The weekly clarion., 1870-02-03
THE J3PS ~ CiLTFORNIA.
An Interesting Sketch of the Colony Near
Gold HUI
From the San Francisco Morning Gail.

From the San Francisco Morning Call.
Up to this time the Japanese have ac-
| commodated themselves in their house
hold matters at considerable inconveni-
ence, but this viii soon be at an end, and
in few weeks they will be settled down
as comfortably as you please, with houses
of their own, each family reposing ''under
| its own vine and fig-tree." Among their
number are four carpenters, and these
men are now engaged in erecting build
| ings for the use Of the party. The houses
are to be twelve in number, dimensions
thirty-sixsby thirty, each containing four
rooms, and built after the real japanese
fashion, with low, pitched roofs, the caves
/ extending far over the sills, and forming
balcony or awning around the entire
house The outer walls and partitions
are all of sliding panels, that can be shut
/ together at the corners and folded into
boxes, leaving nothing but the roof and
| its supports, during the hot summer days,
affording luxury that can only be ex-
ceeded by taking off your flesh and sit
ting in your bones" The partition walls
are of paper, the outer walls of wood
one room is to be used as a sleeping-room.
another as a kitchen, and the two others
in each lrouse-for silk raising, where
! the worms will be kept and nursed and
the silk weaved and otherwise manipula-
ted | had omitted to mention that silk
culture will form an important branch of
this enterprise, $4,000 mulberry plants
having already been set out for begin
ming. The japanese carpenters are
ingenious workmen, and their works.
done with marvellous neatness. A curl
Gus feature of their houses is that thev do
not contain nail, all of the Joints and
timbers being dOye-tailed together by
many ingenious devices, and the whole
work, even to the rafters, is as smooth as
if it had been polished down with sand
paper. And the Japanese are a neat
people, for they use no paint to hide any
blemishes Of construction or Ornamental
ton, no filigree work or plaster of paris
gewgaws, but every stick IN the building
is exposed. Every morning, as regular
ly as she cooks the breakfast, or sweeps
the floor, the japanese housewife takes
wet cloth and occurs the whole interior
OF the dwelling, leaving no part untouched
and no stain or dirt spot to mar its clean
ly appearance. Then the Japanese do
not come into the house with muddy boots,
after the style of the American sovereign
but having covered the floor with a neat
mating, always remove the dirty sandals
before stepping upon it. | stood and
watched the Japanese carpenters at their
work for some minutes, and noticed the
popularity of their movements. The
japanese works toward him"-that is. |
instead of showing plane from him, he |
reaches out, sets the plane upon the board |
at arms length, and pulls it toward him;
and he cuts, chops and saws, in the same |
way. His saws are fixed in handles, like |
butchers cleaver, and the teeth slant or
rake toward the handle. The planes
are constructed Ike ours, but the wooden
portion is very thin and wide. The adze
is fastened to the end of a hooped stick, |
like the handle of one of the crooked /
canes that are worn on the arm on Mont |
gomery street, and altogether their tools
are different from ours, yet can not OBJ
serve that they are awkward IN appear
ance or awkwardly handled. The men
are bright, intelligent and polite, lifting
their hats and bowing gracefully to stran-
gers, and the women stay at home, do the
cooking, take care of the babies, keep the
house IN order and manage pretty much
as American housewives do, even to the
wearing ofthe Grecian bend. Take thenj
all IN all, they are in every respect a su-
perior race to the Chinese, and reeembIei
them In no manner except in their physi-
cal appearance.