The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1905-09-09
IN DARKEST TOXIC
rom the chleago Journall

of mob. From the day the war be-
San the world has been fed with
stories of the patient endurance of a
simple. law respecting people. who
loved their emperor ami submitted to
his every word.
The cable dispatches now reveal
Toxic in a new light They lift the
curtain on new and strange Toxic.
"a Toxic that the world has not
suspected
II is well that the truth is known.
In no capital of the world does the
plummet sound deeper in the ocean
OF poverty. Indebtedness and human
woe than in Toxic. Lcndon, with its
submerged tenth"-Paris with its
sewers peopled with vicious, half fed
'humani;y-the groyeling Russians of
Gorkey's night refuges-fal to equal
THE absolute wretchedness of the
slums of Toxic, where live half mil.
lion or more of the starved subjects
4 the son OF heaven-Ioo poor TO own
even the rags they wear.
Too Poor to Eat Rice
In Toxic no fewer than 100000 PEG.
pie seldom. if ever, know of certain
ty where the necessities of The next
day viii come from, and throughout
the land the great majority are too
poor TO eat rec The high grade
rice grown In the islands is exported
almost to the last sack. and inier-
ior rice imported for those VINO can
afford it, Rice is not in every bowl,
as the tourists fondly imagine. A re
cent yisitcr in Toxic writes.
n have spent DAYS and nights in
the midst of this inexprsssible resi-.
due Of Japan in company with a bril-.
liant natiyee sociOiogist who. like
scores Of his fellow students OF men
and things. believes that Japan has
left Its good days of general happi
ness and general comfort forever be.
bind and Is entering upon a sorlid
end merciless age of in0ustrialism. IN
which It's people are not fitted by
temperament to compete, and whose
proletarlat Is, moreover Tar too intel.
gent and too proud TO be exploited
by capital. He is crying cut a ware
ing 10 Japan that ner seat at the
council table OF the powers is being
paid for in the blood of her citizens,
not expended as they would pour it
fourth willingly in war. but in factory
and on farm. in shop ANA in office.
Think for moment. he cried last
week as We looked at a japanese bat
tleship in the putting, what a multi
tude Of our tiny rice fields it takes to
support such monster. and then re,
member that our people can't afford
TO eat rice
In Darkest Toxic.
But whether the last state cit Ja-
pan be worse than her first. let us
proceed to darkest Toxic We will
visit the shitata quarter. which is
close by the beautiful tfyeno park.
Toxic is SO vast, Il IS such an inn
mense sea Of sheds. that from the
highest point on the clearest day one
can see but a fraction of it's area
but here are fifteen districts of mean
streets Tho crazy structures called
houses, which are IN reality sheds,
are strung along in series q dilapi-
dated and filthy compartments. The
folk as poor as those who live here
cleanliness. SO dear to the average
Japanese that It is above godliness,
Is ons Of the question.
The walls are decayed and fail Of
crevices and cracks. the roof leaks
and there Is moss and broken tiles, the
shoii are full Of holes or patched with
newspapers, the mats are ragged, dirty
and moldy There is foul water IN
the streets and still fouler stencil
in the air, whose source is often Wis.
ihle to the eye Frequently one sees
dead rats in the roadway, bur for fear
of the plague they are quickly made
away with. After coming from the
daintiness and delightful artistry Of
we'll to do Toxic, shitaya is the ahomi.
nation Of ilesolation.
THE most tumble down of these
abodes may be rented for from 40 to
80 cents per month, but there are
houses so fine thai they cost so high
as 2 cents of even cents day. 10
afford one Of these expensive residen
ces several families club together.
not alone for economy bnt also for
warmth In winter all hands crowd.
ing together on the mats. Charcoal
is MOI always 70 be afforded, and heat
is great luxnry these cold days. A
whole block will sometimes take turns
In warming hands at hil)ichi, where.
in a few chunks of charcoal shoulder
in bed of ashes.
How Some Of Tncm live.
Suppose a pipecleaner has had a
good day, and returns to his home
with, say ~ cents. He will cxpend
this in farthing purchases of misc, 4
kind of soup stock, oil. fuel, tobacco
ana perhaps a little fish, which, If he
feels reckless. he Will eat raw with
horseradish. He buys in driblets, and
ike tho poor in all cities Of the world
pays enormous prices. This has ben
a good lay. and perhaps he will peep