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Members of the Japanese Parliament Leaving the Chamber in lokio in Man-Drawn Rickshaws.
. /•> CRATCH a Russian nnd yon
will find a Tartar”—the
Mikado of Japan dies and
all the barbarism of that nation,
latent during half a century of civ
tilted progress in practical matters,
comes to the surface.
Illustrated on this page are many
■triking details showing that while,
In their every day affairs, the Jap
anese people and their Government
have struggled out of the character
istic Oriental rut and become one of
the half dozen great world powers
tn science, In warfare and in the
Industries, they are at heart and in
spirit the same as Commodore Per
ry found them when he broke down
their closed door more than half a
century ago.
At the present moment one of
their ablest scientists, the physician
who attended the Mikado during
his last Illness. Is the most despised
man In Japan because he declines
to commit suicide and "follow the
Emperor." as General Count. Nogi
and his wife did. Science seems to
have removed more layers of bar
barism in this doctor's case than is
accomplished by other civilizing
means in Japan. To his critics —
practically the wlvle nation, who
want him to nobly disembowel him
self —he replies, to hia further oa
tracism:
“It was not my fault If the Em
peror died. If the Emperor had fol
lowed ray advice and abstained from
alcoholic drinks he would still be
alive,”
Although the Japanese Govern
ment officially, but mildly, decreed
that. In this new era of the nation,
it was not expected of the Samu
rai—the noble warrior class —to ex
terminate themselves by the hara
kiri route, and most of them have
refrained from doing so, neverthe
less, the whole nation, high and low,
applaud the act of Count Nogi and
his wife, and the whole order of
Samurai Is tn an apologetic atti
tude because the majority of its
other members still live Popular
Japanese newspapers continue to
exalt It he act of the Count and
Countess, and recently have printed
fresh details calculated to humili
ate warrior knights and their ladles
who have been less noble and ho
role. •
It appears that when the bell
tolled announcing the Mikado's
death. Count Nogi courteously gave
precedence to his wife. They had
made their preparations, according
to ancient cufftom, and were alone
in a room of their modest residence,
though ’he door wes not locked. The
Count stood by while his wife per
formed the suicidal rite with a
short dagger Before his eyes she
accomplished the act with dignity,
deliberately and thoroughly, as be
came the wife of a noble warrior.
Brit, being after all a woman—and
• woman educated tn America —she
Science Finds 1 hat Houses Are “Good" or “Bad” Like People
I" I has long been known that very 1
sensitive persons especially '
women ot strong psychic quail- j
ties —feel at once on entering a va
cant house whether its "character"
U good or bad; that is, whether the
influences within its walls are
Ueaitiilui or the reverse.
Quite unexpectedly, the Sanitary
Inspectors' Congress recently held
in London accepted this apparent
•'superstition” as based on actual
physical phenomena, and that every
one should, in selecting a dwelling
place, be guided by such premoni
tions.
The Idea originates In a convic
tion that tenants more often than .
cried on’ under the intense pain as
she was expiring.
Her cries brought a. maid Into the
room. Hearing the maid approach
ing, the Count, concealed himself in
another room; but as soon as she
had gone out to bring help, he re
turned and quickly joined his wife
in the act which united them with
»hefr beloved Emperor in death. No
matter how civilized Japan becomes
on the surface, the whole Japanese
people will keep the memory of
Count and Countess Nogi enthroned
above all others, save that of the
Emperor alone.
But the celebrated physician who
attended the dying Mikado and then
declined to sacrifice his own useful
life may be driven out of the coun
try.
As ■ you are reminded elsewhere
on this pace by a favorite Japanese
author and artist, the Mikado rules
not only by divine right but 1s him
self divine. Although that divinity
does not prevent bls dying, as or
dinary- mortals do when their time
comes, the paradoxical event stops
the clock of progressive Japan, in
fact, sets it back fifty or sixty years.
The elaborate funeral and burial
ceremonies must conform in detail
to a ritual established long before
the birth of our Saviour. Reverence
for ancient customs and a general
relapse from potential enlighten
ment Into superstition take place.
Away back somewhere in the
mists of antiquity It was decreed
that the casket containing the dead
Mikado mns»t weigh eight thousand
pounds. This Is the heavy load that
must be conveyed to the burial
place from wherever the Emperor
happens to be when death over
takes him. The august corpse may
not Ke moved until it 1s finally
sealed up in thia four-ton coffin.
The imperial coffin Is constructed
of three boxes, one within another
The innermost box, made of plain
Japanese wood planks about two
Inches thick, contains the Emperor’s
body, ■which is thickly covered with
vermilion pigment. The second box,
within which this Is placed, is large
enough to afford space for several
inches of charcoal packing between
»tho two on all sides The last box
Is fully ten feet long and four feet
square. When the eecora box, con
taining the innermost one. is placed
within it. there is a considerable
space all around. This Is tamped
solid w-lth a rubble of granite
which brings »the weight of the
whole up to the eight thousand
pounds required.
The burial place of the late Mika
do was near Kioto, which is quite
a distance from the Capital—Tokio
—where the Emperor died From
the Imperial Palace the heavy cas
ket had bi be conveyed by ox-catH
and railway-—and this Introduced
quite a series of weird details.
First, it would be a national calam
ity, also affecting Innumerable dead
ancestors, if a culvert should break
down or a stretch of the road cave
lanmorus are to blame fur uirty and
unsanitary dwellings, and It is pro
posed that records should be kept
by the municipal authorities of the
"health history" of houses in ail
residential districts.
At the rate many houses, espe
cially those on monthly or weekly
tenancies, change hands a single
street would soon require a library
to itself. In London the data, if
properly kept, would provide an
overwhelming mass of manuscript
matter needing constant revision.
Medical men who have had expe
rience as family doctors or In the
public health service agree that the
problems of sanitation would be
considerably simplified if such rec
ords could be made.
in while Hhe heavy casket contain
ing the dead Emperor was passing
over them. So there is first th®
ceremony of piling rocks Into a huge
box’until the whole weighs exactly
the same as the funeral casket. This
is placed on a two-wheeled cart, and
is drawn by three oxen, harnessed
tandem, over the chosen funeral
route to the railway station. The
same dummy casket is placed in a
special funeral car, and the railroad
line to Tokio is tested in the same
way. If the street pavement and
the railway car and track stand the
strain, all Is well; otherwise repairs
have to be made, and the test re
peated.
Meantime the Imperial funeral
cart has been under construction by
a family of artisans which alone
possesses the secret, and in which
that honor is hereditary. Its design
has not changed during uncounted
centuries. The body Is completely
inclosed, with a high-curved roof
with overhanging leaves. It is
drawn by two shafts of bamboo,
between which the nearest of a
team of four oxen is harnessed.
But It Is the two huge wheels of
this vehicle which are most remark
able. They have to support the
whole weight of the body of the
cart containing the eight thousand
pound casket —but that feature is of
the least consequence. These wheels
are constructed in such a manner
that, as they roll over the pavement.
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The Tokio Family of Artisans Which Made the Mourning Cart, and HOU) JdpCLfI6SQ EXpldtn Their “Barbarism"
in Which the Secret ot Its Construction is Hereditary.
they furnish the key note for the
audible mourning of the funeral pro
cession.
Aether family of artisans which,
alone, holds the secret of making
these mourning eart wheels and
in which the honor is hereditary—
has spent weeks in so fashioning
them that each wheel as it rolls
along gives forth seyen distinct
i uu>v maue it a rule,' as.erieu
one physician, "never to occupy a
house in which a death from con
sumption has been known to occur,
and I advise all my patients and
friends to be equally careful.. Not
even for a fortnight's holiday at the
sea would 1 break what 1 look upon
as a salutary precaution.
"But how difficult it is, when en
gaging apartments away from home,
to obtain any reliable particulars
as to the health history of the house
in which you propose to live for
awhile. If you ask whether there
have been any cases of infectious
disease there you are. of course,
answered with a negative with
which you must be satisfied.
“A doctor may push his inquiries
>-- ■ """" *■ ! I ...
NK_-‘ iwSSwHWt* >**> *
One or
the Two
Wheels
of the
Funeral
Cart
Which
Produced
Seven
Distinct
Mourning
Sounds
It
Rolled
Along
in the
Procession
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mournful sounds. The wheels are
made entirely of a certain kind of
wood, peculiarly joined as to hubs,
spokes and felloes. The outer cir
cumference of v each wheel is com
posed of seven thick segments, each
attached at its centre to one spoke.
Each alternating pair of spokes sup
ports a shorter, thinner segment In
set at the juncture of two outer seg-
i .ariuui vurougn tue local Health
i department, but how many of the
general public ever take that
amount of precaution?
"Many illnesses which might be
avoided are originated while fami
-1 lies are holiday-making in unsani
tary houses from home.
“There are thousands ‘of people
living in frequently high-rented
houses who seem to have no idea of
i the most elementary laws of sanita
> tion. To follow such persons as
tenants is to court disaster to the
health of one’s family.
"Houses, just as much as human
beings, have characters, good and
bad The question is what sort of
a character does the house you live
in possess.**
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General Count Nogi, Who with His
Wife, Committed Hara-Kiri at the
Moment the Emperor Died.
mets The seven mournful sounds
reduced by each wheel appear to be
due to the loose joining of spokes,
felloes and hubs.
The ancient ritual requires that
the funeral ceremonies In honor of
a dead Mikado occur at night. The
cable dispatches have described, in
a general way, those rites at the
funeral of the late Mutsu-Hito. As
the funeral cart rolled slowly, over
the pavement, drawn by funerally
decorated oxen, the effect upon the
superstitious popuace of the mourn
ful mechanical chant of the cart
wheels is better imagined than de
scribed. The people seemed to hear
in those sounds warnings and ad
monitions uttered by the soul of the
divine corpse within the closed body
of the cart.
The cart and the oxen that hauled
it over the funeral route in Tokio.
more than any other details reflect
ed the symbolism of the ceremonies
Having served Its purpose, the cart
was laid away as a precious relic.
As for the four oxen, they will never
have to do any kind of work again
as long as they live. They have be
come “honorable oxen,’’ and will
live In luxurious idleness, pensioned
By Yoshio Markino.
The Celebrated Japanese Author
and Artist.
HAVE never forgotten, and
I shall never forget, though I
■*' was only four or five years
old, that one day when I rushed in
to my father’s room he was sur
rounded by the rest of my family,
all looking serious and respectful.
On the middle of my father’s desk
1 saw an old-style photo, printed on
a glass plate, with black velvet un
derneath, and set in a beautiful
Paulow nai-wood case.
"Whose photo is it?"
All were silent. My mother took
me to her lap atm whispered:
“Someone who is too high for our
mouths to utter his honorable
name!”
"The Emperor!" I exclaimed
■‘Hush, 1 ’ my father said. “Take
the child away!"
At that time it was forbidden by
law to keep the Mlkado'b photo. I
don't know how my father had pos
sessed of it, but 1 imagine it was
given to him by one of the Royal
Princes, whom he had often met in
Kyoto during the restoration war.
During the Russo-Japanese war,
whenever Japan was victorious, the
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The Late Mikado's Funeral Procession, Snowing the Ox-Cart Containing tM
Casket—as Depicted by a Japanese Artist,
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An 8,000-Pound Box of Stone» B eing Drawn by Oxen Over Tokio
Pavements to Make Sure They Would Bear the Similar
Weight of the Emperor’# Casket These Oxen
. Have Been Pensioned for Life.
by the imperial Goverment.
All of the physical features of the
funeral procession were of very an
cient origin. There were hundreds
of warriors quaintly costumed and
armed with bows and arrows. The
funeral cart carried a box of featn
ered arrows to be buried with the
dead Emperor. A score of sacred
drums from Kioto were carried by
special officials; also dwarf "holy
trees"—Cloy era Japonica—which
are cultivated in conformity with
both the Buddhist and Shinto ritu
als for use cn such occasions. Smok
ing torches, borne by officials in full
regalia, flanked the whole length of
the procession.
It was only when the Imperia!
coffin had been moved from the
fußera! train at Kioto that anything
generals and admirals always re
ported to the Mikado: "The merit
of this victory belongs to the serene
dignity of your Majesty.”
An English friend pointed this out
to me and said: “I don’t under
stand that. It seems so unnatural.
It was the officers, soldiers and
sailors who won the war. The Mika
do had done nothing at all!”
I said to him: “Ah, then, you
don't know- our country yet.”
Now let me write why. First of
all, you must understand what the
Mikado means to his nation. He is
quite divine Now, then, during the
late war this divine Mikado left his
own palace and went to live in an
uncomfortable temporary dwelling
in Hiroshima, where all the fighting
men embarked. This fact alone
moved the whole nation’s hearts.
Then, moreover, he listened person
ally to all the news from the front,
and very often he would not sleep
at night.
How did this encourage all the
men in the front. Unless you are
a Japanese you cannot imagine what
that meant To speak in scientific
terms, it was the concentration of
all the warrior’s souls Who else
could ever make such a strong and
firm concentration in one single
mass except the worshipped Mika
do? AU soldiers and sailors were
at all modern entered the pro
gramme. This was the short wire
cable railway which hauled the
heavy casket up to the top of tbe
wooded hill—“abode of the gods"—
where the grave had been prepared.
The grave was considerably larger
than the casket This was to ac
commodate an encircling guard of
clay figures in ancient armor, called
“god generals.” Thus the cold clay
of Mutsu-Hito In its grave will ba
symbolically guarded—and in the
most ancient Japanese manner.
It is now nearly a month since
Mutsu-Hito was buried; but, un
doubtedly, it will be a good many
months more before the Japanese
people are again able to conceal
from the rest of the world that they
are really barbarians, after all.
ready to die for their Mikado, and
the generals and the admirals, too,
commanded those soldiers and sail
ors with their own devotion towards
the Mikado. Could it not be tlt«
merit of the Mikado then?
With this unbounded merit of the
Serene Mikado be has succeeded in
making the new Japan. With this
merit he conquered China, with this
merit our Anglo-Japanese alliance
has been carried on successfully
and with this Japan shall become
quite prosperous. There is no doubt
about that.
If the Mohammedans concentrated
their souls by their faith in Mahon
med, and if the Christians concen
trated their souls by their faith in
Christ, the result would be the same.
I often meet so-called philosopher#
who laugh at the superstitions of re
ligious people, or of the Mikado
worshipping of Japanese. However
right and accurate may -e their rea
soning, 1 must say their p.tiloao
phies are only too shallow. They
ought to proceed one step further
and think what influence nas the
concentratio of the whole nation's
souls! The concentration of our
hearts ad souls Is itself our own
God who “mans ove> us. Even au
Evils, when concentrated into one
big mass, can defeat many good
individuals who have no affinity.