The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1910-06-14
Miyonoshita, Japan.

memory of hotels from Damascus to |
Medicine Hat. Cleanliness is one Of the 4
Of Japan. When our little /
brown cousin has little vacant time on
his hands he takes a hot bath by way of !
pastme, recreation, amusement or duty, !
whichever motive may be uppermost. |
His street shoes never get inside the |
threshold of his home. He would rs
soon think of walking on his dustless
peg oluy SuUMpio 10 Yulq9 pIuoM uBol
floors with his street shoes as an Amer
between the snowy sheets with his
hunting boots on, as sometimes some
Americans have been accused of doing,
Unjustly accused, let us hope. The Jap
anese sits on the mats of his floor ON
the cushions spread thereon as we sit
on our beautifully upholstered chairs.
And aseptically the mats are much
cleaner.
This, by the way, is the top side of
the floor. l grieve to say that it has
been found necessary by the imperial
government to make house cleaning in
the great cities compulsory. Once a
year the houses are turned inside out,
scrubbed, rubbed, fumigated, swept and
I garnished. Mats, rugs, furniture and
"thingsn are dragged out Of their
seclusion; drains and catch.alls are
looked into. Because not infrequently,
that is, almost nearly always, there is
trap door in the kitchen floor, loose
board, easily lifted, and into the shall
! low abyss below the daily debris of
the house is swept and the trap re.
| placed, like a clean counterpane over n
dirty blanket. And the place under.
meath the floor is soon beloved Of
reaches and rats. So, you sect
tribute to the superior cleanliness
of the American, or even the ibenighted
pagans called Europeans, is paid in the
| fact that their houses are exempt from
this annual bosom of cleanliness. 1t is
taken for granted that the passion for
"cleaning house, which reigns in the
heart of the American housewife and
reaches the sublimity Of worship in the
soul of a German hausfrau survives ex-
patration, and that if an American
should, which he certainly does, every
time he comes into his happy home
shake the dust of the street off his
feet against his own floor, home, he
shakes it where it can be swept out
to the accompaniment of a sweet little
ritual composed, words and music, by
the housekeeper, expressive of her won
der why the good Lord made men, any
how. Sister, that Is one of the pro
found mysteries of the universe.
gave it up while was cutting my first
tooth. + have forgotten just exactly
what I did think about it at that time
but my impression is that 1 probably
wondered why He didn't finish me
when He made me, instead of adding
lot of painful growths after the ten
| ant moved in.
The journey from Yokohama to Miya
noshita is picturesquely delightful. You
: embark on the Tokaido Railway. 1t il
J an imperial railway, for the govern
ment can run anything it attempts tt
run in this empire. The Tokaido i
the Canine Real of Japan. The word
, you know, means Eastern Sea road. AM
l long before there was railroad in tn
{ world, or anywhere else for aught
know, except maybe in China, wher
r railroads and aeroplanes were invented
: this thoroughfare was thronged wit
e travellers between Kyoto and Tokyo
S who enjoyed pleasant journey of tw
g weeks on the way. The schdule ha
Y now been shortened to twelve hours
0 and the old highway is about as dc
q serted as highway for pedestrians, a
+ is our own Canine Real Thirty igh
!, years ago the railway came along an
h bowled the ancient travel off the RICH
t of way, a way the railway has in al
t countries.
n We are ushered into a first-class cal
The seats run along the sides, like tn
a seats of an old-fashioned omnibus.
: expected something of the sort when
q saw that the engine which hauled tn
@ train was "made in Germany" How
r ever, it is a comfort to know that the
n don't call the coach wagons.lits nc
!. the road a bum zug, or something lik
a that. The railway education of til
i Japanese fell into the wrong hands j
+ its inception. They were misled by til
q English, who taught these innoceI
- children to call the ticket Office
y "booking office' and the baggage CO
= 'fluggage van.D But they have on
q thing we might copy with all consi
e tency. They call what we designat
as an Conformation bureau" the "il
r. quiry office" Now, that's much be
>. ter.
:. why9
Oh, because.
!, You see, it ism 1.-THE place at whiC
n you always receive the informatio
- which you desire. But it is the plat
u where you ask questions. think If
v had my way I would write above I'll
9 window of this place of a million que
u tions simply the magic words indie
:, tive, to the female mind, of oil
, niscence:
/ "The Man"
g Then when your wife asked you
T. task the man. which she does
a. every case of doubt, you would knO
70 which man to ask.
u I wonder what is the origin and II
p basis of woman's sublime, unique
s. tioning trust in the lightest statemel
1t of f'the man Amy old "man ~
80 matter how fatty it may contradict IL
re affidavit of her husband, who is pc
a. haps an expert, specialist, and q
l. accepted authority on the questiC
he under consideration"
t.. I reckon maybe it's because "tl
es man" never lied to her.
Or 1 have noticed that she never trus