Almost every foot of land is made to contribute material for food,
fuel or fabric. Everything which can be made edible serves as food
for man or domestic animals. Whatever cannot be eaten or worn is
used for fuel. The wastes of the body, of fuel and of fabric worn
beyond other use are taken back to the field; before doing so they
are housed against waste from weather, compounded with intelligence
and forethought and patiently labored with through one, three or
even six months, to bring them into the most efficient form to serve
as manure for the soil or as feed for the crop. It seems to be a
golden rule with these industrial classes, or if not golden, then an
inviolable one, that whenever an extra hour or day of labor can
promise even a little larger return then that shall be given, and
neither a rainy day nor the hottest sunshine shall be permitted to
cancel the obligation or defer its execution.






I

FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN





We left the United States from Seattle for Shanghai, China, sailing