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Show CONGRATULATING THE AGED IN JAPAN.-In Japan, it would seem, they honor the aged with the same congratulations as we offer on their attaining a remarkable number of years, though in a somewhat different way. Mrs. Iwa Kura, mother of one of the dignitaries of the empire, has just arrived at the age of four-score years. In order that she might understand how great was the joy of her friends, eighty of them came to an understanding each to write her a short poem. Among the authors were included some of the greatest personages of state, and from what a Japanese paper says on the subject it may be inferred that the lines were of a highly figurative and ornate character. The verses, for instance, written by her majesty, the queen, delicately treated of the great age to which the stork attains, and, contrasting Mrs. Iwa Kura with this favored bird, drew inferences of the most flattering character. It is not said that the old lady read all the poems, but it is noted that she took pains to preserve them by having every one pasted on a pair of screens and relegated to a place in her dwelling. Whether the authors will take this as a compliment or not the writer who records the fact seems as yet unable to decide. |