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Show JUST MERE PIECE OF 8TRING. H The Important Part It Plays In H Japanese Life. Writing from Jnpan, an American says: "You nuibt come here to ap- predate 8omo of the quaint customs and usages which contact with other peoples has not et driven out To read about them F,les jou only n poor Idea. For Instance, did 5011 over Know what an important thing n piece of string Is hero? The children, workmen Idlera, servants, all cany pieces of string for ubo In case of emergency. "With us the emergency would mlso Ft only when a parcel had to bo dono up, ' but tho Jap uses his pleco of Btrlng its a first aid to tho Injured, to repair a rent In his clothing, to fix a bioken-down bioken-down Jlnrlklsha, to mend tools, to taKo measurements and, In fact, the string Is his unlveisal tool chest. "Tho queeiest use to which It is put, according to my way of thinking, Is when a pollco officer nrresta n man, ties a bit of Btrlng about tho nt rested man's wrlumiil then leads him by tho loose end of the thin hempen fetter to tho lockup. You ask: 'Why doesn't tho Jap ciook break the string and find a gateway?' Ho, could, but ho would not. 'Hint's whero his respect for tho law comes In, and tho bit of string holds tho man ns securely as though he were manacled by our own humane chilled steel, nickel-plated and snnp-locked method." |