Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-12-28
WANTED AN IERPRETHR.

I Tho Experiences Of q Young American III,
Ysatnrsd into tho Interior Without
knowing the Language
Lilo st tha Native Hotel. Where tas stranger
IS Regarded Is q I've Curiosity
Japansse
KKKo, Japan Special Correspo dence, Nov.
). III yeu never enjoyed the experiences Of
being in 8 strange city in q strange land. where
lycu could not say 8 single word To- b person
Ibecsuse ron did not know the laugn mage, and
where no? one knew your language either. then
lyon have not known what misery it, When
left the seaports and moved into the interior or
Japan, i OF course. left English speaking speo-
,ple Behind me. since foreigners are not allowed
TO sot.le outside Of the treaty limits did not
fcaro to 90 to the expense Involved ID carrying
an interpreter for q, two weeks journey, and
\ 40 went alone. T. knew this waa@ q rash
fstep. but I did not then appreciate
how u rash. Leaving Yokohoma one
moon proceeded to Tokyo, the capital of the
Iempire, by railway. The distance, eighteen
miles, is compassed N one hours time. The
railway. although, built BY the government SO
Ifar as capital WAS concerned, was constructed
by English skill, and cars, engines aud all ap-i
tparatus are essentially English id sSyle. Tie
lyoad 10 double. tracked, well ballasted one,
land pays the government we'll, lit is said Ar
rived ID Tokyo I proceeded to the cream
tso1ored headquarters OF Mr., Bingham, the
Ameriean minister to japan, where 4 made APP
Iplication for Aprstty general passports Isl
| Having secured my application, / proceeded
by Jinrikisha to 4 the Japanese Offices.
HBssI was provided with . mysterious docu-
ment, printed in Chinese characters, which. for
|sn 4 knew, might have. been a general order.
FLOR my arrest and execution. i
{ -; %'%@2 TOKYO. re- ~. = E#.n
Riding through. the streets OF Tokyo by jim
rikisha is a bewilderiEg and exciting expert
once. The city is popularity supposed to have
had z, 900, 900 Inhabitants at one tinae-the
largest popula ton ever attained by any city in
the world To-day, By reason Of war, IRE,
Earthquakes and pestilence, it only contains
about one sixth as many Inhabitants There are
scres and acres OF burned ground in its limits
But it goes without saying that for crowds
upon the streets the city more than equals the
metropolis OF most any other country. It is
amply appalling TO- be bowled along in tho
midst of the throng of moving vehicles of every
description. Whenever take ride my hair
literally stands Oh end until | am safely re-
TUNED to my headquarters: and yet, never but
ence was tbs victim Of a collision. and then I
anticipated the event, and !eaped into the front
.'parlor'' Of Japanese house, Moth
ing could be more homogeneous than the sight
of modern street cars in the city of Tokyo:
yet they are to be seen on a Large number Of
streets there The cars have six wheels, but
! in other points are duplicates Of those used in
the United States, The Japanese driver has a
fish horn, which he keeps blowing day and
night, while On duty, as the streets are 80
narrow, and the paths taken go devious. There
ore both open and closed cacs-all bearing
Chinese letters on the outside.
When reached the depot,of the stage line
my trouble fairly began. The Interpreter was
there, but he became the curse of my life-nly
evil angel, in fact. About the only thing he
could say was Give me moneys" ana
he had that down to fine point.
I did everything l could think of to convey to
these people the idea that wished TO go
to N1ppo / exhausted the art OF gesturing,
Finally the igporanlus who was called an iu-
terpreter was seized with bright idea. Mo-
tioning me to follow. he proceeded mp the
street half mile or so. and I mechanically
dogged Lis steps. Judge Of my pleasurable
surprise upon being led to Mr. AmermaD, an
!: eminent phiIolosist iii the5Japanese language.
who had sailed on the same steamer with me
from America. He Strengthened out the
tangles for me. and left me quite happy.
For my ticket to Utsonomia, Or Otsonomia. Or
Wutsunumia, or whatever it is, gave tho cum
Of yen and 90sen. have dim but ter
riDle suspicion that I was cheated. know
that ought to have been paid prineeiy sum
myself for taking such ride 40 that which
followed. The ticket purchased, it was my
next care to ind lodgings for the night For
once the obnoxious interpreter proved himself
useful by escorting, mo to japanese hotel
near by. It was evidently tony hotel--for
native pstrous-bnt1 am not anxious to renew
its acc daiutancs. l.
EoTEL LIFE
Sitting down on the highly polished floor,
with my feet still resting on the dirt court al
ways found in the / front part Of public aud
private houses alike removed MY shoes. and
YEARLY proceeded to negotiate by the gesticu-
latory process for accommodations had no
idea before Of tho immensely Of the task OF
communicating the simplest idea when the
tongue is dumb. My tongue was absolutely
dumb, for did not know six words Of the
Japanese language. At length, by experiment.
ing, I nit upon the sum Of fifty sen, which ex-
tracted an eager affirmative nod from my ma
tive most, who was sill rubbing the floor with
his nose in token of abjec5 hospitality. Then
''moosmie' Japanese CRIB led the way UP
polished ,step-Iadder into the second
story. Like most upper rooms in.
japanese tenements. i it was dark.
rary screens plentifully supplied with paper
windows about eight inches square that failed
to communicate any hight to the apartment
On one side was a chart covered with Chinese