The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-29

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characteristic, however. to love anything
and everything which was exotic and
mysterious"
Mrs. Koizumi, your gardeners were
moving away some of your garden trees
| One of them told me that those trees
were for his graveyard. Is It true?'
"Oh, yes. Mr.. Noguchl, he used to say
| he could not live without trees. He had
strong passion for trees and flowers.
1 am trying to please him, or his spirit,
by moving some of them to his Zoshigaya
cemetery-some of his favorite trees. He
loved the fir tree best, and also the bam-
boo. He was fond of the orlando Genge
"a sort of violet. I am hoping to have
a green moss cover the ground yard, since
he was crazy about 1t.
How he loved to touch the soft, velvety
moss However, he was never pleased
to break anything when it was complete
] thought at first that he would not wish
me to destroy the garden by taking off
some trees, even for him, but it was my
second thought that told me he would
rather wish to have the trees and flowers
familiar for many years than to have any
newly bought-so my gardeners have be-
gun their work You cannot imagine how
he loved trees There was one high cedar
tree in the front garden of the Kobutera
garden. Some months ago the priests
cut it down. What crueltyn he cried
i feel myself as if my own arm were cut
off. l shall never go there again. And
never again did he turn his steps toward
his beloved temple
= You can see our neighbours roof from
here, Mr.. Noguchi. But little while
ago it could not be seen for the trees
Our neighbor began to cut the little for
est down in order to sell the wood. My
husband said 1t was not right He also
worried terribly about me, for l was
pregnant at that time, and he feared that
the sound of the ak might disturb my
heart He tried to make our neighbor
stop and even offered him money but
the neighbor could not help it, for he
had signed the contract. You see bam-
boo bush also from here, Mr.. Noguchi
Once the owner of the bush cut a few
bamboos down. The next year young
bamboo came forth with a crooked shape.
At the first opportunity my husband told
the owner that the transformation was
surely due to his unnecessary cruelty"
Yes, he loved even insects and worms.
1t was one of his delights when the au-
tumnal weather was warm land how
sweetly warm in the early Japanese au-
tumnD to call our boys to his side and
tell them many things about the ants
The garden is full of them, as you see.
but wiser than yourself he often said to
Kazuo. a hundred times wiser Kazuo
Is our eldest boy. He Is eleven years old
He speaks a little English Last autumn
my husband wished to make an American
trip and take Kazuo with him. He
thought that he would put the boy in an
American school, but the plan was
stopped by my husband becoming ILL.,
Yes, he loved butter flies. He wrote a
l..
have read And he never grew tired of
looking at the Japanese frog. He wrote
about them also. One day a little baby
frog jumped into the glass door of his
study, putting its belly fiat on the glass
The study is built partly Japanese. Can
you see 1t from there? Mr. Koizumi
thought the little frog was beautifully
amusing. He sat in the study all day
long watching the frog and he would not
let anybody open the door or make the
slightest noise that day. Once he found
strange worm on a maple leaf 1t was
eating the leaves speedily. He gently
moved the worm to another maple leaf
and watched all day long how 1t did its
work"
Mrs. Koizumi Professor Tsubouchi Che
dean OF japanese literature) told me that
Mr.. Koizumi was more Japanese at home
than even he himself. Mr. Koizumi must
have greatly loved things Japanese?"
Yes. he used to say that he was a
born Japanese and accidentally was born
in the wrong place. Gle was born at Leu
cadio. OF Sappho fame, one of the Ionian
islands of Greece But he finally found
his home and returned to Japan. His
love for Japan was something extraor-
binary, but he stopped eating the Japan
csc food some years ago, acting on the
advice of a certain doctor. Otherwise he
was a thorough Japanese. He did not
mind sitting like a Japanese. He liked
1t. He did not appear to mind how many
hours he thus sat. He used to say that
he preferred it when l worried about pos
sible pain In his legs. He did not wish
to have the boys dress in European
clothes The boys were only too glad
to dress like American boys, but he used
to say that the Japanese kimona looked
prettier. The boys would often ask me
why papa did not like the Western sea
dress. l intended to dress them in Japan
ese at his funeral, but on second thought
l decided that the American dress would
be easier to walk in so l accordingly
dressed them in that style"
IT am told that Mr.. Koizmu was a col
lector of Japanese tobacco pipes-was that
so, Mrs. Kozumi?" l then asked
Eyes, 1t Is true" she replied. He col
lected more than ninety of them. 1t was
always my custom when l went out to
bring home a Japanese pipe-the more
Japanese 1t was the more he was pleased.
II 1t showed any European affectation in
its making he would not cast even a
glance upon 1t. He loved to smoke Japan
ese tobacco. He occasionally smoked ci-
CARS"
Mrs. Koizumi. to meet him and talk
with him, that was one of my purposes
In returning to Japan. But he is no more.
l have often been told that he could not
bear to meet a stranger"
How he disliked to see people you
cannot imagine! 1 always felt sorry for
them. He was always thinking. meditat-
ing. day and night. like a priest OF the
Zen sect. and he could not afford to spend
a minute carelessly. I believe that was
the reason. He was like a delicate harp,
whose tune would be spoiled by a single
rough touch In attending to his work
at the university he never visited the
professors room. He used to walk
around the school grounds before his lee
ture when he had time. As soon as he
was free he used to hurry back home in
his jnrikisha. He did not even know the
names of his fellow professors. He could
not recognize their faces, since he was
almost blind He began to study more
the inner beauty within. when 1t grew so
difficult for him to see. 1t was his way
to say that he was queer when l said
anything about his unkindness to people
He begged simply to be let alone. We
often went TO some mineral spring In