Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-22
TRIP IN THE ORIENT FOR WAGES B0ARDS|
Catsks Hero Has His Proo- Australia Prefers Them to Ar
type in Japan. btration Courts.
WAS A LONE FISHER BOY death OF SQUATTER KING
With Sea Princess and w. Buchanan Owned Killarney
After 2OGO Years Other Stations.
DISCOVERIES GALLOWAY NEW ZEALAND DISAPPOINTED
Among Expected-Paper
Finds Old.
WAS A LONE FISHER BOY
Went Away With Sea Princess and
Came Back After 1000 Years.
DISCOVERIES BY DIR. GALLOWAY
Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit Also
Among Agricultural Department
Explorers Finds.

Rip Van Wrinkle in japanese dress is
one of the things that DR.. B. T. Gallo
way of the Department of Agriculture
brought back from the orient with him
IN the trip to Nippon and the far east
that he has just concluded. Folklore is
hardly a legitimate side line of agricul-
tural exploration, but this discovery of
Rip in the orient was strictly an unoffi-
cal find OF course, as every one knows,
the chrysanthemum kingdom is rich in
folk stories, but the idea of finding Rip
Van Wrinkle and the Uncle Remus stories
lying around under the shade of the
Buddhist temples was rather surprising.
The doctor happened to be at kani-
zama, when he heard the original Rip
Van Wrinkle story. and on following it up
found it to be quite as authentic as the
legend of the Catskills. 1t is naturally a
little different from the American story,
for it is dressed in Japanese costume and
it has beside Rip Van Wrinkle flavor of
Tannhauser and Sindbad the Sailor.
Not a Tavern Loiterer.
According to the story the japanese
Rip with an unpronouncable name was
not a tavern loiterer, but an industrious
fisher lad. He was not any Sanford and
Merton sort of a kid, either, but a very
human sort of brown-skinned fisher
boy. One day in pursuance of his voca-
ton he went farther to sea than usual.
but he had the hard luck story of many
IA modern fisherman to tell. The fish
would not bite, and he spent the most
of the day batting his line and hauling it
back without even the bait. In fact. his
casts were good deal like a lot of presi-
dental messages to Congress- little
worse than useless.
Finally he did have bite but when he
hauled it in it was a sea turtle. Now the
turtle is a sacred amphilbian in Japan, on
was at that time. and though the little
fisherman was hungry enough to eat a
horse with the harness on he took the
turtle off the line and cast it back into
the deep. Virtue was its own reward
that time, and its only reward too. jap
anese folk stories do not deal in the sort
of copybook-be good and you'll be hap
Ply stuff. There was nary a bite and the
little Jap sat on the gunwale Of his boat
feeling about as happy as an insurSent at
a standnat mass meeting.
Then came the granddaddy of all tur-
ties. He was the old he-turtle Of turtle
dom and he was the garrulous, loquacious
sort of turtle seldom found outside of
mythology. First of all he nosed up out
of the deep, and. saluting the little
fisherboy politely, thanked him for re-
storing the other turtle to the deep. He
said that happened to be particularly
important member of the turtle theocracy
and he was glad to have him home
Possibly he had been the treasurer of
the deep sea guild and had the funds of
the order with him. Anyhow, he said the
fisherman would lose nothing by being
polite to turtles. The little boy started to
explain that he had not lost anything
anyhow. having nothing to lose and that
he had not caught anything. either.
which was much more pressing point.
But his explanation was cut short by
the arrival of the princess. She was. a
way-up. sure-enough princess. too. She
was not only that, but she was a sea
princess, which is something extra spe-
cial in the princess line. She had golden
hair and fish tail and pink gauze veil.
and a pleasant smile. She may have
had other things, but if she had the
legend does not mention them. Anyhow,
she invited the tisherboy to come over
board probably assuring him the water
was fine. He demurred, but the old he
turtle offered him submarine taxicab
ride free of charge, SO he and the prin-
cess got aboard the turtles back and
promptly sank from sight.