The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-14

these today. All such matters are pri- yate, however, and you will find nothing about them in the Japanese revenue ae- counts His majesty has his own business managers, who make his investments TOT him and who administer his estate. l am told that his income is enormous and that in the past he has been generous in giv- ing and lending from 1t for the govern ment's needs At the close of the China Japan war he was presented with $100OO, 900 as an emblem of the gratitude of the peo- ple but it Is whispered that this was merely returning to him money which he had secretly advanced to carry on that war As far as I can learn, his majesty owns almost 100000 acres of forests, which are valued at about sixty million of dollars He has three hundred thousand acres of other land, worth considerably over one million, and about twelve thou sand acres of real estate with houses upon 1t. He has also fifteen or twenty million dollars worth of stocks and shares and no one knows how many government bonds. He is allowed three million yen annually to keep up his palace establishments, so that altogether he is sure never to be in want.
 The Emperor's Palaces.
 The Mikado lives in the heart of Tokio,. The imperial palaces are situated in the center of about a thousand acres Of ground surrounded by three wide meats. These meats are walled with stone and they are crossed by marble bridges which are guarded by soldiers in uniform. The meats in places are 200 feet wide. They are filled with clear water from the bay, and magnificent lotus flowers float upon them on sheets of green leaves. The palace grounds consist of hill and valley; they contain lakes, gardens, woods and beautiful lawns. In the outer portion Of the estate are some of the government buildings especially related to the palace; such, for instance, as the household de- partment.
 The Emperor's palaces are of great ex- tent. They cover three times as much ground as the Capitol at Washington, and altogether they have cost several mil- lion dollars. Most of them are of one story made after combination of Euro pean and Japanese architecture. The doors slide back and forth in grooves, and the inner walls, which are immense sheets of plate glass, set in lacquered frames, do likewise. By this means number of rooms may be thrown into one There are also single rooms of enormous extent. There is one dining room that will seat a hundred people and a, banqueting hall which takes about 600 square yards of mating to cover its floor. Then there are bathrooms and drawing rooms, studios and libraries and a large number of bedrooms, some of which are furnished in foreign style. The whole palace is fin- ished like a jewel The floors are inlaid and many of the ceilings are covered with embroidery One room Is ceiled with tap estry of gold thread at a cost of Sl0,Oo0, and the walls of other rooms are hung with brocaded silk, especially made for this purpose.
 Gossip About the Empress.
 In addition to this the Empress has her palace in the imperial grounds. She main tains an establishment separate and apart from his majesty, and this includes 250 women. She has her own secretaries, and has considerable to do with manag- ing of palace affairs She has a court williner, with trained assistants, who lives in the palace and who is always kept busy Her majesty usually dimes with the emperor and often eats luncheon with him.
 She takes no part in politics, but Is widely interested in all matters of charity and education. The Peeresses school, a high-class academy established for the daughters of the nobles of Japan, was founded by her and she gives the insti- tuition her personal supervision, She also made present of a considerable amount to the Woman's University in TolSio. and she Is always giving to hospitals and other such things. During the wars with Russia and China her majesty aided in picking lint and making bandages for the wounded soldiers and she also sent delica- cies to the soldiers in the field. When Lii Hung Chang was shot in the face by Japanese fanatic at the time, he was here arranging the settlement of the China Japan peace. the empress herself made the bandages which were applied to his wounds When they were presented to Lii, he raised the package to his lips and eXclal med:
 Her majestys kindness is as boundless