The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-04-17

! japan, uScu 10 Collect I'VE dollars FOR
every good looking hat that was
thrown to him. This hat throwing is
seen in Spanish bull fights, but there
| the matador makes no charge. lie
merely selects one hat from the lot
rests It on his head for an instant.
| with his work
| The Japanese stars OF the old school
also made a fixed charge for the
privilege of visiting them In their
dressing-room Those who pail
the price We're presented with an au-
tosraph, some little gift, or If tic
actor was especially impressed with
/ his visitor. he might delay the per-
! fornance long enough to serve tea.
Inc japanese stage manager OF the
old school left nothing to the imagi
nation or the memory of the spec
| tators. For instance. take q scene
/ from one of the hoary and time hon
| ored classics OF the Nippon. An old
1 man is making love to young girl.
He is too old and decrepit to make
an acceptable sutton. but the girl
/ knows he has great influence with
/ her father. Therefore, while she de-
sires to repulse him. she must do so
! cautiously. All of this las been
brought, out In the foregoing acts.
scene is reached. the play is as hard
4 to follow as thrce-ringed circus
The old. man is pouring out his plea
OF passion to the girl. the orchestra
! y playing an accompaniment for his
i lines. and In the wing two old men
/ chanting an explanation of why she
doesn't give the old codger his walk.
ing papccs on the instant.
That peculiar Oriental stoicism
/ which keeps men and women from
1 sorrow operates only when PERSONAL
i fortunes arc concerned, and not when
1 others are involved. The man who
i would bear the burdens of Job with
out changing his face is ready to
4 weep at The slightest misfortune that
befalls another. while women whoae
timmobile countenance would not be-
4 tray her enjoyment of the sweets of
! heaven will laugh like child at some
4 other persons happiness. SO ii is
! that a Japanese theatre audience is
an instrument upon which even the
/ mediocre actor may play at will 1t
| Is as responsive as an organ. and rare
~ produces a discord. One may enter
i II Tokyo theatre and find thous-
and men and women splitting their
sides with laughter. and two minutes
/ later every man and woman In the
audience will be Frustrated on the
II mats. weeping as If their hearts would
i break. Tho Japanese actor never Mas
the handicap of an unsympathctic au-
/ dicnce.
i The professional story-teller ranks
.IsJnpan. lie gives his performance IN
4 rooms smaller than the theatre. and
although his long winded yarns deal
4 with many topics; they cost his hear.
4 what appeals to the Japanese sense
of humor may be obtained from the
4 following tale by a famous Tokyo
! story-teller: He said there was once.
i an old mtser who had a great deal
! of money. a fondness for good things
Ia rf,1 ~ a 4.
! He lived over q restaurant which had
1 the reputation of serving the finest
Ieels in the city, GELS and rice being
/ the great Japanese delicacy AS the
eating house, the appetizing odor of.
frying cells filled the room above. Tie
imag ipation of the miser was SO po-
tent that when the savory smell filled
his nostrlls he could sit down to his
4 meal of plain food with the lcenest
4 relish. When the owner Of the res
1 tauraat found this out. he forthwith
4 presented bill. Thereupon the stin-
i gy tenapt produced his money bag:
nge9 the Gon hsn th as.oI
4 plain, he replled: You have charged
me for the smell of your cells and Y
have paid you with the sound of my
money"
me most popular s,oryi ,tensS IN In
! his audience as Ishii, but his real name
4 is Black. He Is the son OF an English.
man who started the first newspaper
In Japan. Ills knowledge of the Vary
4 Ing dialects arc SO perfect, his dress,
so accurate, and his manner so nat
ural that few of his hearers suspect
i that he Is a foreigner.
The Japanese people are so fond OF
4 the theatre that it can be made a tire.
mendous educating influence IL the.
X movement to modernize II succeeds.
Ii the old classical plays, dealing Will
(. the dry dust of ancient history, can
4 be done away with, and modern sub
II jects treated In theirdstead, much use,
Z ful present day information may be
Quickly Impaired to tho masses, Dur
]. ing the recent boycott on American
i, goods in China, one of the most effec-
, tive ways of reaching tho people With
the propaganda was through the med
I. ium or the actors and story-tellers,
I, Now 1t Is said that through the same
:, channel. even the coolies on the bor-
!. der of far-orr Tibet have heard about
the coming OF the American fleet to
y copyright, 1908, by Frederic j. Has,
kind
I Ia, r p