MRS. TANAHASHI IS ONE HUNDRED AND ONE 251
Whereas Mrs. Tanahashi has an aversion to
the factory'girl, she does not, however, completely
spurn the geisha or bar girl. "After all, the enter-
tainers have to earn a living. One must be practical.
Their presence can't be helped/5 she replied to the
query through her son* But the idea of gkls
working in factories appals her. She feels that
such work impairs their health and that the gkls
become selfish when they feel more free and have
money of their own. It spoils them for marriage.
She thinks it is far better for a girl to be appren-
ticed as a servant in some good home.
In spite of years of difficulty, Mrs. Tanahashi
has never worried, "Worry makes you old,"
she said. She keeps from worrying by never
reading the newspapers because "all they do is
get me disturbed," she explained. As a result of
this and her deafness she is totally unaware of the
present Sino-Japanese conflict. She spends her
hours in peace with her two surviving children,
eight grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchild-
ren. She may yet live to be a great-great-gtand-
mother for her oldest great-grand-child is now a
university student^Mrs. Tanahashi is looking
forward to her next birthday, and at present has
but one annoyance. She 1ms to go to school in*