Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-03-31
THE JAPANESE ANNA.
.fHk ARTIST WHO kNeAos kNo
Rues fhE MUSCLES.

oSSS sIbS "SSSS@S I
Massage ~ Prscticed ADone \
Our Almond Eyed Brsthren-An Old
Woman's Hard work-A Restful Pre-
ssss~Jspsnsss Medical Students.
As1am sitting In my room there comes
my ears the sound Of . shriu pipe
bounding not unlike . hfs. The traveller
y japan, 60 where he may, almost invari-
ahly hears the sound at night, and viii b
1old in answer 70 his inquiries that the
4 . professional shampooer
y anma. Manyof thsee people are blind,
their way With long sticks, which
they hold in one hand, while With the
othsr hand they play upon the bamboo
pipe, which seems to notify the world Of
their presence.
The ANNA Is not . shampooer in the
American sense Of the term. He does not
his operations to the head aud
hair. He practices what II known by the
French - the massage. His art consists
In kneading all the muscles Of the body
and bringing them into play, and he Is re-
garded a. . useful functionary, second only
Importance to the physician as . healer
physical disorders. Tho art is prac.
tced not only BY men, bit also by women,
and ct almost every inn where I have
stopped among the first persons to proffer
their services have been the ammas. Only
once have I yielded 20 their invitations to
allow my body to be treated like a piece
OF dough, and that was at Subasbirt, Inn
medically after my Descent from Full
Tired. and aching from the sever exer-
don OF climbing tho mountain the sug-
esetton Of Dr.. KntpptnS that It might b
we'll to allow an ANNA to shampoo us
was aeoeded to, more hon curiosity a. to
the possible results than from any faith
IN the efficacy OF the treatment.
The particular ANNA who came to our
room and shanpooed W vas an ungainly
and awfuly ugly woman Of middle age,
whose blacksnsd teeth when she smiled
looked like q row Of watermelon seeds SGT
in her face. During the process I had an
opportunity to question her fully as to tho
business, and learned from her quite .
number Of interesting facts. She informed
a that before commencing the practice Of
her art she hes been obliged to serve an
apprenticeship Of three years, during
which time she read . large number Of
Japanese books teaching Of the human
body, and especially the muscles, aud had
become learned iu anatomy and physl-
ology. She had practiced the massage for
ten years already, and had by means Of it
gained her livelihood. She stated that
she was able in n evening, from . to 10,
to treat four persons, who paid her a fes
OF fifteen sen apiece. Her daily earnings
were, however, not more than thirty sen
on an average, or about twenty-four ceuts
Of American currency.
In the operation Of shampooing, a.
psacticed by the ANNA, the patient lies
upon q futon or rug, while the ANNA
knesls beside him. The first act in the
drama deals with the abdominal cavity.
Placing one hand on either side I the
abdomen, above the hips, tho ANNA com.
presses tho body laterally q number Of
times, then drawing up the loose folds Of
desh, he kpeads and pinches them, at the
same time making passes which CORE
spond In their direction with that Of the
colon. This portion OF the treatment
ended. each leg Is attacked and vigorously
rubbed and kneaded, the process termin.
ating by a smart bastinad. administered
to the soles Of the feet.
In rubbing aud kneading the muscles
use Is made Of a round ball of lockwood,
though the ANNA to whose treatment I
submitted employed only her fingers and
knuckles. The armsa and chest are treated
as the legs, and then the patient is turned
and back are punched and kneaded until
the breath almost forsakes the body. The
entire performance ends with a vigorous
rubbing Of the neck, which, in my case,
seemed to threaten the ~dislocaticn of the
cervical vertehre. The amount Of
strength In fingers and wrists display ed
BY the ANNA Is quite remarkable. Our
ANNA hampooed four persons in success.
sion the evening we engaged her, consum.
ing four hours In the task, during which
she Wal working with all her might al.
most constantly, only stopping to wi pc of
the preparation which flowed from her
face.
The result Of the experiment, % far az
! personally wa concerned, was, I think,
such - to warrant the repetition Of the
Treatment under like circumstances.
awoke on the morrow feeling far less tired
and sore than I had reason 70 believe ms
mountain climbing would have left me.
The art OF tho ANNA appears likely to
live for . long time in Japan, as it Is in
some respects founded upon rational prtn.
ciples. This u not, however, the csse
with the medical practitioner OF the old
Chinese school, whose practice is swiftly
and surely dwindling away as tho mertts
Of western medical theory and practice are
becoming more and more recognized. The
old style Of practitioner, with his nos,
trums and enchantments, his mixtures O
vUla1nous herbs aud minerals, his DOW
ders made Of dried snake skins and bird
dung, u still in the numerical majority
when q enSus Of the medica,
practitioners Of japan 10 taken, but thu
young men, graduates Of the university a
Toxic, Ire rapidly absorbing the entirt
practice among the weather. and uors
Intelligent classes. The medical depart
nent st the Imperial university at Toxic
u under tbs care Of German pfUfsBsors
men Of thorough ability and experiences
aud the results achieved during atel
years have been most marked and nos
beneficial to the country a. . whole. Il
u ths feeling Of. not Q few Europeans resi-
dent in Japan thst, while always prefer
ring the services Of . European OF Amer
lean practitioner, tho graduate of the uni
verstty at Toxic may generally 10 trustee
70 treat Q patient carefully sud weu.-
Coz. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
Soldering Telegraph Wires.
A rapid method Of soldering telegraph
wires has recently been introduced and "a
now to be generally adopted in Russia.
it, principal advantage consists in the
saving Of time required for the work and
in the avoidance Of any ''scraping,"
which would to some extent reduce the
strength Of the wire. The two ends of
the wire, already embraced by binding
wire, are dipped into o vessel holding q
considerable quantity of melted solder,
upon the top Of which there is sufHcient
powdered sal anmoniac to leave a thick
LAYER of liu1id salt. The ends of the wire