YONE SUZUKI.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9491, 3 January 1919, Page 3

YONE SUZUKI.

J \l\\>"B&K PKOFITEEU, Yone Suzuki, tho Kobe woman millionane, tlu> most iiiccesslul business soniiii M Japan, is lit thb „iev jnt lucil'.'u*- Aiv nt tin beat-hated p«_i -01.s "n rhe c untij states the r o»u uncspunciou o[ the "D jl< Al.iu ' liu-l noi u\auso oi hei nui->nl tii-m-st capautj, but ioi the huge speculations oi hei company in nco, the ,stafl of life m Japan, winch has so hsen m pi ice as co be piohibiti\e to the pooi and middle classes. 'Iho wai profits oi the Suzuki company aio estimated at Filteen yea is ago \one Suzuki was an unassuming widow with a sluewd business sense who sat all day, Japanese iaslnon, on the mats, squatting befoie a dimmutue desk, mdustiious]j figuring her losses and gains on the ijoiobaiij 01 abacus^ 10-day, the Suzuki Shoton romniands all soi,ts oi onteipuses —stoel woiks, eamphoi-iefm-mg, nee mipoitmg, shipbuilding. 'lias unheaid-ol development by a woman was waichod with sullen muttenngs by the gieat mass oi the' people, who not only did noc onjoy any oJ the blessings oi wai piohts but also continued to beai the bmden caused by the soaung cost <>l the necessities oi life

Then tlie stoini hioko, excited men and women suuounded tlie palati.tl oihces ol tho Su/uki hhoton m Kobe, dehbciately but \ei,> thoioughly burning it down. V one Su/uki fled that night to Shikuoka, the gieat tea centre, but lieie the nco noteis weie also most aetu c, and w lipii hoi identity was discovcied the incensed people tlueatened to use against hoi She telegiapLed to Tokio ioi looms al an inn, but no ho&tehv would take hei, leaimg destiaction In vain did she send £100,000 to tin Home Mmivtei ioi the icliel oi the pooi. The poor took no heed, ajid smashed and burned her company's factonos Then, to escape with hei life, she changed hei name and m disguise sought ielu»e in a distant Milage, no one knowing wheie she is hidden. In Toluo. a' mob chaiging orei a budge encounteiod a group oi policemen aimed with then legulation ies-tive-lookmg papei lanterns —spheiesoi (leain and scailet The police weie scatteied like c hafl beloio a wind, and one guaidian who daicd diaw his rtjs tin own lnglonou^h into the canal iincliiM keel ilu- nioli ian, limhnu 1( stones .it pLue-»lass wnulows, and pouied thiouoh a business section to a] quieter quarter where a lone police-;, man stood on the middle ol a bi idge Thib wiib no obstaflw to angry men, and on they came. .But Ihe policeman stood his ground, and holding aloi'L jiis paper lantern, addressed (.lie rioters :—

"Honourable (jontl«uiou,—!• have a. wife and i'aniily, and suffer like yourselves because of the high cost of rice. But it is my duty to let no one pass, over this bridge. Therefore, [ request you please to take some other way." i j\ sudden calm came over tjie, ha stytempered, ,mercurial citizens of Tokio,, for the jjolicenian, as everyone knows, is the poorest paid public servant mi the capital. ■ ■ . • ■ ■ ■• ■ Liiughing and checrinp:, the; crowd turned about, leaving liim in .undisputed possession of 111© ' bridge.