by
Thomas J. Maher

Page: 1 2

EFFICIENCY

When heading down Manila Bay, I noticed a number of unfamiliar faces. As the men were paid in cash, I called for several of the latest pay rolls and saw there had been no changes in names. Questioning the Philippine clerk, I learned of a smooth-working, well-established system. If Jose wanted a vacation, he brought aboard another Filipino, who immediately became Jose. If Cruz wanted to go home for a month or two, he brought a substitute, who immediately became Cruz. After a time, the old faces would reappear and the newcomers disappear. I never had any crew trouble and always had good men. The monthly pay rolls were always the same. This was the best, the smoothest, and most efficient racket I ever heard of; and these are the people we think we can teach! These marineros must not be confused with the house boy type with which most of us are familiar.

NORTHERN SULU SEA

Routine work was carried on in the northern Sulu Sea and around the Cuyo group, a number of fine fertile islands with a climate superior to that found in most parts of the Philippines, as they get the benefit of both monsoons. At night, we occasionally anchored off one of these islands. Many of the crew would go ashore and join the residents on the beach, where they would play stringed instruments for several hours. The music was soft and tuneful, apparently of native composition. Some day it may even displace the barbaric war dances, or imitations thereof, so popular with some Americans.

The scenery in this general area was beautiful. From massive Mt. Cavite, the home of the wild timarau, to Iloilo Straits, is a chain of peaks ranging from 3000 to 6000 feet in height, which were used to control the hydrographic surveys. Mt. Sibuyan, distant about ninety miles, was often visible. The weather at times was remarkably clear, often heralding the approach of a distant typhoon. The channels between Culion and Busuanga Islands, leading to the China Sea, in beauty do not take second place to the Inland Sea of Japan nor to Wrangell Narrows, Alaska. There are several excellent typhoon anchorages in this area.

The islands of the Cuyo group differ considerably from those of the Quinalubin Islands, as the latter present a rugged, barren appearance. There are no typhoon anchorages in either group, though the FATHOMER rode out a typhoon in the bight formed by the Tahuayan Islands, not through choice but through necessity, not having sufficient coal for the ship to buck head seas to the nearest typhoon anchorage. We made three miles in five hours before turning around. On the narrow low neck connecting the two islands lay the rusted wreck of a steamer. There were a few poverty-stricken natives living in a small valley or depression. They had little except a strain of tough virile gamecocks which our sailors bought whenever we anchored there, paying about one peso apiece and selling them at a good profit in Iloilo.

Cock fighting is now frowned upon. A more civilized sport has been introduced wherein two men within a small enclosure try to knock each other's heads off. The Filipinos took quite readily to this sport and have produced some excellent material. There is some question as to whether it is as stimulating as the old Moro pastime of whacking off heads with a bolo. Baseball had quite a hold in the larger towns, even among the girls.

During the holidays, of which there are many, cockfights were arranged on a rather elaborate scale. I attended some of these fights, if I remember correctly, at Caloocan . The bets were handled by Chinamen. I never won and I have since thought that if I bet on both birds, I still would have lost - an old Oriental custom. These birds wore steel spurs, two to three inches long, which were sharp as razor blades. A fight seldom lasted more than a few minutes, terminating in the speedy death of one of the birds, though occasionally one turned tail and ran. In either case the loser wound up in the soup kettle. Some of the birds were veterans, who showed considerable skill and finesse, and, generally, speedily dispatched the novice.

Cockfighting was general throughout the Islands. It was frowned upon as low and degrading, and attempts were made to suppress it. It is the poor man's sport, that of the poverty-stricken Malay, who is paid, perhaps, twenty centavos a day - the sport of the Malay, whose outfit consists of a pair of rope-soled slippers, tattered shorts, torn shirt, and an old straw hat. Of course, it doesn't compare with the dog fight - the glamorous sport of the white man.

During the break of the monsoon, this northern section of the Sulu Sea seemed to be the breeding place for waterspouts, and I have seen as many as five at one time in the area we were surveying. They appeared to be stationary. With some, a lower part appeared to rise from the water, joining a descending part. Others seemed just to rise; others just descend. At such time, the air was quite calm and the sea smooth. Our sounding lines occasionally approached close to one but we noticed no atmospheric change of wind or temperature. We had an excellent opportunity to study these phenomena but neglected to do so. Some seemed transparent, as though formed of vapor; others had darker sections. We did not notice any swell, such as might be produced by the sucking-up of surface water into the funnel-shaped spout. There was an inclination to approach one of these spouts closely, but before doing so, it would have been necessary to take in all double awnings, put deck stores below and batten down all hatches, in case of collapse, if other than vapor, the deluge might cause considerable damage. While the result might be of scientific value, the interruption of survey work was not warranted.

When the monsoon changed, shifting to the southwest, with winds of increasing force, water snakes and waterspouts disappeared. When the typhoon season approached, a feathering formation, spreading fan-shaped, of cirrus clouds, was watched at sunrise and sunset, as it often indicated the center of an approaching typhoon. A similar formation of heavier clouds at lower altitudes often had no significance. At midnight and at 4 a.m., barometer readings and the direction of the wind were reported to the Commanding Officer. An exceptionally clear atmosphere and a glassy sea with a long swell frequently indicated a distant storm. These ships did not have radio and a Commanding Officer, working at a distance from a typhoon anchorage, was on what might be termed, "his own."

Father Algue, of the Manila Weather Observatory, wrote a fine book, "Typhoons of the Far East," which gave the mariner all the information he needed to keep out of trouble if he had sea room. He invented a small instrument, the barocyclometer, by means of which the approximate distance and direction of the center of the storm could be obtained.

An instrument of considerable value in our search for shoals was the James Submarine Sentry. A kite could be towed at any set depth and if it struck a shoal, a bell would ring on deck. A small rudder placed on a kite would cause it to deflect. Using two kites, one from port quarter, the other from starboard quarter, with small rudders, a wire drag of about 100 feet in length would be obtained if the kites were connected. Then, of course, the sounding machine could not be used; the span would foul the sounding wire.

We used quite a number of these kites, which came from England, and replacements could not always be obtained. As they were simple in design, I ordered the ship's carpenter to make some. Upon returning to Manila, he asked for his discharge. I had difficulty in learning why. It seems he was a high class carpenter, and metal-working was an inferior trade. When shown that these were scientific instruments, calling for exceptional skill, he became interested and, in fact, made improvements.

A Chinese carpenter who served his apprenticeship was generally a cabinetmaker, and his roughest work, comparable in speed with the ordinary wood butcher, was of cabinetmaking grade. Lee Gam, the carpenter, never bought hinges. We bought sheet brass and rods. He made the hinges. His tools were few. To bore holes, he did not use the brace, but a fiddle drill, a spindle which was rotated by means of a bow. He frequently held pieces of wood with his toes, which served almost as well as another hand.

Lee Gam went around deck wearing shineales which had soles made of lead about one-half inch thick. I questioned him about this foot gear. His story was as follows: "I belong to New China party, which some day will chase out all Mandarins. When fighting comes, I go back to China. Soldiers must have strong legs. Carpenter on ship gets no exercise. To have strong legs, I wear these shoes. My father needed some money. He went to Mandarin and got it. Mandarin charge twenty percent each month. My father pay many times, but all the time the Mandarin say he owes more. I have four brothers; I send money every month to my father. I get out of work and have no money. My brothers get out of work. My father had no money to pay Mandarin. Mandarin say, 'You pay money next month or I cut one of brother's head off.' Could not pay next month and Mandarin cut off my brother's head and tell Father, 'Next month you pay or another brother's head will be cut off.'" The old Mandarin regime, the part diplomats and travelers did not see, was pretty tough. Captain Derickson, one of my former Commanding Officers, went to the Philippines shortly after the American occupation. He was in China. He had photographs showing Chinamen buried in the ground, up to their necks. The executioner had the sword with the long blade, broad at the end. He went down the line and took off the heads, one at each swoop - such for the Old Mandarin regime.

Lee Gam wanted to return to China. He could not get clearance. It appeared that when Lee Gam shipped aboard the Steamer FATHOMER a Mr. Bernhard was acting Executive Officer. He had some trouble with Gam's Chinese name, so he told the Chinaman, "Your name now Lee Gam," and so it appeared on the pay roll for years. The change was perfectly satisfactory to the Chinaman. It was all the same to him whether he was Lee Gam, Pat Murphy, Fritz Schwartz, or Frenchy. Gam's original papers were found and I guess he got to China. A fine man. There are many in all races; some wear queues; some wear breech clothes; once in a while one may be found wearing a top hat.

STEAMER PATHFINDER

About November 1915, I assumed command of the Steamer PATHFINDER. She was the largest survey ship in the Islands and was owned by the Federal Government; the four or five others were owned by the Insular Government. She was a beautiful vessel, built by Lewis Nixon, on the East Coast of the United States. The Coast Survey appropriation was too small to cover the cost of the type of ship desired, so the Nixon organization offered to build a ship, using the plans of the Vanderbilt Yacht, the NOURMAHAL, if I remember correctly, cutting out about forty feet amidships and shortening the vessel. She came around the Horn, surveyed in Alaska, then the Hawaiian Islands, winding up in the Philippines, where her bones now rest on the west shore of Manila Bay, where she went down, having been bombed off Corregidor by the Japs.

Orders were issued to proceed to Balabac, off the southern end of Palawan Island, across Balabac Straits from Borneo. Before sailing, an order was placed with the Bureau of Supplies for about 200 tons of coal. A typhoon was approaching with its torrential rains and this coal was not delivered by the contractor until it was soaked. Apparently, it is an old Oriental custom not to deliver coal until the rain has stopped, so as not to lose any of the water. The quantity delivered was correct as far as weight was concerned, but the bunkers were only two-thirds full. I figured I was being charged for thirty tons of water, and I refused to pay. The matter was settled somehow by the Manila office.

There was considerable traffic in opium in the Balabac Straits area, and instructions were issued for the PATHFINDER to overhaul proas and other craft in an attempt to suppress that smuggling. The PATHFINDER at that time was the fastest vessel in that area. I felt I was there to make surveys for the U. S. Government, not to suppress smuggling for the Insular Government, not to antagonize natives, nor to have my men boloed in the woods. If the Filipinos wanted smuggling suppressed or screws put on some of the boys in that area, I felt they should use their own facilities instead of a U.S. outfit. The Moros had friendly feelings for the U.S. However, the orders were enthusiastically and cheerfully accepted and placed in the ship's safe, where they would come to no harm.

Arriving at Balabac, we met the Moros with whom we established very cordial relations in a rather unusual way. A coal pile had been established there a dozen or more years earlier and I was directed to use that coal, giving a receipt to some local custodian for the amount taken. We moored off the edge of the reef where there was a small platform from which mounted on bamboo poles, a two-plank runway led to the coal pile, about 100 meters away. We arranged with the Cacique at Balabac to furnish men to coal the ship, as our sailors were employed on survey work. He sent thirty or forty men. These men paired off, every two carrying a long pole, from which was suspended a basket which was filled with coal and carried aboard, where every fifth basket was weighed. Lieutenant R. V. Miller, later with the U.S. Engineers, supervised the checking. As I was leaving the ship to go back in the hills on reconnaissance, a rather small, elderly Moro came to me, smiling. Being in excellent spirits, I smiled back and Barrientos, my Philippine clerk and interpreter, said, "Captain, he wants paper and pencil to check." I remarked that he did not have to do that, but Barrientos said he would like to. The Quartermaster was called and directed to get a large pad of yellow paper and a pencil, which were turned over to the Moro. He was so pleased that the Quartermaster was told to get one of the pencils, red at one end and blue at the other. The Moro marked first with one end, then with the other, repeating the performance, grinning and looking at me each time. This became so interesting that I ordered the Quartermaster to get my large wicker chair from the quarterdeck and place it where the Moro could sit and then secure to the back of the chair one of the large wagon umbrellas we used when observing. During this time the coaling crew stood still, watching. I went ashore, giving the incident no further thought.

Returning about dusk, I saw my Moro, pad in hand waiting for me. Instead of using four marks and the cross dash for the tally, he made four little blue circles, every fifth being red. The men got two centavos for each basket brought aboard, each one making about forty centavos (twenty cents, U. S.) per day. As the old Moro was not hired, I paid him two pesos from my own pocket. I reflected on the peculiar look he gave me when he took the pesos. He turned out to be the big chief in this neck of the woods, and the little courtesy I unintentionally gave, paid good dividends. In those days and those waters, the PATHFINDER was a big ship, and my attention increased the prestige of this Moro in the eyes of his men.

We measured a base somewhat over 9000 meters long on Montangule Island, in 100-meter sections, each being marked by a surface and underground mark. Necks of bottles set in cement were used, and these were placed in position by the Moros. Knowing what they were, the marks would not be disturbed after our departure and, not being of metal, would not be removed. This island, or coral formation, had only a very thin layer of soil, perhaps not more than six inches; yet it supported a heavy growth of hardwood trees, molava, narra, ipil, ebony, etc., rising to heights of 100 to 150 feet. The trees were supported by buttresses which started out from the trunks eight or ten feet above the ground and then, spreading out, terminated in roots which ran along the ground for many feet. These buttresses, when struck by a sledge, gave a deep bell sound which carried long distances. It was remarkable how these magnificent hardwood trees could reach such heights and sizes, rising from just a thin layer of soil. I could attribute this only to the uniformly moist tropical climate. Mr. Loudon had the concession for cutting timber there, but at the time wasn't operating, as he lacked the necessary machinery to get the lumber cut and he could not use carabao over that coral surface.

The old Cacique gave valuable information. He warned against the wild pig, of which there were many on Montangule Island. He said, "If you shoot one and don't kill it, the herd will charge and keep coming, no matter how many you shoot, and if you take to a tree, they will root and root to get you." He said there were pythons, but he did not worry much about them. Earlier, while on reconnaissance with Slarrow, our Bo'sun, Barrientos, two sailors, and, I believe, Lieutenant Kyle, we heard a piercing scream and saw a bolo flash. The thought crossed my mind that we were ambushed for the Colt 45's which we carried, but joining the sailors we saw only one ambushed who was ashen-colored, almost the color of white paper. He pointed over a log and on the ground lay a squirming python with its neck almost severed. A python will lie coiled on the ground, head up, at a pig or deer run and will lunge forward, striking the victim with its head and stunning it. When the Filipino started to cross the log, the snake lunged, and instinctively the Filipino swung his bolo, striking the neck of the snake. I guess the snake was six to eight feet long. The Cacique said the python seldom attacks a man; that the snake to be feared was a small one, about one foot in length and greenish in color. It was poisonous.

I informed the Moro of my instructions to suppress smuggling, and, as he was head man in the district, he would undoubtedly know if there were any. He assured me that there wasn't any and would inform me if he learned of any. Smilingly he arose and agreed to furnish all the men I needed for the survey. We understood each other very well.

At intervals he withdrew his men for a fiesta, so he said. Then he remarked, "I be back in so many days. You be here?" "Oh, yes, we will be here." Where he went and what he did was his business. Mine was to get this job completed. However, a situation developed which might have been tragic. Moslems will not eat pork. Apparently they cannot get into Moslem Heaven if they do. One of our very capable generals had much trouble in the early days with Moros who ran amuck on Mindanao Island, I believe. Juramentado, it is called. A native would take his bolo, charge into a crowd of Christians, slashing right and left. The more he killed, the better the place which awaited him in Moro Heaven. Well, the General took these crazed natives who had been shot and had their bodies placed inside the carcasses of pigs. These chaps could never get to Moro Heaven. That stopped this monkey business to some extent. Today this, of course, would not be tolerated. The General would be fired and the Moro given a bonus.

CANNED PIG

At noon one day Barrientos, pale faced, came to my cabin and said, "Captain, the Moros are eating pork." I swore, visualizing bloodshed, and said, "Who gave it to them?" "No one. The Filipinos were eating lunch on the port side of the forecastle head while the Moros were eating theirs on the starboard side. One Moro decided he would find out what a Filipino was eating, so he just took a sailor's lunch. He like it and told his friends, who then helped themselves. The Filipino had been eating deviled ham." Well, the deed was done; it could not be undone, and bloodshed had to be averted. The fact that the Moros were to blame was immaterial. I asked Barrientos if the Moros knew what they were eating. He said, "No, Senor; the Filipinos do, but they won't say anything, - too scared." "All right - send for the Bo'sun." "Bo'sun, you and Barrientos go to the storeroom, take the labels off every can of deviled ham and burn them in the galley. Then take the labels from tins of canned chicken and paste them on the deviled ham cans." I thought one of the Moros might be able to read or know enough to discover he ate pork.

Later the Cacique said, "Good minook; new kind?" I said, "Yes, other kind came from Australia; this Yankee minook." He smiled; I smiled. He knew that I knew that he knew what it was; but why upset amicable relations over part of a pig that was in a can, anyway? If discovered, the subject, of course, was one for discussion. Mohammet did not taboo pig in a can, as the kind did not exist during Mohammet's time.

The Malays and other Orientals are practical, matter-of-fact individuals. Many years later the Standard Oil Company of California outfitted a ship to proceed to Bahrien Island with a party to develop or arrange for the development of oil fields. Captain Smith came to my office to ascertain if the Coast Survey would make a survey of the approaches to the Island or loan officers for that purpose, the Company to pay all expenses. The proposition was turned down flat in Washington. A novel idea like that disturbed the equanimity and mental equilibrium of the swivel-chair boys. However, Commander Clay Jones, one of our wire-drag experts, was in the vicinity of San Francisco, and he made out a list of items needed for the drag outfit. Upon his return, Captain Smith visited my office and mentioned a little incident which caused some embarrassment. Smith made some remark about the earth being round. The Sheik was very keen and immediately caught him up, stating that the earth was flat. It was necessary to avoid anything that might disturb cordial relations, and he was at a loss how to proceed. However, the Sheik grasped Smith's explanations. Smith said there was a shouting of orders and a number of Arabs came to the tent. The Sheik wanted to know what they meant by teaching the boys the earth was flat. They said, "Mohammet and the Koran said so." The Sheik agreed but said Standard Oil not there then. Koran said nothing about oil under sand, either.

Well, Mohammet and the Koran did not have the advice of Standard Oil, so the earth was left flat. They did not have the advice of Swift, Armour, Wilson and others about pig in a can, either. I guess the pig in the can was pig, though I never did find a horseshoe nail. Well, I received orders to report to Manila and transfer command to Captain Denson.

At Balabac, before leaving, I filled bunkers with the dried coal from the coal pile and had a deck load, making up for the water I was furnished in Manila. Before departing, I shook hands with the Old Cacique and told him I was supposed to catch opium smugglers, but he assured me there weren't any and smiling, he said, "All same; Yankee Minook." A nice old chap. I regretted leaving - never had such a smooth-working outfit.

Surveyors, in general, have very little trouble with natives. Juramentado and boloing, I believe, occasionally result from amorous monkey business of a crude type by overambitious youth with native women, which the male sometimes resents through a vigorous application of a bolo, a most effective method of discouraging such inclinations. However, this biological urge is somewhat universal, as the story was told to me of similar proclivities on the part of a prominent mestizo with respect to a charming American woman, which action was resented by the young lady's husband, a young Army officer, by a thorough massaging of the Old Coot's snout - a very poor reaction compared to the masculine procedure of the Moro. Such is the decadent influence of civilization.

The following was told to me by an Old Timer, one of the first of the Survey's officers to go to the Islands at the time of the American occupation. Insurrection was prevalent throughout the Islands, and no one ever traveled without a military guard. Ferguson was sent there. He was small, with fiery red hair and the wit and humor of his race. He would have no guard. Once he contacted the natives, they were with him. He hired those he needed. The natives considered him "loco," as he went up trees, putting up little flags, then up mountains where he set up poles with flags on them. He also looked through something which showed everything upside down. He never went back. To them he sure was "loco" and word went from village to village about the redheaded man who was "loco." The natives never harmed anyone who was "loco." We accord the same treatment to many in high political and social life, some anti-anti-reds. Some are elevated to the highest ranks from which, with lavish hands, they distribute the patronage of children of the future.

EN ROUTE TO THE STATES

Upon returning to Manila I transferred command of the PATHFINDER about February 14, 1916, but it was not until May 16, 1916, that I felt the Islands to get transportation on the EMPRESS OF ASIA from Hong Kong to Vancouver, B. C. The First World War was in progress. Englishmen, returning from India and other Asiatic places, were routed across the Pacific, to Canada and the Atlantic, as the Mediterranean was by-passed on account of the submarine hazard. As a result of this diversion, reservations were hard to get. Officers, upon completion of an assignment in the Philippines, generally returned to Washington via the Trans-Siberian Railroad and Europe, or else the Straits Settlements, India, Egypt, Europe, etc., with all expenses paid by themselves, less an allowance of the minimum of the first-class fare by the most direct route. It was my intention to return via Europe and although the United States had not entered the War and permission to return via India was not denied, the procedure followed was equally effective. Visas were refused. I might mention that passage on the EMPRESS OF ASIA, being a superior, speedy craft, was higher than on American ships. I paid my transportation and submitted the bill to Washington for reimbursement. A hundred or so dollars was disallowed. I wrote to the C.P.R.R. Their reply was somewhat to the effect that they thought our officers were entitled to first-class passage; if not, they would reimburse me. There were no comments from Washington, but the disallowance was paid.

HONG KONG

In Hong Kong, the King Edward Hotel furnished excellent accommodations. My room was exceptionally large. The bed was large enough for a family. There was one large bathtub on each floor. Each guest was given a bathing period of fifteen minutes, to suit his convenience, if possible, otherwise given a selection from the vacant periods on the schedule. The bath was ready at the designated time; if tardy, the lateness was cut off the guest's allotted time, so that at the termination of his period the China boy could clean the tub and then fill it with warm water for the next guest. The bathing then was on an assembly line basis. The water supply of Hong Kong was quite limited and its use had to be restricted.

The meals were excellent and various Chinese condiments were served. At several meals, eggs of ancient vintage, black in color, were a feature which I passed up. These were a novel variation from some sold in the Philippine markets known as ballut, where an egg on the eighteenth or nineteenth day of hatching was given a quick boiling and when opened produced a fresh young bird, said to be real tasty by Americans who tried the dish. Being curious, I was informed that the chicken was perfectly formed, without feathers and with only a grisly framework. Another item in the menu of some of the wild tribes in the Philippines were grubs about six inches long and about three-eighths inch thick, said by some to come from growths among mangrove roots, but by my marineros said to come from logs. These it was claimed had a sweetish taste. Not very appetizing items, of course, but on the menu of a San Francisco restaurant appear the following items: octopus, French fried grasshoppers, Diamond Back Rattlers, muskrats, smoked frogs' legs, etc. And of course we have the snail, the European delicacy, and our own clams and oysters on the half shell. The Chinese eggs were less ripe as regards odor than our famous cheeses. The pig is about the only animal which shows the cosmopolitan tastes of the satiated gourmet, carnivorous animals being more selective or restrictive in their tastes, though the hyena, pariah among animals, shows a predilection for what in sporting circles is termed "well hung game."

During the short time I was in Hong Kong, a Standard Oil man from Delhi, India, an American from Singapore, and myself roamed around. We desired to visit Canton but found that it was necessary to get a permit from the Prefect of Chief of Police to leave the Colony. I saw him. Quite courteously he refused to issue any. I then inquired as to whether we could go to Canton. "Oh, yes, that is possible, but you would probably be shot." "How so?" "Well, there are a couple of Chinese armies between Hong Kong and Canton shooting at each other. Regular thing, you know." "Now, suppose we did not get shot?" "You would be quite lucky, but then you know you could not get back in the Colony without the permit." We did not go to Macao, either. At this time there was a Chinese store in Hong Kong which the owners were trying to operate on the same plan as American stores, strictly one price. The display cases were of the American type. As the tourist trade always wants to haggle over prices, the idea did not seem practical to me.

The Colony was in a sort of war status, and upon going up the Peak on the funicular railroad, we were stopped by an Old Cockney sailor. He said, "You sure you are not spies? Now are you sure you are Americans?" We told him we were quite positive about that and talked with him for some time. He told us of the great care he had to take in watching the Peak. I had with me some of those fine Manila cigars, Vigueros Chicos. I gave him one. Thereafter, at almost every corner we met our Cockney friend, who always had some cock-and-bull story, the culmination being the transfer of another cigar. These cigars were made from a tobacco grown in northern Luzon. They were quite black in color with a flavor equaling the best Havanas. This grade at that time was shipped to Europe, American concerns being interested in another brand.

In Japan, we stopped in the store of Nishimura & Co., a two-story building. My Singapore friend presented a card from a passenger, a representative of A. A. Vantine & Co., Oriental Goods, New York. We were welcomed most cordially by a Japanese who spoke excellent English. He conducted us to the upper story, where only the highest grade art goods were carried. There were a number of tourists at the counters on the first floor, where the stock for that trade was carried. He said they would prefer to do business on a fixed price basis, but the tourist liked the Oriental custom of bargaining and haggling, and prices were set sufficiently high so that after bartering and dickering, reductions were gradually made to meet the tourist demands. "The tourist gets the goods at his price; we get our profit often above the fixed price basis, and everybody is happy."

In the upper gallery prices were fixed. Once a year a representative from the Imperial Art Gallery visited the place and selected what was wanted for the galleries. The rest was for sale. The items were costly. The Japanese said such sales were made mostly to Europeans, very little to Americans, though a representative of J. P. Morgan called about once a year. He showed a screen, priced 3,000 yen, which he thought Morgan would probably take.