The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1886-09-09
A JAPANESE TROUPE.
A MANAGER RELATES HIS EXPERT
ENcE WITH THE MEMBERS.

Learning the Japanese Language-Japs
Fond Of the Bath-raking = Liking 20
Lager Beer - Saying Prayers - Street
Performance I'm Japan.
SIT was the first troupe of japanese that
had ever played throughout the United
States and Canada, and was q big nov
city. It was made up of eighteen Japs-
eleven men, three women and four child
rem. They could not talk a word of Eng
Gsh, and as had to live right with them
was obliged to pick up their language as
best could. did it through pantomime,
picking up an object or doing q thing
and then getting the proper words for
them from the Japs, had little in
fiexed book, and used to put the words
and expressions that l learned in it,
writing them as they sounded to me, with
the definition. In few months after
Joined them was quite a Jap myself.
The language is easily learned, and re-
sembles Spanish very much. dressed
like the Japs, and allowed my hair to
grow long Here's an old photograph of
me as appeared with little Kotzko in my
kimona. I looked like the real article,
didn't I?''
WHAT'S the klInOnd!
sits the loose, flowing robe that the
Japs wear, folding it across the breast. In
summer it is q light garment, and in win
ter it is heavily padded and very warm.
Some of these kimonas are beautifully
embroidered. Under this kimona they
wear the baggy pants or mamushka,
fastened at the waist by q belt, called the
sobe.'
IN A sCHEAP JOHN" SUIT.
"But the Japs soon wanted American
clothes, and they got them, too. Togo
kichi, one of the party, went out on his
own hook one day, and came back with
very queer hand-me-down suit on, over
thin undershirt, and his pants tucked in a
pair of very stogy cowhide boots. Oh,
but he looked funny when he walked into
the hotel in this rig. The Cheap john
clothier had taken advantage of him and
charged him four prices, so that / had to
60 around and get part Of the money back.
''The japanese arc the most clearly
people that have ever seen," proceeded
Mr.. IIildrcth. II had to be careful to Sc
cure bath rooms ut every hotel we visited,
and if there were no bath rooms was ex-
pected to make rates with some bath
house in the town. Why, on the sleeping
cars they were up ut daylight scrubbing
themselves all over, and rs soon as they
| reached the hotel they were at it again.
They use on their hair peculiar pomade
| that glistens and shines on their jetty
locks. The women use more of this than
the men. Occasionally the men use q
great deal of it, though, in combing their
hair up to stiff knot on the tops of their
heads. They all insisted upon two baths
per week regularly, besides their sponge
baths daily, and they used to have the
| water so hot that neither you nor could
| stand it. Almost the first English they
picked up was the expression Gimme
wasser,' which they used on going into
every hotel"
'Did your Japs tackle kindly to Ameri-
can intoxicants!''
fuencc. They liked beer, and it seemed
to have no effect upon them. Every
| night after a performance the troupe
would gather in the hotel and have beer
and lunch Some of them liked other
drinks, however, and had to have them.
Ono old man and his wife wanted gin
and another Jap tackled sherry. 1 had to
get this for them, too. They would not
have played if 1 didn't. When 1 first
| went with them they would not eat the
hotel food and had to arrange to have
one of the women of the party 60 into tho
hotel kitchen and cook for the Japs. They
| used to eat eggs, rice and meat stews.
PARTICULARLY FOND OF PIE.
| "After time, though, they went
through the regular bills of fare from
SOUP to nuts. They were particularly
stuck on that great American institution
pie Then they always said their
prayers morning and night, and just be-
fore they went on the stage to do their act
they prayed to their God to help them.
| In praying they invariably turned their
| backs upon any one present, stood erect,
rubbed their hands softly together, and
muttered their petition in n sing-song
;one. They were all interested in the
| habits and customs of the Americans, and
| when they saw any strange thing they
studied it over until they learned it.
"My chums in the company were two
boys, Kotzko and Yousanmatz. The lat
ter was the boy who did the ladder net,
| md Kotzko used to be balanced on long
bamboo pole with OtoyOn, little girl.
| These two boys wouldn't live without me,
30 1 always got double-bedded room and
| bunked with them. At first they wouldn't
sleep in an American bed, and always car
ried their mats for the floor, with pillows
If wood, made bowl-shaped for the head
| and rounded SO that they would move
| with the head. The members Of the
| troupe all came from Yokohama and Ma
| gasaki. They were not of the street-per-
forming class in Japan, but of the middle
| class, like those in the village An old
man, Yonousan, who was totally blind,
used to do the iron jaw act by lifting tubs
full of great stones with his teeth. He
was, however, q street performer, but
later performed in Legitimate places of
amusement like the others. He used to
stand on the street corners in the Japanese
| towns, and after q man had collected q
| crowd by drumming japanese banjo he
would do the egg trick, swallow a needle
| md thread and bring the needle out
| threaded, and other feats of magic, while
the hoy, Kotzko, would do tumbling.
| Then they would collect the cana, or
money, the usual Offering being a large,
| oval coin called tempo. 1t had a square
hole in the center, and the collector would
string them on wire. When the trio
| collected certain amount they would lie
idle and not 60 to work again until all the
money was nc."-Chicago Herald Inter
| x,io