and so
| beautifully about the volcano that his face
| as well as his name is intimately associated
| with it in the literature as well as the
| hearts of the people.
Saigia was pure. true, consistent Bud
dhist, and over the gate to his grounds is