davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23
Palm Garden of .-itsui Store.

of the large banking institutions of Paris,
London and New York had come here to
Toxic to investigate matters for them
selves. They We're not satisfied with fig
ures and estimates alone. They wanted
to look at the books and to know just
what the resources of the government
were and whether it could, beyond doubt
meet all its obligations when they be
came due. They wanted to know whether
il was advisa BILE for them to invest in
new bonds, and like the man from Mis-
souri," they had to be shown.
1t was in connection with their report
that Japan found difficulty in placing fur
Their loans. and on this account the finan-
ciers who represent the live, up-to-date
banking and industrial interests of today
have taken a hand with the government In
putting Japan on a solid financial basis.
This policy has already been inaugurated
and through the advice of such men as
the Mitsuis it will be carried out to a
successful conclusion.
No one can go through the big banking
institutions of Toxic without being
assured of the material prosperity and
the great resources of this country. The
building of the Mitsui Bussan kaisha is
surrounded by structures which would not
seem out of place in New York or Chi
cago. The Bank Of Japan, an enormous
building of gray granite, is just over the
way. The Yokohama Specie Bank is next
door. and all about are other large modern
buildings The Mitsui building is of four
stories. built around the three sides of a
court. covering more than an acre. It is
of red brick and white stone and its in
terror is furnished like one of the best
Office buildings of the United States
There are wide halls. big rooms, many
windows and an abundance of electric
lights. Elevators take one from story
to story and there are parlOrs for the
directors and all modern conveniences
The main room of the bank is larger than
that of any bank in Washington and as
well furnished as that of any in New
York. AS l stood in the gallery and
looked down upon the scores of clerks
working away l was impressed with the
enormous business being done. Money
was coming in and going out and / could
see where the bank gets its deposits, which
now amount to about seventy million yen
AS | went on through the building I
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

checkers with his mobs. The checker
game had been played. The mob had
been eXercised-as the bull in the ring
is prepared. 1p worked up, CD fatigued
for the matador or eSpada.
The espada the lone artistic, was Le
pine. In the direction of the north were
massed police and troops Behind, in
the direction of the Latin Quarter, were
massed more police and troops. Sudden
ly, the serried ranks TO the north opened
like folding doors, as If to let the rioters
pass free up to the region of Newspaper
Row. Forward. Hurrah.
But, seei A little lone man springs
out and puts himself at the mob's head,
He waves them: Follow me- boys"
'Nive Lepine,'' He leads them on,
across the bridge. There is a flower
girl with her handcart full of two-cent
violet buttonhole bouquets.
How much for the lot?" cries I.epine.
Two dollars. monsieur" the girl
giggles.
There's your money! Business).
Now distribute them to- the young
gentlemen who follow me- cried the
most consunmate chief of police in
Europe. Yes. she was a pretty girl, by
chance. That helped. But what those
rioters desired was violets She was
slightly overwhelmed and kissed a lot;
''Lepine!" she squealed The little weak
white mans eyes flashed red fire. He
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

emperor was brought out of his seclusiOn
at Kyoto and the present era of western
civilization began the Mitsuis furnished
most of the money to finance the new
government. They ~practically enabled
Japan to bridge over the great crisis
which then threatened the empire both
from within and without, and their Serv
ice was SO valuable that Baron Hachi
roemon Mitsui. the present head of. the
house, was made a peer and all the other
partners We're given titles in acknoWl
edgment of it. The house today stands
very close TO the government. and it has
great influence in financial matters.
;. X
Indeed the Mitsuis are. perhaps. the
most important element in the Japanese
situation today. 1t is through them and
the other bankers and capitalists Of note
such as Matsuo. governor of the Bank Of
Japan Takahashi OF the Yokohama
Specie Bank and Baron Shibusa wa that
the new policy of retrenchment. economy
and reform is now being introduced. I'm
til within a few months the country has
been managed by a class of men who
knew but little of modern business 'meth-
DDS. The leading officials We're apt to
look down on trade and to Consider them
selves as rather superior to those who
were engaged in It. This was, especially
so uo to the time of the war between
needed great deal of money, and 1t had
to go abroad to borrow it. 1t had not
done much as to the placing of enormous
loans. and 1t called in the financiers
among the business men to advise it how
to proceed. Through their counsel the
loans We're negotiated which supplied
large rart of the funds for the war.
Agents were sent to Paris London and
New York. and there was little trouble
in the disposal of the bonds. AS the
war continued other loans were nego-
tiated, and UP to the time of its close
there seemed to be no financial trouble
in sight. The business men were now
less regarded and the government went
on with its expenditures. not doubling
ii could get all the money ii needed.
Then a loan was proposed for the Man
churian railroads To the surprise of
the government it was only half taken
There seemed to be but little demand
for those bonds In London or New York,
and the officials were at a loss what to
do In the meantime the representatives
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

aginable they might intimidate a presi-
dent TO sack his project of police of
Paris; but the thing has never happened.
On the other hand it was Lepine (suc-
ceeding to LoZe. the less adroiti. who
reconciled the city fathers with the pre-
lecture of police-their relations having
been broken, to the complete discom-
future Of the municipality.
If the police commtssary is the father
of his district then Mons. Lepine
is the dread grandfather of all Paris The
mob knows him as it does not know the
president: and the cry: There's Lee
pine" VIII dash cold water on Apache
bands or enthuse the most righteously
riotouS workingman.
| would emphasize the dignity and i'm
portance of his everyday position. He
is high functionary of the general gov
eminent in an exceptional situation, at
tanned by successive promotions in a vast
national administration.
He is gentleman, scholar
brother to the medical luminary. Prof.
Raphael Lepine of the Lyons faculty and
editor of the famous Revue do
Medicine"
1t is a family of noblesse de robe
generations of magistrates in particular.
with lawyers. doctors and all kinds OF
functionaries. His proper designation is
administrators"
He was born in Lyons in 1915: went
through the university. became an
"avocat." which is to ''avoue' what
'barrister'' is TO solicitor" But he en-
tered the administration Cnter- working
civil service) in 1877 as subprefect: but
not of police. Take note. He became
project (governor) of the indre depart
ment in 1855. In 1883, mounting in grade
always, he was secretary general to the
project of police of Paris. In 1891 he re-
verted back to project governor of the
Loire; in 1893. of the Sene-and- Disc: and.
later in the same year he became pre-
feet of police of Paris.
In this interchanging. one perceves
the European idea of an administrator
something between papa, business man.
ager and captain.
Succeeding TO I.oze, Lepine became
known at once for activity. frmness
and magnetism. Crushing anarchy was
but a passing detail of his vast. con-
tinuous work of holding the Partisan
pulse.
So, in 1897. when his health broke down
in neurasthenia, they made him governor
general of Algiers. Here lie had vast
dignity: and it depended only on himself
to add vast luxury and ease. But the
fires burning in the man ''het up
the expensive, grating colony with all
kinds of reforms that he incurred
hostility. alike of natives and practical
politicians.
He had to resign as governor general
of Algiers; and Paris needed him. The
Dreyfus affair, with its revolutionary
possibilities. made business men breathe
freer when the little king of the Partisan
streets was back In place.
Again and again. the luminous city
has been on the verge of what might
easily become crisis; but few know
a 1.-THE of the wise ruses by which the
weak trembling. sickly but lion-hearted
street king has transformed everything
to strength for the French republic
STERLING HELLO.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

seemed to be in a government depart.
ment There were rooms filled with clerks
Japanese girl stenographers. who were
clicking off their notes on Japanese type
writer's.
An interesting branch of the estab-
lishment is the mining department. In
this are shown samples Of the coal. sui
phur, copper. silver and other ores being
mined by this great corporation. There
are also models of the machinery used in
the mines. showing how each of the larger
properties is provided with the most inn
proved type Of machinery for haulage.
ventilation and drainage and that every
thing Is done to protect the lives of the
miners and to maintain a uniform output
at the lowest expense ! saw models of
some Of the Mitsui coal mines near Maya
saki They are known as the Mike
mines. and are one of the largest of such
enterprises In the world. There are now
six different workings, and the annual
production Is over one million tons. The
mines have an area of $4,000 acres. and
the coal veins average about eight feet
in thickness. This coal is bituminous
and is used for cooking. 1t is regarded
as standard coal in the Asiatic mar
kets. Another Mitsui property Is the
Tagawa coal mines. which produce the
best steam coal of Japan. and largely
supply the navy and the railroads. And
another is the Yamano coal. noted for its
easy firing and its high evaporating
power. In addition to these coal mines
the Mitsuis have silver and lead proper
ties, which are turning out considerable
ore, and they have two large sulphur
Mines
The Mitsuis have a big engineering
works here in Toxic, where engines and
boilers are made. and where they are also
turning out electrical machinery which is
noted throughout the far east. They are
making steel chimneys and railway bridge
material Their steel chimneys are sad
to be earthquake proof. This is very
important item. Japan has, on the aver
age an earthquake a day throughout the
year. and every now and then a big one.
At such times the brick chimneys and
are the first to fall. They
often cause great damage, crashing
through the roofs below. When l was in
Japan fourteen years ago, about One-half of
the household department Of the palace.
which / was visiting at the time. was
thrown down and the chimneys flew far
and wide narrowly escaped with my
life In that same earthquake the CHM
neys on the parliament house tumbled
making a hole in the roof as large as
though the biggest elephant had dropped
from the skies.
This same engineering works is now
making pumps sawmills mining ma
dynamos, electric motors and
electric machines of every description.
1t would pay some of our big exporting
firms to go through the foreign trade
rooms of the Mitsui house. They have a
commercial museum which enables their
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

of these institutions is story in itself.
But before l give it I want to tell you
more about this remarkable family. The
Mitsui house is a joint associat ion con-
sisting of eleven families partners.
who have pooled their capital in their
joint name under the system of unlimited
joint liability. The bank. for instance.
which has a capital of 5.030.O0O yen and
surplus of 11,5oO.0o0 inserts a statement
in all of its banking advertisements that
1t Is owned by the members of the Mitsui
family, and that they as partners assume
an unlimited responsibility for all its
debts AS result, the people know
that all the wealth of the family is back
of the bank, and it has the highest credit
Its deposits are now about seventy mil
lion yen, or almost thirty-five million dol
lars.
The same rule prevails as to all the
obligations of the eleven families. The
properties are all held in common. al
pendent property of it's own. In the
Mitsui establishments, however. there is
NO particular property to which any one
can enter his absolute claim The in
situations are managed by the Mitsui fam
lily council, according to rules laid down
by one of the heads of the family who
lived more than 200 years ago. This
making the family and not the indi-
vidual the head of an institution is in
accordance with the social organization
servient to the family. and the rights
and obligations of the family should out
weigh those of any of it's members.
This combination of the Mitsuis has
now lasted for about 200 years. The
family has been in business longer than
that. it's ancestry dating back to feudal
lord who liveu at the time of CHRISTOPHER
Columbus. 1t was somewhere along dur
ing the days of Chaucer and Spenser in
England that Takatoshi. a descendant of
this lord. began to engage in trade. He
opened store in Kyoto and established
a dry goods business here in Toxic. He
sold for cash and also organized a sys-
tenn for the collection and remittance of
money, and 1t was his son who wrote
out the family rules which have made
the fortunes of the house. He also or
sanized the first family partnership. In
this first organization five brothers en-
gagged 20 work with their collective cap
ital. and this system has continued down
to the eleven branches or partners which
constitutes the house of today.
The Rothschilds frequently come to the
Europe. Their fortune was founded, In
fact. on money loaned to one of the Ger
man rulers who applied to the old house
at Frankfort. Jay Cooke helped Uncle
Sam out during the civil war. and Presi-
dent Roosevelt was glad to have the as
sistance of Pierpont Morgan at the time
of the last panic. The Mitsuis have
even more important positions
in regard to the new Japan. When the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23
Copyright, 1909. by Sterling Heilig)

jumped before her. sufficient barrier.
No one dares touch Lepne.
''Violets for the boys who follow mep'
he Numbered.
Where did he design to lead them? None
knew. But all wanted to be decorated: to
he able to show their best girl at dinner
the. vOlets that would prove they had
been in the front of a great historic in
cident. They will keep their violets under
glass and tell the story TO their children
and grandchildren. All else was forgotten
'Vive Lepine. We follow him to death"
Go on distributing. Protect the girl
he said to three big devil students. En-
avant. March,
Athos. Arams and Porthos, towering
round their lovely charge. cried: Close
your ranks. Forward march. Follow
Lepine''
And the wildeyed little king of the
Partisan streets, gesticulating, shouting,
led the whole gang of 5000, smartly at
right angles to the next bridge and back
to their Latin Quarter.
Lepine does not go down into the street
to stay. Like Marshal Oyama who
directed battles from his hidden tent ten
miles away, So seated at his telephone at
the prefecture of police, Monsieur Lepine
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

Z LEVEN BRANCHES WHICH POOL THEIR CAP
II ITAL AND WORK IN COMMON-THE MITSUI
BANK AND HOW IT FINANCED THE EMPEROR
THE BANKERS AND THE GOVERNMENT-SO
THING ABOUT THE M1TSU1 COAL MINES
THEIR COTTON MILLS AND ENGINE WORKS.
THEIR ENORMOUS FOREIGN TRADE AND
THEIR BIG DEPARTMENT STORES-A REMARK
ABLE STORY OF A BUSINESS FAMILY WHICH
HAS LASTED OVER YEARS, AND TODAY
LEADS THE NEW JAPAN.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

door: plain clothes men masquerade in
hospital busters: and there is a snowy
s'tretcher on the sidewalk. 'Sapristi.
Lepine means business whisper danger
Gus rioters-and sneak inside cafe for
a hot spiced wine.
Say $500 start for the disturbance
All, the policy of little packages.
All. the checker playing In the vast
receives thousand messages by tele-
phone, bicycle messenger and auto
mobiles that look private
On a table is spread Il vast map OF
Paris. trained subordinates stand around
it. sticking various colored pins into the
fevered district. Shift the red pin
two blocks on Mass the three blues to-
sether! Separate the four reds; they
have been divided at the corner, Cali
the corner at the Bridge of Arts Hold
the line to Malvoin's book store,
Monsieur Lepine don't stop generous
youth of France from marching. He
would rather keep them marching all
day than to come in conflict with them.
To manhandle them transforms them
into martyrs.
1iey We're marching TO the center OF
disturbance. yes. They got there. But
no serious group got there at the same
time with any other.
Like the checker player who knows
how to block a game without eX
changing men, Monsieur Lepine will bar
this bridge-but cunningly permit them
to work their way five blocks down
and actually cross another. on SEEM
ing route to the newspaper offices or
will be stopped for ten minutes: not
to trouble circulation" Again they
will find street barred-and think
themselves smart to strike the route
again by a detOur. All me! the detour
is a part of Lepine's PLAN
So at the center of disorder they arrive
in little packages yes. good men
dropping by the waysde. worthless non
descripts swelling their numbers. till the
very character of the mob changes from
men with a purpose to guying and hur-
raining multitude, prepared to sell its
birthright for a mess of laughter and eX
citement.
Round the center of disorder moves
the ''Mouquin merry-go-round.'' Mons
Lepine graciously attributed it's in
vention to the subordinate of that name,
little matters. 1t consists. say. of two
hundred dragons or cuirassiers from
five to ten abreast upon their heavy.
mob-immune horses. riding a compact
mass, round and round and round the
threatened space. So the ice-breaker
navigates the freezing waters of a port
as much to keep the ice from forming
as to break.
He is more important than a cabinet
minister AS project of police of Paris
he holds direct from the president He
is no more answerable to parliament than
to the Paris municipality-which pays
him and his men. but whose right to
inquire into his administration as
mythical mayor of all-Paris has been
long Pigment of history.
Cabinet ministers resign on a hostile
majority vote of parliament. 1t is i'm
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

also he compared with the Astors and
The Vanderbilts, and their undertakings
include such as have made the fortunes
of Krupp. Marshall Field. Stephen Gil
rard and John Wanamaker. They are
famous merchants, miners, manufac-
turers, exporters. bankers and financiers.
They have a capital running high into
the tens o. millions of dollars, and they
do a business of hundreds of millions a
year. In some years the foreign trade
of this family is equal to One-seventh of
the whole foreign trade of Japan. Its
coal mines produce about one-third OF all
the coal mined in the empire, and they
supply great part of that used in the
great cotton mills and furnish about
one-third of the japanese exports of
cotton yarn. They have other factories
and foundries throughout the empire, and
their trading and banking institutions are
In all the big cities. This family has also
its branch establishments in the leading
seaports of China. and in Hongkong.
Manila. Singapore and Bombay. 1t has
branches in Australia and Java and also
In San Francisco, New York and London.
In some years it ships as much as 5000
bales of raw silk to the United States, and
it has a fleet Of good-szed steamers,
which carry its merchandise to and from
Shanghai, Hongkong, the Philippines, the
Straits Settlements, Burmah and India
There Is no more thriving corporation
in the world today, and just as this time
when we Americans are talking of the
Japanese as being on the edge of bank
ruptcy, it is surprising to come into con-
tact with an institution like this.
Through the kindness of Mr.. ]. Yama-
motto, one of the directors. I have been
able to spend the greater part OF today
IN going through the big office buildings
of the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha here in
Toxic. which contain the Mitsui Bank
and the exporting and mining departments
Of the corporations; and I have also visit
ed its big department store across the
way. which has more trade than any dry
goods establishment of the far east. Each
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23
II LEPNE AND THE STUDENTS RIOTS IN PARIS STREETS ~

7 TITLE GRIZZLED KING OF THE PARIS
l. STREETS HAS PECULIAR METHODS, BUT
HE ALWAYS CARRIES HIS POINT-LEADS
RIOTING, STUDENTS TO FLOWER STAND, PUR-
CHASES VIOLETS FOR EACH OF THEM AND d.
VERTS THEIR COURSE BY THIS TACTIC-THE
MOST TACTFUL AND DIPLOMATIC POLICE
CHIEF IN THE WORLD
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

HERE had not been
such students riots
since 1894, when
the central bril-
gade police killed
Nurger in a cafe.
Ever since those
brutal repressionS
Latin quarter-and,
by sympathy. all
Paris - has had
such a prejudice
against the famous
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

- II ~ q pam
AVE YOU heard Of
the Mitsui' family =?
1t is the richest
of all Japan, and
one of the richest
of the world.
What the RothS-
chiidS are to Eu-
rope and Rookie
Teller is to the
nited States the
Mitsuis are to ia
pan. They may
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

No. Monsieur Lepine knows even how
to help an open fight against himself to
gain his secret ends.
The military force was thrown into the
students riots to block and gain time
The police were there to be rotten
egged, rough-housed, to let the students
work off energy and get a gay, victori-
Gus. generous enthusiasm.
Then. at the right moment the king
of the streets-a wisp of a little old man,
sputtering magnetism till you see the
sparks-went down alone into the mob
and led ii like a flock of beribboned
woolly lambs,
Once he did it with 81 worth Of violets.
Next day he just called out: Boys,
It's lunch time" The 5000 medicals
knew they were hungry; that it would
be silly to be robbed in North Side res
taurants when savory messes waited them
on credit In their Latin Quarter haunts.
The violet incident will go down in
history. The 1900 medicals, abetted by
5000 nondescripts bohemians and toughs
We're on their way to cross the river, with
Intent to visit the newspaper offices in
full force-to demand the press support
which was already theirs. So 1t was
needless noise, disorder, traffic troubling
and scandal to Paris trade-ipnJ uxuries
(All Paris riots are good business to
light up"-attract. enthuse-the for
eigner, but on condition that the golden
goose is not impeded. jostledD
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-23

Copyright. 1909. by Frank G. Carpenter
Special Correspondence of The Star.