OCR Text |
Show MARQUIS OKUMAI REPORTED DEAD '"Grand Old Man" of Japan Given Posthumous Decorations HONOLULU, Jan. 6 Marrjuls Oku-J 'ma, former premier of Japan, is dead,1 'according to a cable message received j by the Nippu JIJi, a Japanese verha -I ula'r newspaper. from Toklo today. The Mikado conferred certain decorations decor-ations on Okuma posthumously, the cable message said. M AVs HELD B K. WASHINGTON. Jan. e-In COnneo tlon with the report of the critical ' illness of Murijulft okuuia It was point-led point-led out here today that a counf. custom cus-tom In Japan frequently prohlhlts the I announcement of death of a distinguished disting-uished Japanese until the court has had an opportunity o bestow a postl,-I postl,-I muous decoration and arrange for an elevation in court rank. I Marquis Okuma as one of the gen -j ro, or older statesman, as well a being the outstanding figure of Japanese national na-tional life, would come under the scope PRII VDL1 T VMERICA Therefore some of the ex-pren... friends in Washington thought today that it was possible lie may already have passed away, although no official , announcement to that effect has been received here. kuma lias been the "grand old man" of Japan and has taken a pre- eminent part In the life of his country coun-try for several decades. Tie was particularly par-ticularly interested in he promotion of a good understanding between his own country and the t'nlted States and made it a point to receive at hli home in Tokio all visiting Americans of note. WOUNDED in Encumbered with a wooden le necessitated ne-cessitated by a wound received when an attempt was made to assassinate him in 1888. he won the admiration of his fellow citizens by his extraordinary extraor-dinary physical as well as mental activity. ac-tivity. This physical affliction brought on serious illness from time to time and i was frequently reported in Toklo To-klo th.n Okuma was either dying or dead. His proud claim was that hi would outlive Wu Tinp Fang, the eminent em-inent Chinese statesman, who still is living, and is understood to hac an unrecorded waifei with Okuma that h-, Wu Tin Pang, would live to b 125 years old. |