268 COFFEE, 



tail, but with equal slowness and tediousness. Of course such 

 things can only be in a country where labor is very cheap. The 

 average wages of a laborer here is only about twenty cents per 

 day; skilled artisans can be obtained for from twenty-five to 

 thirty cents, and in some places even less than these figures rule. 

 Policemen get from five to seven dollars per month. I expressed 

 my surprise to the Japanese gentleman from whom I received 

 this information, and asked him how much a policeman could get 

 board for per month, and was told that for two dollars and a half 

 per month a single man could get good ordinary board, the fare 

 consisting principally of rice and fish. E.ice is worth here from 

 $1.60 to $1.75 per picul of one hundred and' thirty-three pounds, 

 or about l|-c. to If c. per pound. At first thought it seems as if 

 there might be a profit to import it into the United States, but 

 our duty of 2^0. per pound, together with freight, insurance, and 

 premium on gold, bring it up to a figure where there is no mar- 

 gin. They do know how to cook rice here, though, and for the 

 benefit of grocers and consumers in the United States I investi- 

 gated the matter: Only just enough cold water is poured on 

 to prevent the rice from burning at the bottom of the pot, 

 which has a close-fitting cover, and with a moderate fire the rice 

 is steamed rather than boiled until it is nearly done; then the 

 cover is taken off, the surplus steam and moisture allowed to 

 escape, and the rice turns out a mass of snow-white kernels, each 

 separate from the other, and as much superior to the usual soggy 

 mass we usually get in the United States as a fine mealy potato is 

 superior to the water-soaked article. I have seen something ap- 

 proaching this in our Southern States, but I do not think even 

 there that they do it as skilfully as it is done here, and in the 

 Northern States but very few persons understand how to cook 

 rice properly. I am sure that if cooked as it is here, the con- 

 sumption of this wholesome and delicious cereal would largely 

 increase in America. But to resume my remarks about the rates 

 of labor, old residents say that the above-named prices are much 

 higher than they used to be, and complain bitterly of the high 

 cost of labor. 



This is doubtless the result of the progressive policy which has 

 ruled in Japan during the last twelve years— a policy which was 



