A Silk Factory--Employment for Women--A Police Escort--The Japanese
Police Force.

KUBOTA, July 23.

My next visit was to a factory of handloom silk-weavers, where 180
hands, half of them women, are employed. These new industrial
openings for respectable employment for women and girls are very
important, and tend in the direction of a much-needed social
reform. The striped silk fabrics produced are entirely for home
consumption.

Afterwards I went into the principal street, and, after a long
search through the shops, bought some condensed milk with the
"Eagle" brand and the label all right, but, on opening it, found it
to contain small pellets of a brownish, dried curd, with an
unpleasant taste! As I was sitting in the shop, half stifled by
the crowd, the people suddenly fell back to a respectful distance,
leaving me breathing space, and a message came from the chief of
police to say that he was very sorry for the crowding, and had
ordered two policemen to attend upon me for the remainder of my
visit. The black and yellow uniforms were most truly welcome, and
since then I have escaped all annoyance. On my return I found the
card of the chief of police, who had left a message with the house-
master apologising for the crowd by saying that foreigners very
rarely visited Kubota, and he thought that the people had never
seen a foreign woman.