The Red Cloud chief., 1888-05-18
FIRES IN JAPAN.

FIRES ~ JAPAN.
Pscsiiarit,es Which Make Th~m = Source
Of Amusement sO Foreigner.
A Japanese fire is one Of the sights to
See. and beside the sorrow. the misery.
suffering and tears that ore sees. there
are humOrs that renders such si:ua-
tions Incompatible. When the fire.
bell clangs every n rushes to the
scene. friends helping friends to save
their household effects. and thieves
making nos oi the opportunity. Ex-
element reisns blocks away from the
FIRE. agitated people gathering MP their
mats. screens. bedding. clothing and
cooking utensils and hurrying away
from the n-ighborhool. The SIM
plicity Of Japanese life is hes: shown
then. There is no clumsy furniture to
be rolled out and broken. no tables.
chairs or clumsy beds to be- more than
ruined in the saving. One small hand
cart holds the roll Of waddel comfor:crs
and gowns that are the bedding Of the
family. and their clothing. and the few
other effects - with it. The sliding
paper screens are slipped from their
grooves. the thick straw mats are taken
from the floor. AMI the family decamp.
leaving nothing but the roof. corner
posts and rough floor Of the house be-
hind them. Professions If these
refugees are met streaming away from
the fire. fearful women and wailing
children conveying to one u sense Ol
what their sorrows are. 1t is always
the wonder how these poor people live
with SO little. and when that little is
swept away all ones sympathy is with
them.
At three o'clock the other morning
there WAS . great fire in japanese
Town. The reflection in the sky penc-
trated thick blinds. and Weakened resi-
dents in the foreign settlement, to
whom fire is rs much u haunting terror
as to the natives. a fresh wind was
blowing up the bay and against the
steely blue wafer the white ships and
men-of-war glowed like crimson ships
in the fires reflection. By nine O'Clock
in the morning more than \ thousand
houses had been burned. and the flames
were not subducd. An hour later we
went 10 view the scene. At one end of
the leveled space streams of water were
being played on smOuldcring ruins.
hand-pumps were being worked with u
shouting chorus. and lines of buckets
were being passed up from the creek.
A few fire-pro"f godomes. built Of thick
mud and tiles. with all the chink-
stopped with mud. stood with cracked
and blistcrel walls rs sole monuments
in the area Of ruins. At the other end
of the burned region \ plank fence had
already been built around the space.
and carpenters were building new
houses on the smoking ground and
stepping gingerly to escape hot tones
and tiles. The amazing %quickness with
which Japanese houses rise from their
ashes defies comparison. The PhGn;x
and Chicago are nothing for parallels.
BY the same afternoon the new houses
we're advanced enough for the little
shopkcepers tn set up their wares. and
by lamplight the workmen were creep
ing over the roofs and mailing on the
tiles. One has to follow quickly upon
the first alarm to SEE the fire. and often.
times coming upon = section Of new
houses with their fresh implanted walls.
is the first intimation that orc has IF
there having been u fire along the street
that one most commonly frequents. Fire
is SD common and SD frequent that there
is not a japanese who has not been
burned out y gain and again. and looks
upon future experiences with cool phil
osOphy. He might even preface his
stories BY the accustomed IL always do
50 and so when my house burns down"
- Iokohan,a Cor. st. LOMiS Gioje-DemO-
crGk.