earned
that he was receiving only that provided by the station, and on
questioning him further he said that probably the sum promised by the
church was being kept as his monthly contribution to the expenses of
the church! Instances of this kind are not infrequent. While in Kyushu
I more than once discovered that a body of Christians, whose
evangelists we were helping to support proportionately, were actually
raising not a cent of their proportion. On inquiry, I would be told
that the evangelists themselves contributed out of their salary the
sums needed, and that, therefore, the Christians did not need to raise
it.

The mission, at one time, adopted the plan of throwing upon the local
churches the responsibility of deciding as to the fitness of young men
for mission aid in securing a theological education. It was agreed by
representatives of the churches and the mission that each candidate
should secure the approval of the deacons of the church of which he
was a member, and that the church should pay a certain proportion of
the candidate's school expenses. It was thought that by this method
the leading Christians of the young man's acquaintance would become
his sponsors, and that they would be unwilling to take this
responsibility except for men in whom they had personal confidence,
and for whom they would be willing to make personal contributions. In
course of time the mission discovered that the plan was not working as
expected. The young men could secure the approval of the deacons of
their church without any difficulty; and as for the financial aid from
the church, that could be very easily arranged for by the student's
making a monthly contribution to the church of the sum which the
church should contribute toward his expenses. Although this method
seems to the average Occidental decidedly deceptive, it seemed to the
Japanese perfectly proper. The arrangement, it is needless to state,
was not long continued. I am persuaded that the correct explanation of
these cases is "yumei-mujitsu."

Not long since express trains were put on between Kobe and Tokyo. One
morning at Osaka I planned to take the early express to Kyoto, distant
about thirty miles. These are the second and third cities of Japan,
and the travel between them is heavy. On applying for a ticket I was
refused and told there was no train for Kyoto. But as multitudes were
buying tickets, and going out upon the platform, I asked an official
what the trouble