The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-10-31
IFrom tne San Francisco BulIetin.l

rom Inc san Z Fa0c1Sc0 bQtlSNlh.J
The japanese calling themselves
the HG-gG- ia k.ee troupe are fitting
up the stage Of the Metropolitan The
atre IN the simiIitude of a japanese
temple, for the exhibition of their
feats of strength and legerdemain.
They are said to be all OF one family,
and the very carpenters who are do
ing the Joiner work are members of
that family. Japanese carpenters
have an advantage over American
mechanics, in the fact that they have
four hands instead of two, their toes
being as handy as their fingers. But
the gain nothing by it, because they
make no. use of work benches or
yises. If japanese carpenter wants
to sharpen saw, he squats on his
hams, places the back of the tool to be
operated on on the ground, grips
the end of the saw with his left hand
seizes the other with the toes of his
right foot, and goes to work with as
much confidence as Yankee carpen-
ter at a bench. Their tools are not
like American tools, though they
have faint similarity, showing that
all tools have one common parentage.
whether their inventor was Tubal
Cain or some other artifcer. All
japanese saws are shaped like
butchers cleavers. The handle is
like the handle of eleaver, but fiat
fish, as if Whitfield out of a piece of
inch board; the metal shank of the
saw is driven into that handle, and
the whole is secured by wrapping of
split cane. The metal of the saw is
about the substance of our saws, but
the teeth are narrower. giving more
of them to an inch, and much longer
They are all pointed towards the
handle, and cut the wood like so
many hooks. When q Japanese
wants to rip a plank, he places it
across anything which will elevate the
end few inches, then stands. on the
wood and cuts it by selling the cleav-
er-looking saw in both hands and
pulling it towards him. Thus. by a
number of short, quick upstrok es, he
gets through plank, not so speedily,
but quite as effectively as an Ameri-
can carpenter would with the long,
slow down stroke of. the rip
saw. The planes are small, with
single irons and no handles The
planes are shorter, lighter, and
the wood shallower than ours, being
generally not more than an inch deep.
To plane piece of wood they lay it
on the ground, squat on their hams.
hold it fast with their toes, and
work the plane with both hands
towards them. To drill a hole.
they have a short awl inserted
in the end of a round stick eight or
nine inches long They take the wood
between their toes, squat as before.
and make the hole by rubbing the
handle of the awl between their
hands in less time than one of our
carpenters could drill one with a
gimlet. Their hammers arc solid
cylindrical pieces, not made with
waists and graceful outlines like ours.
They have the same fiat-sided handles
as the saws. They have iron squares
not unlike American squares, marked
with degrees. Their measures are
brass. very light, and futed. On one
side the inch; or what stands for the
inch with US, is j Sic inches, and
divided into ten parts. On the other
side is different scale, measuring !
3-16 inches, and divided into twelve
parts. Some of their tools appear to
be mere children's toys; for instance,
: they have smoothing plane2d inches
+ long, inch~broad and -half inch
thick. Their ehisels are light and
small. The cutting. parts of some are
the size and shape of a section of
a half dollar, the square side being the.
cutting edge, and a round metal shaft
connecting the convex side with a
wooden handle The most inge NOUS
article in5their tool chest, is, chalk
line. 1t is a wooden cup containing
a sponey substance stepped in India
5 ink This is pierced front and back;
and the marking line passes through
it. The end of the line is attached to
a smallsawl, itheEother end of the line,
after passing through the, cup. is
wound round a reel not u6Iike afsh-
+ ing-rod reel. which takes fireplace Of
the handle Of the cup TO mark a
5line dawn a plank, the japanese car
penter sticks the aWl In at the end of
the proposed line, carries the cup to
the other, the line paying itself cut as
he does so; he holds the line down to
the board when he reaches the de-
sired spot, strikes the mark, and then
takes up his cup and reels up the
line as he walks back to the spot
where he inserted the awl The pro-
? cess ofpaying out the line and of reel J
ing 1t up again both draw it through
the ink supply in theocnp and keGFIait
ready for action.
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