Evening star., 1905-02-18

and presented it to his wife, who was
greatly pleased with it. but he did not tell
her how much he paid for it, and, strange
to say she did not ask. A few days ago
Gus received letter which almost stag
gered him. His wife wrote and asked him
If he could not get her a few of those pretty
little handkerchief boxes just like the one
he had given her, as some of her friends
had admired it very much, and she would
like to give some of them for presents His
reply must have equally surprised his WIFE
We are not millionaries just yet, but hope
to be after a few more seasons. Cut the
boxes out. They cost S75 apiece
JAPANESE PROPERTIEs-'T deter
mined when 1 was preparing to put on His
Japanese Wife," said Miss Valerie Ber-
gere. that the stage setting should be
absolutely correct in every particular. 1
felt that I had a rather hard task. 1 was
called on not to portray a Japanese in
terror, but the interior of a modern Ameri-
can home 'Japanesed,' If I may coin
word, by the little Japanese wife. Firm in
her belief that she is wife for the time
only in accordance with japanese custom,
o Chicka San made her surroundings as
Japanese-y' possible. The American
part of the furnishings was easy enough
to get, but 1 was determined to make the
Japanese part equally accurate. I haunted
the japanese shops in the cities / visited.
had the advantage of a slight schooling in
things japanese to start with and learned
the significance which attaches to certain
slight and almost unnoticeable changes in
articles of daily use and wear. japanese
set which might seem entirely accurate to
an American might be merely ridiculous to
a japanese, because of the failure to obey
the rules governing the significance of the
articles used. Therefore, 1 had first to
educate myself in the Japanese manner of
u ctr Of
the various bits, and then make up my
stage setting by the aid of the knowledge
thus gained
The result is said to be no less charming
on close examination than when the glow
ing, colorful scene bursts upon the view of
the audience at the uplift of the curtain.
The vases used, for instance. are of bam-
boo, carved with an art which is unfortu
nateIy, not appreciable from the front of
the house. The smoking set is not only a
genuine japanese set but was actually sold
by a little Japanese Wife The beauty
box, or little lacquered chest which con-
tains the articles by the aid of which my
lady makes her toilet, was also used by
Japanese Wife and is perfect to the last
detail. even to the wet lip rouge in use by
the Japanese women. The kimOnas in use
are the married" lmonas-the japanese
name which falls so easily from Miss Ber
ceres lips does not lena itself readily to
transcription in ordinary United States.
Even the woven mats of silk-like straw on
which Miss Bergere seats herself during
the scene, are the real thing, and We're
only found after a long search. For such
things are not brought to this country for
sale usually, but for actual use by the i'm
porters themselves. 1t was a hard matter
to find just what was wanted, and then to
induce the possessors to part with them.
II found just the kimona l wanted in a
shop in Oakland" said Miss Bergere. 1T
was a rich red silk, covered almost from
the bottom with golden dragons. At first
the old japanese would not even bring
it out to show me. You no pay for that
kimona' he said, and when L finally per-
suaded him to get it out for me he would
hardly open the box, so convinced was he
that 1 would not pay his price. Hummer
DOLL he said, when l asked the price. The
beauty of the thing had taken my breath
away l refused to pay 800 for it, believ
ing that he would sell it to me cheaper, but
he gruffly repeated the price and laid the
kimona back in the box.
II want it for use on the stage" I said
inadvertently.
"'You at tee-ater las ni? he asked. 1
said Yes His mask-lke face broke up
in a smile.
Das good he said. Das YER good.
saw you. You have him eighty-fiv' doll
And / took him for fear the owner would
change his Mongolian mind after cooling
off little in his enthusiasm over my per-
formance of His Japanese Wife