The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-10-28
JAPS INFERIOR
TO CHINESE IN
BRAINS, HE SAYS
Statement of Rev. John j.
Bridges Made Before Airing
ton Literary Women.
DECLARES CHINAMAN IS
MORE TO BE RELIED UPON
Japan Practically a Country
Without a Distinctive
Religion"

81 believe that the Chinaman is In
! finitely superior in power and mental
ity to the Japanese, and when he is
fully awakened will be the coming
man." said the Rev. John ]. Bridges,
speaking upon Japan" at an interest
ing meeting of the Woman's Literary
Club of Arlington yesterday. Mr..
Bridges said that whereas once in
a while he could get the best of a
Japanese in a bargain, he was never
able to yea a Chinaman. He drew
further comparison between the two
nations by saying that the Chinese
we're more reliable, more trustworthy
n their dealings. and confidence in
them was never misplaced, than the
little brown men of Nippon.
Mr.. Bridges threw a new light on the
blossoms of the Flowery Kingdom by
describing the divisions of the year
which the Japanese reckon by the
when the land is one mass of gorgeous
bloom. The people wen tie messages
and poems to the largest, choicest
blossoms, and every year the Emperor
goes to Kioto, where the trees are rich
est in coloring. In May the wistaria
blooms. Some of the vines are hun
dreds of years old, he said, and one
vine, over 500 years old, bears blooms
fifty inches long. The chrysanthemum
is the imperial flower, while the lotus is
the religious flower and is the symbol
of peace.
Mr.. Bridges said that the Shinto and
Buddhist religions were slowly dying
out, and that Japan Is practically a
country without a distinctive religion.
The pagan worship has ~degenerated
into many low practises. He told Of
one priest standing while worshippers
wrote their prayers on p chewed
the paper in their mouths, rolled and
threw them at the priest. If the paper
stuck the petition was to be granted.
The speaker told of hotel accommodate
lions and the curiosity of the maids.
He said that the hotel was all in one
room and screens were set up as
patrons came in. 1t was a favorite
trick of the maids, however, to poke
holes through the screens and peek, and
they were never satisfied until they had
examined a guests luggage. Outside of
Yokohama, he said, there were no
horses and everyone used jinrickshas,
for which the man-horse was paid so
cents for a whole day. Mr.. Bridges said
that he never heard a baby cry while
in Japan, and that he had been to the
theatre in the evening where there were
SEQ babies strapped to the backs of their
parents.
Mrs. James A. Exton, who was a del
egate to the tuberculosis Congress in
Washington, e her report. She said
Thai the sole exhibit from New Jersey
was the table of statistics presented by
the Prudential Insurance Company
showing the causes of death among
their subscribers, with tuberculosis
leading.
Three new names were admitted to
membership, Mrs. Bessie Warner, Mrs.
Florence SHEPPARD n Mrs. Gleason.
The art department will meet next
Monday at the nome of Mrs. Davis, ABB
Chestnut street. Mrs. Latham, the
president, announced a series of five
lectures, to be given the second Friday
in each month. Vocal solos were con-
tributed by Miss Dorner, and Mrs. Be-
dell was the chairman of the day.