HOME AGAIN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 163, 3 April 1908, Page 7

HOME AGAIN.

DR. MACKIN CIRCLES THE GLOBE. THE' JAPANESE 'POLICY, OF." OUST." . Dr. Mackin; of this' city, • who has been - »bsent from Now - Zealand for over a year, .retur'nod to Wollington.by tho Warrimoo.on - W«fdnosday, having toured round the; world. Ho loft Wellington on Marcli.22 of last year,. v.: y arid_ caught the ..Nikko , Mara at ' Sydney,, which vessel's itinerary enabled him to havo' . a look at Thursday Island, Manila,'and HongKong. - Tho steamer' romained 'a sufficient , ■■ length of time at, tho ■ British port to enablo "him to .visit Canton, : ' which ho christens- "tho city .of smolls." ■He took in the. motley ■ Orientalism at-Macao—the Monte Carlo of the East—arid speaks'well.'of'the European. " settlement; or. quarter on Chaneeri .Island, the entrance gates,to which aro closed at ■ nightfall each evening; Aiv interesting hour w;as spent, in tho •'-Hong-Kong .cemetery (quaintly, called Happy .Valley). Japan Visited. 1 From Hong-Kong ho proceeded on to' Japan,-Nagasaki-being the first port of call. '; At-that placolie: saw the famous oak planted- • by Gen. Grant, and was shown the place whero ' .' the . .Christians, under. St;i Francis Xavier, wero driven over th 6 hill, into the sea; Dr. . Mackin travelled on to Kobe by tho steamer through the: wonderful, island-sprinkled inland • • . .one of the -most'-picturesque trips . in tho'world; " ■ From Kobe-ho passed !on to busy, bustling. "Osaka, -i. ths ' great:, manufacturing ... centre,,' ■ whero he Baw the cherry tree 3in bloom, and heard tho geisha sing , their . tuneless songs to \the';nionoton(nis: tinkle; of tho- sanisen. Li 'Dr. Mackin's. opinion, the geisha as a - vocalist is ,a . frauu, but her - dancing - and. posturing ' were::artistically; graceful to '.a- ---: degree. Then Kiota—a'city of; more dignity, .. "j ,j- with fine building's and good hospitals. The: latter,:aro-conducte(l,on European-;lines,';tho methods beirig'-based. on German ideas,. .Formerly tho hospitals were in charge of ;,Ger-' man, doctors' and professors, :but- tho ■ * Japanese students,had been to Germany and r - qualified 'in .Borlin , or. 'Heidelburg, they had ousted out all, thoGermansfrom those positions. It was-tho same in every profession , and. trado'--',including tho 1 universities and tho : mercantile, marine. ; v:After.,', sucking .', their. .;Brains. 'they had ousted,'them all.. . • \

Born Imitators. ,".;Tli6 Japanese: are .born imitators," said . . Dr.-..-Mackin,| withoutra.scrap of originality :in •their composition. -. Thoy had. a steamer called , the Koanu Maru >built on -the Clyde and brought out.-to .Japan,, and 'thero at: tlio, 1 'Mitsu dockyard-built one exactly like her. • • " No one, not oven if thoy lived a lifetime in ,the. country, would, understand tho Japanosc. "Ho is a liar from the stArt, and when he. says Yes" ho generally means ' something nearer/."No,',' - and; as .business 'is. , . placed :'upon; the,.lowest; scale, sooially ;hq'. con-: ssiders -it his 'business;',to cheat as i much -as ■ho can.'. A. Europeanised'Japaneso will go . down to his business in a froclccoat, wi]l havo his, telophono and.typewriter, and every . Western convenience, yet, on going homo, . will ■ make'; a'/completo, chango of' cos'tumo, ' and will go, back 200 years in his stylo' of living; Tho avorago Japaneso has no'roligion. Ho laughs' at-the faith of his ances/tors—Shintoism and Buddhism—and is-allow-'; irig: their .'temples: to fall /into dccay , arid, at tho samo timo, keeps', a wary bye on',the missionary. "• Fii:a Cities. •• .-. -Nara,-'. the :capital; ;and its saored groves, wstb visited; ?and Nagoya, Yokohama .- and -Tokio,-, all :fino,-, cities, .were explored, and their temples and shrines formed tlio , objective"bf /many/ ; interesting excursions.! • They ■ propose holding .a j great' international, exhibition'at/;Tokib' in'l9l2.'j :• The hospital in: th!^ ; v'and Dr. .Mackin ,wa3 .. Shown every courtesy by Professor Kondo when- he visited tho place, 'ilio .wftrds' werb'diyided iiito three clashes—No. I - for ; full-paying ; patients, No. 2 ..for partly- . paying)patients,-and No.'3 for free patients.' Through America. ■v .Dr. Mackin-. travelled, from Yokohama to : San Francisco,'\via /Honolulu;'by' the Coptic (formerly, in tlio New Zealand trade), which vossel, despite her age, averaged 16 knots an .;hbur;thrbughout- : the voyage.V Sail-Francisco was in. a state of chaos. There was a strike : of . tramway employees, laundry hands, : and , tolopnono girls on' at , tho' samo time.. There was ; a pile : of J debfis, . bricks, mortar, .old -. etc.,. eight miles; long, • still : on view, anil p municipal: altairs wero in a state of demoralisation. From San Francisco lie proceeded to . tho Yosemite .Valley and Big Tree - Grove; / one afternoon passed from/a tempera- .. turo of 28.. degrees near the Big Tree Grove to 82 degrees at.Raymond. Ho was charmed , which ho considered.,ono of the finest cities in, tho United States, arid ■ was;,very'interested in Salt Lake City, where ho inspected the Hugo circular temple of the -• Mormons..- This huge placo seats. 8000 people; arid has such marvellous acoustic pro- ... perties that.a pin dropped-'at ono end can bo distinctly, heard; at tho other... There is not a nail usod, iii -its- construction.' Nails were very , dear >at . the : 'ti<no'of ; its erection,' so strips of cowhide' wore used -to string the boards.. together. : -.J-A visit to the' Colorado / Springs .followed, and there an ascent was made to the top of Pike's Peak in . a wheeled railway—a height of over. 14,000 ft. It was, sweltering' Hot when - he started, but . there was eight feet of snow,at tho:top. i

Moat Works. After a brief visit to Denver the doctor passed on; to Chicago, and was shown , over Arrii- . our's- great meat works, on a day . when 10,000 pigs- and 800 head of cattle were "put v, through.". Armour's employed 10,000. workmen, 2000 fomale packers, and 1500; clerks. Ho-found everything scrupulously clean, so clean that manicurists were kept on tho pre-•.-wises to .manieur'o the nails of the' girls en- , gaged ;in packing-moat.';'-Ho: saw -8000 carcasses of. beef in cool chamber—a wonderful sight. ' After Chicago ho visited-Detroit, ■ Buffalo, the Niagara Falls, and then New York, where, lie rested from strenuous days of sightseeing, on.-'a sixteenth story., .

Tha Old Country. 1 The doctor crossed to' Plymouth on the Kaiser Wilhelm' Dcr. tirosse, and after a short stay in, London left,on a three weeks' '. trip to .the Norwegian fiords.- On returning from Norway he; crossed over to Ireland, saw : the.great,horse showand exhibition at Dubilin, andpaid a visit to,his homo at Rostrevor,' County .Down. T'noii after a short: spoil in Sqotland and u ,weelc iit the'.Harrogate' Spa, ho settled down -to'post graduate-work'at tiio - West .London and;- other metropolitan hospitals,, which occupied his close attention for between .three and four months.' Dr; Mackin returned via Suez and Australia; and resumea his Dractico .from to-day» '