ir infants in front of their little shops, and children stood
naked and unashamed, lost in wonder over the strange spectacle of the
party of foreign people that dashed by in rickshaws.

Naked men, with only a G-string to distinguish them from the costume of
Adam before the expulsion from Eden, labored at many tasks, and
frequently our little cavalcade swept by the great Government schools
where hundreds of little Japanese are being educated to help out the
manifest destiny of the empire.

This courtesy and good nature among the poorest class of the Japanese
people is not confined to their treatment of foreigners; it extends to
all their daily relations with one another. A nearly naked coolie
pulling a heavy cart begs a light for his cigarette with a bow that
would do honor to a Chesterfield.

A street blockade that in New York or San Francisco would not be
untangled without much profanity and some police interference is cleared
here in a moment because everyone is willing to yield and to recognize
that the most heavily burdened has the right of way.

In all my wanderings by day or night in the large Japanese cities I
never except once saw a policeman lift his, hand to exercise his
authority. This exception was in Tokio, where a band of mischievous
schoolboys was following a party of gayly dressed ladies in rickshaws
and laughing and chattering. The guardian of the peace admonished them
with a few short, crisp words, and they scuttled into the nearest
alleys.

The industry of the people, whether in city or country, is as amazing as
their courtesy. The Japanese work seven days in the week, and the year
is broken only by a few festivals that are generally observed by the
complete cessation of labor. In the large cities work goes on in most of
the shops until ten or eleven o'clock at night, and it is resumed at six
o'clock the next morning.

The most impressive spectacle during several night rides through miles
of Tokio streets was the number of young lads from twelve to sixteen
years of age who had fallen asleep at their tasks. With head pillowed on
arm they slumbered on the hard benches, where they had been working
since early morning, while the older men labored alongside at their
tasks.

From the train one saw the rice farmer and his wife and children working
in the paddy fields as long as they could see. These people do not work
with the fierce energy of the American mechanic, but their workday is
from twelve