The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-01
JAPANESE FLOCK l. ID SWITZERLAND
 FOR HUN SECRETS
Already Competing In Ger many With Manufactur-
 CTS Hitherto German Specialties
By LILLIAN GRANpE

! Fly JULIAN GRANDE l Berne, Switzerland. December 24.- l Special )-During the war, occasion
 ally two or three Japanese might
 have been seen at some hotel in Swift zerland. Since the armistice, however. 1! they have flocked to Switzerland in
 such numbers that tte parlors of the largest hotels in tine evenings are often half filled with them. And it l IS not in &otels alone that they, are 1 to be found, but in apartments and bin private houses at night the best Iseats in the theatres and at concerts are occupied by Japanese. One thing, ! Therefore, is certain: they do not lack l money.
 As rule, no one seems to know
 what they are really doing, although
 On one point everyone Is agreed-that l they are not merely amusing them | selves. They may do so in the even- | ings. but, during the day they work. The result of their exertions can be
 observed by anyone who goes into large or small Swiss shops. in these
 may be seen Japanese copper articles, Japanese canned fish and other foods,
 Japanese straw plaitoo articles Japan ese oils and fats for greasing machin- 1 cry of all kinds. Japanese starch, Japanese hardware. The toy shops are now filled with Japanese toys, and ! Japanese silk. raw and finished finds
 many purchasers, as do also Japanese | pencils. The Japanese have even contrived 1 to worm themselves into Germany and sell there the metal articles which were once German speciality, at prices with which Herman manufac- l turers cannot compele.
 | All these Japanese goods are shipped l tc Europe Japanese vessels. of (which sthere is no lack. They are un-
 loaded at European docks under the
 supervision of Japanese inspectors.
 and then transferred to the various Japanese warehouses in each European | country Catalogues with price lists. | in the language and based on the cur | rency of each country, are sent out | regularly from these different ware
 houses to European business houses, and followed up sby Japanese commer- f ciaI travellers. I That all this labor is not without Eresnlt is proved not merely by the aspect of the continental shops and stores but by those of Great Britain
 Japanese exports to which have in
 creased skiold since 191S Millions | of dollars worth of Japanese made | Manchester goods" are being sold in Great Britain at prices with which
 Manchester does not know how to
 compete Even articles which at one time were supplied by the United
 States alone are now being carefully
 initiated by the Japanese. who are
 even promising typewriters at half the price at which American machines
 can be bought.
 Not only are they dumping their
 goods into Europe, but they have been advertising their country as a tourist resort without a parallel. Maps of excellent make and illustrated pam phlets are being distributed under the very noses of Swiss hotelkeepers. who | T si iraf +n 70 These publications point out the best routeg to take to go to Japan; indi- cate the cost of the different routes and lnesa explain how best to travel
 in Japana. and state the cost of hotels.
 railways, etc., No Swiss tourist resort has ever excelled these Japanese pro- auctions - indeed. it is doubtful 1 ether any has ever approached | them.
 l was discussing this Japanese trade 1 in Europe with the head of one of the | largest Swiss general stores. He de- | clared that before the war it was l goods made in Germany" which were flooding the European markets but
 now 1t will be goods made in Japan" ! Japan. in short" he added, Ifs the only nation which has profited by the l war"
 I Besides countless commercial agents who are at present touring the conti-
 
 who say that they are Ion missions,' and who devote their time to visiting universities. schools. clinical hos pitals, printing works, engineering l works and any factories where they think it possible to pick up some hints Many of them arrive in Europe l with definite itineraries already traced
 outN for them, presumably by some government department or some so- ciety in Japan. For instance, those 1 who know German. after visiting Ger | man Switzerland, leave for Germany: and those who speak French and Italian, after visiting French Switzer- l land and Italian Switzerland. generally leave for Italy.
 All these Japanese seem to be thor
 oughly interested in their own partic- ] listening, they. sexcoriate the English for going back on Yudenitch.
 l sat one morning recently in the old I Russian Embassy with number of them. They had been answering ques- tions in guarded fashion for an hour, when the door suddenly opened and an other of their group entered He threw this hat his coat and his stick onto a chair and burst out in Russian l Have you seens the Morning Post?
 Litwinoff is on his way to meet the
 British at Copenhagen with peace pro l posals."
 1 He sank into another chair with the Tlimpness of wet rag.
 l Its the end of everything!"