Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-01-04
on 4 JAPANESE RAIL WAY.


ment affair, as everything else is here. Al
though it cripples individual enterprise, it Sc
cures the success of a thing to have the gov
crnment control it, The railroad and the
telegraph systems are very satisfactory, and
the postal system is just about perfect.
Trains are run between the two stations
every hour and a quarter during the day.
leaving the two stations simultaneously. The
whole equipment is English The cars are
divided into three classes. Even the first
class cars are decidedly plain. These are di-
vided into three compartments. The second
class cars would hardly be used on horse
railroad in Boston. They are as plain as
plain can be, and made just like horsc-car,
having two long seats on the sides facing each
other. The seats are upholstered with the
same kind of mating which the japanese
use on their floors.
The third-class cars have simply plain
benches for Seats The exterior of all three
classes is the same. Thrd-class passengers
are bolted into the cars. The engines are
smaller than the shifting engines in the Bos-
ton depots. The time required for the cigh-
teen mile ride is tfty-seven minutes Ev-
erything pertaining to the road is kept in the
best condition. The road bed is like a floor (;
the stations are clean all the officials are uni
formed. | never knew one Of them to be in
any way impolitc Passengers are not al.
lowed to cross the track except by the bridges
overhead. Following English custom the
trains run on the lcft-hand track. No bag.
gage is allowed to 20 free, save such as one
can take in his hand. You can take no liv-
ing thing into the train, not even canary,
without paying an extra price. Posted up in
the stations is a notice to the effect that the
government does not run the railroad for the
transportation Of dogs, but if dogs must
travel provision has been made for them So
every station is provided with boxes, latticed
on top, in which poodle or mastin can be
transported for IA definite sum.
| understand when it is necessary to trans
port dead body an extra car is put on for
the purpose
Let MS start on our eighteen miles ride
from the Toxic station. 1t is fine large
building, built of stone, having two large
entrances in front. The waiting rooms are
furnished with the daily native and foreign
papers. Five minutes before the train starts
a warning bell is rung. The ticket Office is
styled booking Office, and notice tells
you that you must be "bookcd' before you
can enter the train
JuSl utlllt lllt lIdlll SldllN lllt lbl II dEhlll
rung in the station and the doors closed, so
there is no possible chance for belatcd pas
senger to ''run for the tuin,' and possibly
get run over by the train. There are no side
doors either through which you can dodge
the official.
Having booked yourself, or purchased your
ticket, you are allowed to pass through very
narrow passagc-way to the outward-bound
train Chp,tipfr tfolyat
though there is no gold leaf or birds
eye maple on the ears, there are other ar
rangements that more than compensate for
this loss of elegance
One Of these is that by buying "a round
trip ticket to any station you get a discount
of 80 per cent on return ticket, tickets good
for one day only Fare to Yokohama, first
class, 81 round trip, Sl.jO; second class, 60
cts; round trip, 80 cts. No official goes with
the train; no brakeman in dulCct tones whis-
pers out the name Of the next station. The
only brake on the train is on car made
specially for that purpose, and attached to
the rear of the engine. No conductor shouts
Tickets please, and when he has finished
his rounds sits down by the fair miss who
goes daily for her music lessons. Every
passenger is expected to enter the class car
for which he holds ticket. If ne doesn't
do this and he is found out there is penalty
for his misdemeanor.
When it Is time for the train to start an
official on the platform blows a little whistle,
the steam engine blows shrill whistle, which
would be terrific if il were only powerful
enough, and off we 20. And now we see
one advantage over the average American
railrOad-thcrc is not the slightest Jerk in
starting; indeed, YOU never know when you
are really in motion unless you look at OBJ
jects outside the window,
The train glides, that just expresses it ;
not swiftly to be sure, for if it were swift
the Japs would probably condemn it, Moth
ing upsets a native like swiitncss; time is no
object here.
The road follows the Tokaido and the coast
of the bay most of the distance. 1t is near
ly a dead level On both sides are the rice
fields, where, at this time of the year, the
farmers stand nearly up to their knees in
mud, setting out the rice plants. There is
nothing particularly attractive to see, unless
on bright day you watch the changing
forms of that noble mountain-Mount Fuii-
the peerless as it towers up in the dis
tancc
Let us look at our fellow passengers in the
car As it is an early train there are various
| officials going to Yokohama for their daily
business. These men are dressed in foreign
clothes, and many of them understand some
foreign language, English or German. They
are mostly an intelligent looking group OF
men.
Besides these somewhat forcgnized natives
we have the real, genuine native article, with
nothing foreign about him unless it is hat.
| Hats are very generally worn, except it is a
rainy day, when they are left at home and
| the wearer goes bareheaded.
The Japs are peculiar. On a cold, rainy
| day they 90 about with their dress skirts
caught up to their waists, and the water
streaming down their bare legs Skin does
not cost as much as cloth, you know. In
the car we can see this native dress; a loose
robe with no buttons, but folded over the
breast and fastened by a sash. This is the
dress Of the men as well as Of the women.
Some Of the dresses are very rich indeed, be-
ing made of beautiful silk. One-half is long
| or than the other, which allows for being
| pulled up above the sash, and then hanging
| down in front, making pouch. This is the
| pocket where nearly everything is carried.
| There are also pockets at the bottom of the
| large square sleeves. Suspended from the
sash is little box and leather wallet
|
very costly. The box contains the tobacco
| pipe and the wallet contains the tobacco. The
box is frequently made of ivory or bronze
| finely worked. Japanese tobacco is very,
very mild. The average American smoker
would disdain to use it. The pipes consist
of long slender stem, and a tiny brass bow
not so large as an acorn cup The smoker
opens his wallet, takes out very small guam
tity of tobacco and fills his pipe then ht
takes out his box of matches, which are lik,
the ''parlor match in America, contained il
a sliding box Chat horrible nuisance, sui
| phur match, doesn't exist here; closing tn,
matchbox about two-thirds, the pipe is light
ed and three whffs of smoke taken-very
seldom more than that the ashes are theI
emptied into the open third of the match
box, the pipe refilled and lighted from thes,
ashes, Frequently the ashes are dropped OF
the floor until the pipe is relighted, wheI
they are extinguished A pipe is seldom re
filed more than three times, when it is pu
back into the case. The whole amount o
tobacco imbibed would not be equal to on
puff of a strong cigar. But the almost uni
vcrsal practice here is to draw all the smok
up, eXpelling it from the nostrils instead o
the mouth. Women smoke as well as tn
| men.