The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-06-18

| gers. it is hopeless with him and he
| might as we'll look elsewhere for
steady company. This plan will not
do for doubtful beaux in America be-
cause we do not happen to have the
sort of god that makes a speciality of
such matters.
CAUGHT ON THE FLY.
We will leave the temple and go for
a ride through the streets. 1t is a
holiday and bazaars line the way on
either side. 1t would take book as
| big as the Bible to record the names
| of all the queer articles that can be
bought for few cents each. A glass
bowl containing two gold fish is offer
! ed for three cents; here is a dwarf
| tree in a pot so tiny that it will go
| into your vest pocket; and there are
| wooden chop-sticks that you may be
| sure have never been used because
| they are still joined together at the
| end like a clothespin. That's a point
| to remember whenever you buy chop
| sticks. No matter if you purchase only
| two articles at four cents each the
merchant invariably uses his sliding
| buttons to fix the sum total. Like the
Chinaman, the japanese takes no
chances on mental arithmetic in sov-
ing even the smallest sum. The char |
acters of the Japanese language are |
the same as the Chinese, but they are |
pronounced differently, consequently |
the Jap and the Chink can write to |
each other and get along all right, but |
they can never have the satisfaction of |
talking things over in an understand |
ing way.
G. hlI1 ii IN
all your life? I thought all the tod |
dlers in Yokohama We're at the cherry |
grove. We left acres and acres of SOL |
emn tots playing there in the gravel, |
but the streets fairly TEEN with them. |
Each one is a counterpart of his moth
er in his tiny kimono and miniature
clogs. They are all very much alike
even to the universal cold in the head.
An official nose-wiper would be the |
busiest person in Japan at this time
of the year. The reason that colds are
SO general is because there are no
stoves in the houses. Babies not old
enough to walk are carried on their
mothers backs in the same fashion |
that Indian squaws carry their papoo-
ses, with the exception that they are
never strapped TO boards.
SOME POINTERS ON DRESS.
There are a few points about the
japanese woman's dress which are
we'll to know so that one may distin-
guish them in the streets. A woman
wearing a red petticoat under her
kimono is single. and one displaying
a. white under garment is married.
Occasionally you meet one whose teeth
are painted black. This means that
she is happily married and desires to
disigure herself so that other men
will not be attracted to her. 1t is an
old custom and is not practiced to a
great extent now. A woman with her
hair cut short is widow who is so
grieved at the loss of her companion
that she has resolved never to marry
again and her abbreviated tresses is
an advertisement of that fact |;
Here comes a Japanese couple who
are just home from America. Look
at their clothes, The woman is stiff
and unnatural. She will soon forsake
this foreign finery and return to her
graceful kimono. They all want to
try European dress but the most of
them eventually abandon it for their
native attire which is really more suit
ed to them. The man is cross be-
:
need pressing so badly that there ap- Il
pears to be a growth of knots on his
legs. He ought to have a collar and
a haircut, and even at that he would
be only a fair imitation of a cheap
sport.
AN EXTRAVAGANZA OF ENERGY.
There are so many distinct types
on every hand that when I attempt to
see them all I feel like the fellow in
the Gibson picture who became a blur
from trying to look at two girls at the
same time. a Japanese newsboy is
an animated jumping jack. In our
country small boys carry large papers,
but here the rule is reversed and big
ones make heavy work of delivering
hand bills. One of these barelegged
carriers is weighted down with sleigh
bells to proclaim his coming, and he
Frances like a circus horse. He is
good example of perpetual motion as
he bounds from one side of the street