Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-22

KOBE, Dec. g. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Everyone of these large Japanese cities contains European hotel, usually just one, at which the charge is $3 or $4 per day. When 8 party are travelling together it is quite as pleasant, however, to stop at some neat Japanese hotel. where for one-quarter as much money you can live in really regal style. At such place, with fellow-travei Ter, am stopping here in Kobe. For rice, tea and such as the place affords in he way of eatables, together with lodging, the price is thirty sen per day. In addition to this we send out for steaks, fried potatoes, &c., which are brought in and cooked on pot of coals in the room, and that in excellent style. The people are very attentive and do more to make us feel at home than the pro prietor of hotel could possibly do. They have just secured the neighborhood and brought in couple of chairs as the result of the search.
 We carry with us can of condensed milk, paper of sugar, teaspoons, jam, marmalade and certain condiments. The experience is analogous to 8 prolonged picnic, and cer- tainly affords us an exceptional opportunity for studying real life among the Japanese. It is wonderful how secure can thus live. There are no locks to Japanese doors and windows. Indeed, anyone bent on plunder could enter room at any place on any one of three of it's sides, and secure what he wanted with comparative ease. But bur glaries are very rare in Japan. Americans are quite careful from force of habit, but many
 who have beun here for some time leave their money about promiscuously. The Japa- nese will steal in under-handed indirect ways and will ''squeeze" unmercifully under all circumstances; but open robberles are exceed ingly rare.
 The low wages which the Japanese receive are 8 continual source of surprise to me, At the last hotel where we stopped the moos- mic who waited upon with assiduous faith fitness said her salary was one yen month about seventy cents in American naoney
 We made her very happy upon our departure by presenting her with whole quarter of a months salary. Feeing is not in vogue among the Japanese.
 shall never get used to the street sounds of Japan. especially the night sounds. regular philosophy might be built up out of them. In London, where the cry ''old elothes'' has deterioriated into the mere croak of frog, shorter even than the word "Oak" but somewhat resembling it, the street cries are said to be most complicated and bewild- ering. But if that is true there, what shall 
 which human being can possibly use in any way, shape, or form, is sold by being hawked about tho streets by man equipped with portable ore, balanced on bamboo pole over his shoulder? Night is most commonly selected the season for effectng sales. since the people are not so busy at that time but that they can stop to buy, and the noise of the day has so far subsided that the people must hear the cry of the vender. Unless 8 tourist stops at purely Japanese hotel In the native part of a city, he altogether misses this very characteristic feature of life in Japan. If he listens to it for one night only, he will fancy himself on the verge of insanity, and doubtless will be too distracted to sleep much until toward morning. After a while he will become accustomed to the nuisance and I do not know but that eventually he rnioht even come to find the noise an indis- pensabIe lullaby, just as some people cannot get to sleep without clock ticking in the room. I am sure the Japanese must prefer the noise, else they would not compel the night watchman to create such an intolerable din with the blocks of wood which they con stantly strike together. Could anything be more absurd than this night watchman sys- tenn? An evil disposed person can assure himself infalllbly as to the whereabouts of the police when he starts out to commit depredations. I do not know what the law less in 8 Japanese city would do, if they did not have this invaluable information, so freely disbursed by every watchman. Aside from this, the noise has more excruclatlng effect upon the ear of a sleeper, as l think, than any other night sound-even including the shrill whistle of the blind ''shampooers. ' Just imagine what would be the effect in an American city if force of these night watch, men were turned loose there, with laper 1 lanterns tied to their waists, and their nlur derous bamboo instruments in their hands. The regular city police would not be able to restrain the incensed mob of ''best citizens who would literally dismember the intruders. The Japanese retire very early es rule, since their lamps and fires are so cheerless. Yet these nocturnal hucksters keep up their
 horrible rowling till long after midnight. l They know from experience that it Is just like Japanese to wake mp at any hour of the night, and take notion that they want a certain article. The list of articles disposed
 of upon the streets at these unearthly hours 1 is almost unlimited. Besides this every man has 8 peculiar method of pronounclng the
 name of the article he has to offer for sale; so that no two retailers of the same article speak alike. The object in this Is to identify each man with totally distinct cry, so that his regular customers may know of his ep- proach, and wait to patronize him. Thus a perfect pandemonium of altogether dissimiiar
 noises is created. Japanese admit that the words are distorted beyond the remotest re-
 semblance to their originals, in the effort to establish an unmistakable cry.
 Such 8 wealth of originality as these com mon hucksters do waste upon these street cries! Most of them select the most pathetic walls and whines possible. Sometimes you will think the man is actually crying. so piteously unnatural are the sounds which he makes. Again you will wonder at some specially offensive, sing song utterance, and pushing the screen one side will find that it is produced by a blind woman, picking her way along the streets with the aid of s cans, and making the midnight air resound with her plaintiVe offers of her services as sham pooer for the sum of two sen. Thus she
 will travel, often for hours before she suc- ceeds in getting customer.
 This ''shampooing'' is eminently Japa- sese institution Those who are afflicted | with rheumatism resort to it frequently, es- pec1aIly at night when sleep is impossible, and claim to experience great relief from the
 process. It is also popular, even with the missionaries and other resident foreigners,
 as an antidote for the fatigue consequent up- on 8 long mountain walk, or hard day s work The wealthy Japanese ladies are quite fond of the sensation, and have their sham poo as an afternoon recreation. Hundreds of blind men, women, boys and girls, (who cannot practice ordinary forms of industry 1 on account of the loss of their vision,) are thus earning their living in every Japanese city by what is called shampooing. The Japanese shampoo" IS general kneading of the flesh from head to foot. The subject re clines at full length, and the practitioner commences at the head and works his way clear to his heels, rubbing and pounding the flesh with his knuckles as he goes. The sen sation is not specially pleasant for the time
 being, but it softens up the skin wonderfully, and inv1gorates the whole body, so that when the blind operator is done, you actually feel like new man.
 The Japanese lotteries and auctions which one encounters upon the streets at night are especially interesting to foreigners. went to confectionery lottery last evening, and laughed until the tears rained from my eyes at the droll sights there presented. An lm- mense crowd was gathered about a booth where gay lanterns and painful attempt at music attracted the ear and eye. Approach ing the front found that man was selling tickets to the simplest form of chance en- terprise in connection with his regular busi- ness He was yelling vigorously in mono tonous tone of voice and offering the tickets at one sen each. As fast as those gathered around would hand him the required sen, be would hand back the ticket, which contained a certain number printed upon it, and also at the same time 8 cookey. Thus those who made the expensive investment got some thing in return for their money even at the worst I waited for some time until the