Norwich bulletin., 1909-06-19

| SUI CAdl Ills i1OlllCI anu NY Stll W
attend a banquet to be given by the
university. knowing it was to be a
very swell affair, we prepared our
| selves accordingly, and when the time
| came we took passage on the railway,
which is thoroughly japanese, from
the engine stOker to the president of
| the company. Arriving at Toxic, we
were met by a delegation that escort
! ed us TO the college, and after dispos-
| ing of our surplus clothing, we were
| ushered, into the dining room. And
such a dining room, With not a par
ticle of furniture in sight, but a lovely,
soft mating, upon which everybody
| reclined, the lovely little japanese
waiter girls, each bearing the chest of
drawers that contained the first course,
placed it before each guest. Oh, it was
quaint but it was lovely. 1t was a
rich treat the way in which we par
took of that repast, while jollity and
mirth were uncopfined. and "all went
merry as marriage bell" Perhaps
the eXhiliarati ting effects of the salki
had something to do with the jollity
and mirth. When the time came for
the orators of the evening we had
speeches in the Japanese and the Eng
lish languages. of more or less elo-
quence. When l was called upon
found some difficulty in assuming an
upright position, but having done so,
j delivered my speech, which was
brief, as 1 knew it would have to be
interpreted, since majority of the
guests were not familiar with the Eng
lish language. When 1 had finished.
the president did the translating, and
in doing so be took a much longer time
than / had done, and when he had fin
ished / said to him:
Mr.. President, did I say all that p"
NO" said he, but l improved on
what you said"
THAT settles it," said I, "and 1 make
no more speeches in Japan"
That president was a splendid man.
and for some three years after my re-
turn to San Francisco we kept up a
very lively correspondence which was
most enjoyable.
My three weeks stay in Yokohama
were brimful of solid enjoyment, and
/ don't think it possible for any one
to have a better time than l had while
there as guest Of Consul General
Greenhouse and his amiable and ac-
complished mother. When Mrs. Great
house first arrived in Yokohama her
keen sense of propriety in female
dress was shocked by seeing the Jap
anese women as they passed the con-
Sulate, In going to and coming from
the tea oven. where they were engaged
in curing tea, to see that the peculiar
shape of the upper portion of their
dresses expressed more of their charms
than was proper; and to remedy the
evil. she would stand outside the gate
of the compound with a paper of pins,
and amid the hearty laughter of the
Japanese girls, she would carefully
pin the garment so as to conceal the
exposure, and would then return, con-
scious of having performed good mis-
sionary work, which, no doubt, it would
have been, had not the same girls ap-
peared the next day, and every sue
ceeding day, ready to go through the
same pinning up ceremony, until Mrs.
Greenhouse came to the conclusion
that it was Loves labor lost" and
permitted the girls to wtar their gar
ments as their ancestors had worn
them for centuries before Mrs. Great
house came to Japan.
I learned when in Yokohama that
Judge and Mrs. Denny on their way
TO Korea, were very unfortunate while
in Yokohama. The hotel was burned
while they were there and the judge
lost everything excpet the clothes in
which he Stood Mrs. Denny saving
but a small portion of her wardrobe.
The loss to them was a very severe
one, kas they had laid in a supply of
everything they thought they would
want in a country where they would
civilized people. In their efforts to
save some of their belongings they
were both suffocated and came very
near losing their lives In the strug-
gle Mrs. Denny sprained her ankle.
and it was a long time before she was
able to walk.
The time came when I was to leave
japan and all it's allurements. and had
my destination been any other por-
ton of the world but nv own home
my regrets at leaving Japan would
have been beyond the power of Ian
guage to express. for at that time
Japan was the loveliest country on
earth for foreigner to visit and travel
through But the anticipation of soon
meeting those I loved. after a three
years absence and once more ming
Ing with the friends who were most
Gear to me, drove entirely out of my
mind the thoughts of any other coun-
try, or any other people. For I was
homeward bound.