Show 1 A CEREMONY WITNESSED IN A JAPANESE CEMETERY A ry tor spirits gromad bleily and huriy with and Tempt lae vlada dr G H colton salter who for many years was United States consul in japan and afterward chinese government service gazed thoughtfully into kaihe grata and after a snort pause told the following lalji T the many stories published about indian ghost craze remind ane of one of the midst remarkable incidents I 1 haye ever witnessed career in the arient and tarn sure there are calaor europeans who have had tho opportunity to see the eighth of which I 1 am going to tell the native religion of the japanese is aa you know buddhism and there is no creed which la as asli ofa superstition some of the ancient beliefs of the buddhists to frighten the faith auland vividly portray the horrible punishment that awaits the sinful man after he bis earthly career while others with charming simplicity show that the greatest aim of the hindmo is the release from existence the doctrine of the transmigration of soul and a hope for a better fate in a future life are the principal foundations upon which buddhism rests nagasaki where I 1 resided for many years was famed for the splendid festivals in honor or gautama the founder of the religion owing to the work of missionaries and the consequent spread of christianity in japan many of the religious fetes are no longer publicly observed and the one of which I 1 am about ilg last grand celebration in just before I 1 left nagasaki f graveyards ft is called the Matsi dri aud was held during the last week in august or the first week in september continuing four days these days were set aside for the reception of the spirits of the dead who according to a legendary belief return once a year to their old homes for many weeks previous to the festival preparations had been in progress the houses of the believers had all been carefully swept cleaned and polished and the home altars which are to be found in every native bouce had been redecorated and re furnished the interior of j alt the buildings had been profusely t adorned with flowers the streets had been repaired and the whole city was clothed in holiday attire on the morning of the first day the dead were received with much ceremony in the graveyard which is in a beautiful grove each mound was profusely decorated with lighted lanterns and garlands of many colored paper globes hung from tree to tree on the top of every grave food of the daintie st kind was spread in a tempting manner and in quantities sufficient to appease the appetites of anargy of the hungriest kind of ghosts on mats spread about the graves lafr all the living descendants of the person who bad been buried in that particular spot not a single tomb was neglected if in the course of years the family of any one of the silent sleepers had completely died buthia grave had been embellished and supplied by strangers the spirits were supposed to arrive and depart by water team the ea and for four daya and nights the living commune with their dead and were with them in spirit the sans of the departed gnp posed to hover around aba tomba ako substantial visible beggs and they were treated due to sacred and distinguished visitors from the other world abe night second day to A grand entertain graveyard a ball sup ya to i A and ever night wy full and theair ap perfumes of myriads of lights were flickering on tha hill aidee which surround the city and the colored lantern fi swayed gently to and fro keeping time to the chimes of the silvery bells in the temple tower which furnished the music for tha mystic entertainment tain ment around an artificial lake in the center of the graveyard the knelt in silent devotion worshiping on the shrine of buddha whose emblem the lotus flowe rrose from the middle of the lake every one of the four days and nights brought new surprises and ceremonies many of the latter being held in the temple the doors of which were closed and guarded against the entrance of infidels on the last nigh tor the night of sights as it was called a grand pro cession cee sion finished the festival the people marched in parade to escort their spirit visitors to the water front where they wera to depart JB carried on their shoulders a gigantic craft bratt of wood and straw in which the dead were supposed to be elated and which was to convey them back to spirit land and to the great father beyond the aea this thoat which ia called was a masterpiece of japanese carpentry it was ninety feet long and had a stately mast with a huge bore in native characters the inscription a word which is symbolic of Gau tamas greatness this toaty artistically and richly decorated was launched with much ceremony after the last spirit had been embraced and figuratively speaking bad aken his seat on board pushed out into tha sea and drifting away was finally carried out of sight by the tide and so ended the last festival of Matsi dri ever add publicly in na the jnoes splendid religions celebration I 1 ever sao francisco chronicle aa at the annual convention of the american ance union recently held in abunta At Unta tha report of the young women deparle ment by mra france barac jot new york ahomed that 2000 men have enrolled members of the bonny chris year ia addition to the lt year tha juvenile deportment mm helen qi eico of showed oom pania of children organized organised sed with ft membership of in connection with tha christian temperance union there are organizations in forty four atutes four territories and in district of columbia the membership is a net increase of 1625 during the year besides carrying on A large publishing hoose this institution of american women liada foundling home dy nurseries ancha igo mission for women adrift and without homes and last year sheltered P lodging house for ben witantas wita atas sao free reading and a patronized patro nixed |