The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 14, 1901, Page 9

THE SUNDAY CALL. By Jarah ( Comstock. [/ HAT is this coming over ¢ the land of the cherry blossom and the kimono, the sad music and the myth waidens? Is its personality flee- g bef t has ente ed_from other lands? cadio Hearn, authority by ar concession on things Japan- no. In ome of his wol- scourses to the length of e chapter on the theme, ith: “As a fact, nese are not imitative at they are assimilative and that to the de- es, to be sure. He the poetry of Japan San Francisco there has lately arrived the distinguished e distinguished Japanese yeno. She stands to us for Japanese socicty—it is up to set the fashions for Japanese And it is to tear a poet’s heart strings to mote how she has cast away the poetry of lm' native land and has a e homely practicalities of - hy can’t the Japanese, even in our coun where the cli- mate is not radically different from theirs, preserve more of their charming on this coast enoug personalit homes and manncrs? in dress, rve the dragon of learning . FU MiKO AND HER ROTHER HE Consular residence at 17 Broadway is American to a degree. This is not altogether surprising, as we have no bamboo architects and matting contractors nere- abouts. Yet I couldn’t help a feeling of Revolver Jhat Lischarges JIé Bullets Per Minute. charging 116 bullets /S APABLE of ( t high initlal velocity, omatic pistol adopted 4 of Ordnance and For- e United States army is in many respects a remarkable weapon. As » toward the equipment of the the new arm, an order for 1000 stols for the use of the cavalry placed with the manufacturers. istive tests by Government experts been made, which seem to indicate the principle of the automatic field gazine rifie have been combin- in practical form in a pistol no heavier han the revolver with which the army is Named for its inventor, Georg Luger, a former officer in the Austrian army, the ger automatic pistol is made by the Arms and Ammunition Factories. concern has manufactdred about 6,000,000 Mauser rifies for European na- tions, and has also brought out several types of automatic pistols. H. Tauscher, one of the representatives of the company, who came to this country to submit the Luger pistol to the Government, said re- cently, when seen at his hotel, that the new pistol was the result of ten years’ ex- Germ; This brought out the Borchardt, the user and Browning, and tested the nlicher, the Bergmann and others,” id Mr Ts cher. “All governments rovement on the revolver, hich becomes practically useless after the cartridges in the cylinder have been fired. The first government to change was the Swiss. “At a test which it Instituted in 189 the Borchardt, which employed the ‘link system’ of feeding from the magazine, was deemed superior. This is the system that has shown value in the Maxim gun, and 1s now used in many arms. The Swiss ordnance officer asked for a smaller arm than the Borchardt, and Mr. Georg Luger, the inventor of the Mannlicher, set to work ‘to reconstruct the arm, retaining only the link system. Switzerland made a test in 1898, and in 1899 its military com- mission adopted the Luger pistol. “In a recent test at Washington the pis- tol met all requirements ard recetved the unanimous approval of the members of the board. Its chief points are its fine shape, its balance, its precision of aim, its rapidity of fire and its great simplicity. It operates on the link system, has a maga- zine containing eight cartridges, which is thrown out when empty and may be re- piaced by a single movement. It uses a 22-caliber bullet. The initial velocity of 1200 feet a second gives a greater striking effect than a 44-caliber bullet from the pistol now in use in this country.” Recent tests in Springfield Armory cov- ered accuracy of aim, penetration, veloc- ity of projectile, speed of fire, endurance and the usual dust, rust and sand tests, and a speed of 116 shots per minute was attained, while the accuracy of aim with rapidity was shown by a score of twenty- four bullseyes out of thirty shots by one men, who could make only nine out of twenty-eight with other styles of pistols in the competition, language boldly and well, there are cling- Ing to his speech a few varied signs of dlalect, so subtle that there is no use trying to reproduce them in print. “How are you?" \ It was the Consul's wife at last. She advanced without walting to be presented and she performed her “How are you?” in a mechanical way that led me to be- lieve that it was her stock ip trade and that she would say the same if you asked her how the children are or if she were seasick on the trip. Not at all. She knows considerable Eng- lish, contrary to the Consul's and her own statement. They are both apologetic for her in true Japanese modesty. That is another characteristic that can’t be lost In a hurry. Dress, customs—the outside things—can be altered at will, but you can’t rid a Japanese of natfonal traits of character in less than several genera- tions. Any American who knew half as much, Japanese as Mrs, Uyeno knows English would consider himself equipped for trav- el in Japan. He would also announce thg fact. . “You are well?” she inquired as she joined us. Very well, thank you. And you—how did you get through the long trip? “Very well, thank you, e replled, beamingly; and I saw then that she could be talked to. Since that time we have had some con- fidential conversations, have taught each other to say five or six words in a new tongue and have exchanged recipes. I have noticed that although her husband speaks far more English than she, she understands quite as well. That's the woman of it. She is quite the most charming, the 2072 shirt walst costume that a Parls dress- maker in Yokohama fitted to her. It is a shame to see it. Her flexible lit- tle' figure was made for the clinging folds of the kimono. Her feet are distressful in tan boots. Her hair, born for the glisten- ing folds and gorgeous decorations of her native land, is clumsy in its attempt at our style. “You have American furniture,” T re- marked to her. “Is that so all over your house?’ ‘“Yes, yves,” she said, delightedly. “Up- stair, downstair.” “And in your home in Japan?” “Yes, in Japan. Chair, table. No sit on floor.” She was so proud of it all. No more sitting on the floor, although all the muscles of the Japanese body are bullt by the building of generations for the Gomestic customs that afé traditional. They don’t know how to sit in chalrs. They draw themselves up miserably and dangle their feet. No more serving of tea on low stools—tea is served on a full- height table. She is still clinging to Japanese styles in cooking, but even this isn’t likely to last long. She says already that shoe is coming to like our dishes. Incidentally, though, she gave me part of a menu for a swell Japanese dinner—when she says “good custom” with a fastidious curl to her lip she means “swell,” I find. Here are her instructions: Begin with ocha. (I am spelling her words as they sound.) Ocha is the tea made from tea powder—boiling water be- ing poured on the powder and the whole served immediately without further cook- ing. Only the Japanese of the highest class serve ocha at the beginning of a dinner—it seems to be the hall mark of good form. Next the soup—the osuemona. It may be made from chicken, meat, or fish, Smelts are the favorite. Green vegetables and seasoning are used—pepper is de- manded in plenty. : . Now for the fish.. Many kinds are eaten Best of all'is tal. “Osasiml,” she said in her Tusband's presence. “No, no,” he reproved. disappointment. I had visioned a bdlaze of Orfental colors, old bronzes, preclous porcelains. Instead there are landscapes pompously arrayed in gilded frames, plush chairs, chenille curtains. It Is dreadfully Western. —¥ “You want see him? You want see her?”" the chubby-cheeked boy at the door inquired. Yes, 1 wanted to see him. I wanted to see her. I wanted to see all there was going, and only my con- sclence, which gets busy now and then, prevented me from demanding that the bables be hauled out of bed. Waiting, I gazed longingly for a sign of the Orient. One large screen, a splen- did chrysanthemum-adorned one,” stood in a remote corner. A small fire screen flaunted golden birds on golden boughs. The asparagus fern in the blue china boat was trained into a minlature tree. These three touches were absolutely the only signs of Eastern art, and they were no more than any American's home is likely to display. “You drink Jap'nese tea Ah! That was charming. The tiny lacquer tray, the tiny bowl-shaped cup filled with a tea so faint, so delicate that it might be steeped from rose leaves. Thank heaven that Japanese hospitality is a plant that this climate can’t kill. And I find that the custom of serving tea to every guest who enters the door is one that Mrs. Uyeno adheres to as she does to Buddhism. She may wear a shirt waist, she may sit on a chafr, but her Oriental hospitality can't give way. “How are you?”’ It was Mr. Uyeno, timed to the finish- ing of the tea. Me is taller, stronger in appearance than most men of his race. H> is crisply American in dress. He speaks English readily. “Where did you learn 1t?” “First at th' Imperial University. Then I travel. I llve in Germany. Then I am Consul to Hongkong.” So he has learned Japanese-English, German-English, Hongkong-English, and now he comes to us to learn American | English. Aad although he handles the niost cultured woman of her race that we have here. She is of a highly educated family, whose home was in Nagasakl. BShe was educated at a seminary there; she was given the education that fashion- able young ladles of her people receive. Then she married a distinguished and highly educated man. She has had every opportunity to cultivate the charms that Buddha endowed her with, and he was generous. about them too, And here she is, her dainty dollishness, her graceful Orlental charms, almost hidden by the Then I had to know all about it. “Osasimi—fish no cook,” she explained. This, then, is the raw fish of the Japa- nese—this dish that Mr. Uyeno didn’t want to tell about. But his wife confides to me that it is delicious—a round, pink-fleshed tal, seasoned to taste. She wishes that tal were plenty on this coast. After the fish” course, all dishes are served at once. Sometimes these amount to twenty or thirty in number. There are meats and vegetables. Quichitori is a de- licilous mixture of beans and scrambled ¢.ss. Bamboo sprouts in season are a delicacy. When these dishes are all finished, des- sert is preluded by green tea and cake. After this, the dessert—some kind of pud- ing. Fresh fruit. “Sake?” I querled. “Ah, you know sake?’ She fluttered. She beamed. I had made the hit of my life. Sake, the rice brandy, tte drink of old and new Japan—to be known in this strange land. I tell you this affectation of American ways Is an affectation. A Japanese is a Japanese at heart and it's all & pity that he should try to be other- wise. There were two more disappointments in store for me when the two little Uyenos were brought down. Yeko, meaning Eng- Jand—named when she was born in Hong- kong among English friends—is the elder, a mite of 2. Fu Miko—her mother translates it “Beautiful Ditch”—is fat and sleepy and sputtering—only three months old. They are both in American dress. Worse than that—they have never been in any other. Worse yet—they cry if they are shown a kimono. And it's all In the world that they ever sught to wear. Yelko Is already old enough to show that droll hereditary tilt to the figure that is charming in the native dress and wholly unfit for ours. Put she wears a Paris importation bought in Japan and she and her mother are both delighted with the fact. She is a dainty little thing, looking much n‘s her mother must have looked at the same age, except that her mother has all the smiles and cheery nods that repre- sent to us the sunshine and brightness of one phase of Japan, while Yeko has the big, melancholy eyes that call up the traglc legends of another phase. They are such eyes as might have belonged to the “Daughter of the Dragon King of the Sea,” who, as Hearn tells us, rose out of the sea and appeared to Urashima and rowed away with him to be his flower- wife—she who wept and continued to weep silently when he left her, never to return I don’t believe she will even be taughi to play on the koto as her mother was Mrs. Uyeno has given up the art now and keeps the instrument as a curiosity. She hasn’t touched its sirings for three years She calls upon one of her malds to play when a guest desires. These maids, too, are on the high road to Americanization. Thelr dress is ours. They giggle in Ameritan fashion. And the other servants—two boys and a cook—are all in line. Upstairs, where the little folks play, J stumbled against an American toy wagon Beyond, on the floor, lay an American- bought doll. An American rattle sounded in Fu Miko's hands. “It has come to this fu But from another room Yeko, clasping to her heart the biggest and most splen- did of Japanese dolls. She passed the American baby lying on the floor. Her mother held it out to her but she did not heed. “I don’t know why—she rike Jap'ness dorrie best,” her mother apologized. hat &dars Cosi the Nations. THE disbursements by the United I murmured dols States treasury on account of the Civil War from July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1579, amounted to $5187,243,385. Thomas E. Wilson, in the Review of the Republic for March, estimates that the additional Civil War disbursements Qr dubt, interest and pensions from June 3, 1879, to July 1, 1900, amounted to $3,904,838,775, making a total Federal ex- penditure. of $10,002,082,160. The disburse- ments of the Confederate Government exceeded $3,000,000,000 for the mere main- tenance of armies in the fleld. Mr. Wil- son estimates that the Governmental ex- penditures on both sides In the Civil War will, when the books are closed, amount to $17,772,000,000, and that the In- dividual losses during the war amount- ed to $30,000,000,000. Placing the cash ex- penditures of the United States In the Civil War at $17,772,000,000, in the Span- ish war at $500,000,000 and In the war of 1812, the Mexican war, and the Indian wars at $500,000,000, Mr. Wilson makes the total contribution of the United States treasury to the war fund for tha century $18,772,000,000. It is est!mated that the Napoleonic wars from 179 to 1315 cost $6,250,000,000; the war between Rus- sla and Turkey In 1828, $100,000,000; the war between Spain and Portugal, from 1830 to 1840, $250,000,000; the war between France and Algeria, from 1830 to 1847, $190,000,000; civil war in Europe, in 1843, $50,000,000; the Crimean war, $1,125,000,000; the war in 1859 between France and Aus- tria, $225,00,000; the war of 1366, between Prussia and Austria, $100,000,000; the war between Germany and France, in 1870 and 1871, $1,580,000,000; the war of 1877, be- tween Russla and Turkey, $950,000,000; the war between France and Mexico, in 1875, §75,000,000; between Brazil and Paraguay, in 1864 to 1870, $240,000,000. These figures are from Mulhall, and include only dai- rect Government expenses. It Is esti- mated that the minor wars of Great Brit- ain In India, Egypt and Africa have cost $2,000,000,000. The Boer war has already ~cost England $500,000,000. France’s minor wars have cost $1,600,00..000, and Spain has spent in various wars $5,000,000,000. On these statements presented by Wil- son and Mulhall, manifestly incomplets and unfalr, the United States Civil War cost more by $7,000,000,000 than ten Euro- pean wars, and the wars of South American republics have cost more than all the Russian wars in Asia. The total expenditures of civilized natians for war in the century are put at $49,068,000,000. —_—————— Bats measuring nearly five feet from tip to tip of their wings have been found in a cave near Tanga, in East Africa.