Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR 79 tCbe Momen of 3apan J6x lEft'te ID. IRttcbic, IE., ’07 UST at this time, when the eyes of alt the world are turned to Japan, a glance at her people may not come amiss. The women of Japan have been the cause of much comment, and all of our friends who have visited this land of cherry and plum blossoms have returned singing their praises. For many have fallen victims to the charms of the Japanese women, who are so womanly—kind, gentle, faith- ful, and pretty. And yet they arc little appreciated by their native people, and is it any wonder that they are trying to free themselves from the bonds of custom in this the Meiji era? Of course, it is difficult to distinguish as yet between the new and the old. Two grotesquely different ideas arc at work to improve the women’s condition, European theories concerning the relations of the sexes and European clothes! The same man who struts into a room before .his wife when she is dressed a la japonaise will let her go in first when she is dressed a la europeene!” A baby is welcomed in a Japanese home as much as in a Western one. Its birth, whether it be boy or girl, is the cause oi much rejoicing, although a boy is much preferred. As soon as the event takes place, a messenger is dispatched to spread the news among all the relatives and friends, who are ex- pected to soon pay their respects to the mother and babe, and carry with them some present. Silks, toys, or crepe are suitable, but each must be ac- companied by fish or eggs for good luck. Each friend must sooner or later make the child a1 pres- ent, which is duly acknowledged and a present re- turned by messenger. The baby’s dress is very simple—much like the kimona of the grown-ups. All baby’s clothes arc fitted, one inside the other, and put on the floor. Then baby is placed inside them. A loose belt is put on the outside, and baby is dressed, with no squirming and crying waiting for buttons to be fastened. In the lower classes the babv is strapped to the back of some older child at a very early age. sometimes at a month old. It is then carried about among the children’s games and through the streets. This perhaps accounts for the frank, open face of the Japanese—they never know what it is to be timid before strangers. A tendency for baby carriages is showing itself in Tokio, but whether this is merely a fad or not re- mains to be seen. At a very early age the children must become accustomed to the hot baths of which the Japanese are so fond. The older people spend much time in hot baths, which they have as high as 110° Fahrenheit. One old man who has charge of a public bath stays in the water the entire win- ter. One Japanese man’s objection to Western ways is that he has time for only three or four baths a day! The Japanese children arc very fond of fairy- tales. and will listen to grandmother or the nurse for a long time to hear about the Peach Boy” or of some terrible monster. Occasionally they spend all day at the theatre, seated on the floor in a box. '{’hey have a great variety of toys and games, such as shuttlecock and ball and the poems of a hun- dred poets. A girl learns in her youth the lessons of cheerful obedience, pleasing manners, personal cleanliness and neatness. She must sink herself entirely, always give up to others, and never show any but pleasing emotions. She learns all the rules of their simple housekeeping, which is not difficult, considering the absence of much furniture and the simple ways of cooking. But they have all the furniture necessary for their way of living. One of my friends tcils me the Japanese house gives one the impression that the housecleaning is just finished (for the houses are immaculate), but the furniture has not been brought in. Nothing is visible but the tiny box stove, which gives hardly any heat, and a few cushions. But at tea time, which occurs at any time during the day at fre- quent intervals, several individual tables about six inches high appear, also the tea cups, chop sticks, and many small bowls. At night they bring out the pads to sleep on, and the block pillow from some hidden closet. The partitions arc merely folding screens of translucent paper, which may be taken away at a moment's notice, and the house, which, by the way, is only a story and a half high, made one large room. So much for the houses—to return to our girl and her environment. The girls in this Eastern country are considered worthy of a certain amount of culture. They arc educated in the arts of writing, painting, and flower arrangement. They arc taught Chinese classics. They have a strict code of etiquette which is taught them by professional teachers. They learn how to open and close a door, how to rise and sit upon the floor, how to hold the body and head when saluting, all the most polite manner ; for polite- ness is one of their most noticeable characterises. They would much rather tell a lie or be dishonest than impolite. Tea drinking is the common occu- pation of the women. Strict rules are laid down for drinking formal tea. and it has been said that The woman who has once learned the tea cere- mony thoroughly is known by her superior bearing on all occasions ” The above relates to the strictly Japanese schools. The missionaries have estab- lished schools grading from kindergartens to high, normal schools, and even universities. Every day the streets are crowded with boys and girls going with their lunch boxes to school. In these schools they study Japanese and Chinese literature, geog- raphy, history, and natural science, also mathe- matics. In all the higher schools one foreign lan- guage is required. English having first place.

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■7» THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR and later in the—ha!—that is the question! what did he do with them? He certainly did something hut not until he had patiently collected many, many hairs. Then at last came the day notable in our story; and even on that day the routine duties were performed as they had been performed on the pre- vious days. Rat worked as he had worked for three vears; dinner was served as it was habitually served; the afternoon wore away in the mysterious fashion that all afternoons wear away: the doctor came punctually at his appointed time, tied his horse to the accustomed post, laid his coat and hat in their usual place and entered the hospital. As soon as he had stepped inside, a fireman from the engine room dashed across the yard and breath- lessly announced that the engineer had been scalded. Thereupon, quite contrary to his habitual course of procedure, he followed the fireman back to the engine room, and as he entered we see the last of him. Thus, by the conspiracy of the hates, on the very afternoon when Rat had planned to escape, the doctor instead of being in the hospital, where he could easily have heard his horse go out, was in the engine room on the other side of the yard, and moreover was so wrapped up in his work that he could not hear his departing horse. It was by this time quite dark, and as it had be- gun to rain, it was net difficult for Rat to skulk over to the other side of the yard unobserved. So dressed in the doctor’s coat and hat with the care- fully collected hair, which it had been the work of weeks to arrange to imitate the doctor’s beard, he went as near to the door of the engine room as he dared, then turning about, he walked boldly across the yard, got into the carriage, and started out. Through the dim light he saw the unsuspecting guard salute as he opened the gate, and as Rat drove out and whipped his horse into a swift pace, he enjoyed a hearty laugh. He rode south for half an hour until he thought that he was, according to a fellow-prisoner’s direc- tions. in the vicinity of the warden’s house. Rat stopped his horse and from a passing boy learned the exact whereabouts of the house, which lie had very nearly reached when he passed the lanky fig- ure of the warden also going that way. He hur- ried his horse, and was already at the house, stand- ing on the sidewalk when the warden came up. Rat itad the carriage whip in his hand and held it so that he could use the handle as a club, which he did in a few seconds with very good effect. With two mighty blows the prison-keeper was stunned and his limp form fell into his assaulter’s open arms. Rat quickly manipulated his carefully prepared gag. and tying the man's hands securely together, he lay him in the bottom of the buggy and drove off. He was still driving at eleven o'clock, but in a few minutes he caught sight of the brewery to which he was bound. This brewery was situated on the shores of the Arkansas river, where ships from the Gulf of Mexico coming up the Missis- sippi could unload. Beside the main brewery was large cooperage, and many thousands of barrels of all sizes could be seen in its yard. Toward these barrels Rat drove, and when lie had succeeded in stealing one he put it into the buggy and turned his horse down the river road to find a spot where he could complete his revengeful schemes unmo- lested. He stopped after a few minutes under a bluff, and tied his horse. Then, laying aside his dis- guise, he was prepared to finish his work. He pounded off the head of the barrel, which was about six feet tall and made of heavy wood so that it was water tight. Then the unconscious warden was carried to the river. Rat appropriated his revolver and then stood him up in the barrel. He stepped back a few paces, and as he observed the warden’s look of returning consciousness, he thought that it would be only expedient to tell the prisoner why lie was being punished. Boss,” he explained, I don’t blame you for not understanding all this. But it’s just this way: When you put me in that dark hole you can't dream how I suffered there. But since you was the vil- lain as put me in there, sayst, you’re the man to pay back. 1 can't bother to tell you how I escaped, but you'll find out when you get where they know everything and everything is known. I’ll bet these white boss hairs that when I sec you again you’ll wish you’d never hear tell of a dark cell. But I must go now. so remember me as your old friend— ha! ha!—Rat Rawley.” lie bowed and immediately began to replace the barrel-head, and when it was securely fastened he turned the barrel on its side and rolled it into the river. This done, he detached the carriage, mounted the unburdened horse, and was off in es- cape. Three months after the deeds related in the first of this narrative the ship on which Rat was em- barked ran into a hurricane. The vessel was bound from New Orleans to Liverpool, and it was just about to sail around the numerous islands that ex- tend out from the shores of Florida when the hurri- can overtook it. The schooner was driven on to the coral reefs known as Tortugas Reefs, and there was pounded to pieces. Rat, and in fact all on board, were tossed into the sea. He was doing his best to keep afloat when a large hogshead appeared in front of him. lie made several attempts to straddle it. and finally succeeded. Then on this as a life-raft he floated at last to the island from which the reef receives its name. When the storm and its attendant darkness had cleared away, Rat was seized with a curiosity to as- certain the contents of the barrel, and after much labor he managed to break through four staves. But, as these did not let in light enough, he tore out four more and eagerly peered into the aperture. His gaze lasted but a moment, a brief second Rat. the hardened sinner, did what he had not done since he was an innocent little boy—he wept. Truth is stranger than fiction; for in that [ Continued on page 80.]

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8o THE SOMERVILLE RADIATOR What headaches those girls must have over a lan- guage in which they must begin at the wrong end of the book, read from top to bottom and from left to right! This new method of training is making independent, self-reliant women, and yet it has its disadvantages. When a conservative man and a “new” woman marry, they often have a sorry task in compromising their ideas. Speaking of marrying,—their method of selection is a little peculiar. A girl takes no thought of this hcrseli. and her intercourse with young men is free and disinterested, although they marry at an early age—about sixteen years When a young man de- cides to marry, he seeks out some married gentle- man friend of his. who then makes a canvass of his young lady acquaintances to find some one suitable for his friend. His idea of beauty is different from ours. He will look about for a lady with a pale- face. slanting eyes, straight hair, rosy lips, and an elongated face. A girl is allowed her choice pro- vided she is not too particular. A no more cordial feeling than simple toleration is expected before marriage, although they often become very dear to each other later in life. Having decided, we will say. upon () Kiku (Miss Chrysanthemum), he goes to her parents and lays his case before them. Should they approve of his friend as a suitor, a party is arranged at the home of some mutual friend, where the young people arc introduced. Should the young people find no fault with each other, the betrothal is entered into and preparations made for the wedding. All the arrangements arc made by the go-betweens, who are responsible for the success of the wedding and are concerned in the divorce, should that prove necessary. The ceremony is merely the formal drinking of sake (the native wine distilled from rice), and has no l eligious significance. After the ceremony there is a grand feast, and the name of the bride is trans - ferred from her father's family to that of her hus- band. It seems too bad that a Japanese girl has to give up her pretty name for one that does not seem nearly so appropriate to us. Their names arc typical of their natures, for these charming girl. have such maiden names as Miss Springtime. Miss Sunshine. Miss Chrysanthemum, or Miss Cherry- blossom. Hut our girl is married now. She does not set up housekeeping,” but goes to live with her husband’s people. These she must now obey and reverence as she has always her own people. She is supposed to have more love for her husband’s people than for her own ; in fact, a Japa- nese woman’s life is summed up in the three obed- iences, obedience to father and mother, obedience to husband, and after his death, obedience to an older son. A bride takes to her husband’s home dresses enough to last a lifetime (for the style never changes in Japan ). She also furnishes the furni- ture: i bureau, a low desk or table for writing, a work-box, two lacquer trays, and the furnishings even to chop sticks, and two complete sets of bed- ding. These are the bride’s personal property. A wife is her husband’s servant, and looks after his every want. She is devoted to her children, and makes many sacrifices for them. (She even gives up her seat in a street car to children.) The Japa- nese think a great deal of their ancestors, and the child inherits the rank of his father. Now marriage is the only outlook ahead for women in Japan. As new ways of self-support present themselves, a woman may look forward to making single life tolerable by her own labor. At present there is not much for her to do but teach school. But for all the results are not all that could be wished, the outlook is bright, and we must bear in mind the vast difference in the two systems and customs which we arc trying to harmonize. “It is not possible to understand the condition of women without some consideration of the effect that Chris- tian thought and Christian lives have had on the thought and lives of the modern Japanese women.” tlbe Convict [Continued from page 7S.) barrel was lying the rigid body of the warden. He had freed his hands and. honest Catholic that he was, he could not die without the performance of some holy rite, however slight, so he had torn open the clothing about his neck and chest, reveal- ing a gold cross hung there, which by its very pres- ence liad undoubtedly given him courage in his dying moments, for his hands were folded peace- fully beneath the cross, and his face, although bear- ing unmistakable marks of suffering, bore also to Rat’s questioning gaze glorious signs of peace and love. When Rat turned away he was a different man. In one precious moment the wretch had learned more than any preacher could have taught him in a year. In that one supreme moment lie realized that for once he had not accomplished his desired ends. He had caused all this suffering but not with the hoped-for result. He saw that the re- venge that turned the other cheek after all sur- passed the revenge that hit back. He learned, too, that there was another thing that he had reckoned without; he learned that there is a love that suf- feretli long. He realized that if anyone possessed this love he could not be revenged although he be killed. The warden’s loving face was the ever- lasting proof of this. Oh. to get, to retain, to be filled with such love! “If I could only get it! Oh. love! Oh. love! save me.” So prayed Erastus Rawley. ' ' There is to-dav in Glasgow a powerful preacher —a man of little education, but of wonderful power in saving men from lives of sin—the Reverend Erastus Rawley.