Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1904-02-18

miles long NJ twelve miles wide,
containing e' hundred thousand
people.
YokohaI = the principal sea-
port, ONE e called the Liver
pool of jap while Kobe, Osaka
and Nagasa ports of scarcely
less lmporta G
If one sh, II start from Raleigh,
across the utt n+nt and across the
more than fin. thousand miles of in
~tervening r,ta', he would strike
japan alto II irieen miles south of
Yokohama, q ai would leave the
greater pant ctlle country to the
north of Il lire 50 extended.
Oranges. uatI esouthern ndsouth-
eastern part u the country, grow in
great abundance. The perslmmon is
a magnificen fruit, many of them
growing as large as tea cups, mellow
and delicious. Rice is the principal
crop. Tea and silks and various kinds
| of bric-a-brac, produce reve, ue. The
Japanese workman is the deftest
handi-crafts-tnan in the world, and
his products adorn the palaces Of roy
princes and captains of industry all
over the world.
The origin of the japanese ace is
yelled in absolute mystery. Many
volumes have been written in an eff
fort to prove the origin and trace the
race in its earliest beginnings, but no
theory yet advanced is complete or
satisfactory to the best critics. They
are not Chinese, not Indian, not Kor-
can, not Monaghan. Perhaps they
represent the survival of the fittest,
as they evidently include some COM
pounds upon which the forces of
time and circumstances have oper
ated. Their history antedate5 the
birth of Christ. aud their mythology
goes back to the time that their d.
perial family sprang from the gods,
and in their marvellous fertility pro-
duced the race.
Originally Japan was inhabited by
a race called the Ainu. AT some
time IN the misty past, adventurous
men, from somewhere, entered ia
pan, invaded on the south, and pur-
sued the conquest of the land until
the Ainu were driven into the north
ern parts Of the country where a few
Of them still remain. The Ainu
were W. a very stout-hearted peo-
sist the aggressive japanese. They
are remarkable for their simplicity,
and their mode of s%alutation, which
among the men consists of stroking
the beard with the hand, the men
wearing long boards. They constitute
diminishing and feeble race.
It is not strange, as some suppose,
that the japanese are good fighters.
Since before their history had begun
to be recorded, the arts and science
of war have been the first concern of
their rulers and statesmen. Up to
recent times the people were divided
into a number of clans Of more or less
fighting strength and influence.
From the first we know Of these peo-
pie, up to about three hundred and
fifty years ago, these clans were en-
gagged in incessant wars on one an
other, and again and again they have
drenched the soil of their country in
the blood Of its own people.
Society was divided into four dis
tinct classes, or castles, of which the
samaurai, military, was chief, the
rulers, the absolute lords of the coun-
try. Next to the soldiers in import
ance and esteem were the farmers;
next to these were the mechanics,
and last and least and meanest were
the merchants and traders. CThere
was also a small class of outcasts,
called Eta.) To sell and get gain,
Especially to lend money and get in
terest thereon, in those good old days
in Japan, was considered very dis
reputable. At the time of which /
am speaking, about three hundred
and fifty years ago, when the Dutch
were in their zenith, those hardy
s~eafarers drove their ships around
the Cape of Good Hope, beyond In
dia, and on to Japan, and establish
ed trading posts there. Along with
J these enterprising traders from Hol-
J land went the equally e~nterprising