Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-28


About halfway between Otarn and the
coal mines of PoronaI lies Sapporo, the
capital of Yezo, the most American city In
Japan, though there are probably not half
a dozen Americans residing there. The
whole place is a curious mixture of Japan
and America. The streets are laid out as
regularly as an American chess-board town,
but the shops and the shoppers are Japanese,
while the public buildings, including fine
large city hall, where the Governor General
and the other officials have their Office, is
again in the American style, both outside
and inside.
We delivered our letter of introduction to
the Governor General, handsome man in
whose hearing Japanese courtesy and mill
tary dignity are pleasantly united, and were
received most Hospitality in his house, which,
like everything else in Sapporo, is half
American and half Japanese. Foreigners
enter with their shoes on by the front door
into carpeted parlor with foreign tables
and chairs, and even foreign pictures on the
walls; while for the Japanese visitors there
is another entrance where, as usual, the
shoes must be taken off before putting foot
or the white, clean mats in the unlurnished
rooms. Had we entered on this side tea
would have been served in tiny Japanese
cups; but on the American side we were
treated to several kinds of beer brewed in
the Sapporo brewery, which makes the best
beer in Japan-much better than the Toxic
and Yokohama beer, though for some reason
or other it caanot be found in the cities of
Nippon.
LEARNING TO LOVE BEER.
This beer is sold in the shops at % cents a
bottle, and 1 may remark, by the way, that
beer seems to be gradually displacing sake
or rice wine among the japanese. Shops
where long rows OF beer bottles are kept
abound in all cities, and the change from
sake to beer will be of benefit to the Japan
ese who are too easily affected by rice wine
and who, as race, need little more of the
corporal rotundity which beer tends to
produce.
We exchanged compliments and inter-
national comments with the Governor Gen
eral, who welcomed us cordially to the
Hokkaido, aid offered to do everything in
his power to make our trip a pleasant one.
When we rose to leave he accompanied us
TO show us his orchard, which contains some
fine fruit trees, all imported from America.
Afterward we received basketful of apples
from these trees at the hotel, and found
them equal in favor to the best Oregon
apples, and entirely free FROM blemish. The
trouble with most Japanese fruit is that it
gets wormy on ripening-and this is one
reason the Japanese eat unripe fruit, they
try to get ahead of the worm-but Yezo
fruit is SOUND, ,:and these apples at any rate
had not lost their flavor as most fruits do in
Japan.
POTATOES AND FLAX.
The soil is coal black and very deep. and
seemingly inexhaustible. What struck me
especially was the fine appearance of the
potato fields, and Yezo potatoes found to
be the best l had ever eaten. The soil and
climate are remarkably favorable to flax,
and accordinglya a gigantic fax factory has
been lately built, which we visited. The
japanese are being constantly told that
everything in their country is small; and
no doubt it is land of petite things. The
men are smaller than elsewhere, and so are
the women; the houses are smaller and so
are the aEimals-horses, dogs, chickens;
eggs like pigeon eggs; and the japanese eat
and drink out Of porcelain ware of dolls
Sizes But this Sapporo factory is an ex-
cep:ion. 1t is big enough to attract atten-
ton even in America, the land of big
things.
Another big thing now in course of con-
struction is a beet sugar factory, on as large
scale as the fax factory. This is under
German control
After seeing these factories we were
driven to the Agricultural College, where
everything is American-American imple-
ments, an American barn, American vegeta-
bles, fruits ana cereals, and q collection of
30 cows, which were much plagued by flies,
though otherwise in good condition. The
milk is excellent as We had occasion to find
out in the cellar where a constant supply
of well water keeps it ice cold. 1t tasted all
the more delicious as / had not had any
since leaving San Francisco; for the Jap
snese have no milk, cheese or butter, which
have only lately been introduced. They
say milk is an acquired taste, and the jap
anese do not like it at first.
MAN-EATING BEARS.
We also visited the Sapporo Museum,
which had fine collection of Yezo animals,
fish, butterflies and minerals, and number
of AiLo antiquities upstairs. What most
attracts the attention is the enormous stuffed
Yezo bears, with bodies as large as oxen.
One Of the specimens had eaten ten horses
before band Of soldiers succeeded in shoot
ing 1t by climbing up trees and waiting for
1t. lezo bears are as savage as they are
large, and being fond of gastronomic variety,
they add man or child to their menu once
in while. The contents of the stomach of
one of these stuffed bears are shown in a
glass jar in this museum. 1t is q ghastly
sight. The bear had not taken time to
MUNICH the child's limbs, and the hands and
feet, with the little fingers and toes, are
intact in the alcohol.
The home of these bears, the almost i'm
penetrable forest of Central Yezo. was to be
the goal and climax of our journey; but be-
fore starting out we visited the coal mines
at Poronai. Three mines are in operation
at present, in all of which the coal is mined
upward, the mountains being tapped at the
base, which saves a lot of labor and expense.
First you walk into tunnel about half a
mile, then climb up by means OF the tim.
bers which support the e1cavation-excitipe
work, especially if you wear white flannel
trousers and carry your own lamp. At last
we come to the end-a solid wall of coal
i've feet high with only one-tenth of an inch
Of impure matter in the whole mass. 1t
mas been estimated that there is enough coal
IN Yezo "to yield the present annual prod. |
let of Great Britain for a Thousand wears to |
,ome." 1t is of good quality, though il |
will improve as the lower layers are |
cached.
SETTLED BY coNvIors.
The Yezo forest is one of the most inter-
sting have ever seen. The inhabitants
consist of Amos, convicts who help to pre-
'are settlements, and coloDists from Lower
Japan who are encouraged to emigrate to
his region by receiving a house and a few
cres OF ground at a nominal price, the
object in colonizing this re-
ZION being to relieve the overcrowded dis
ricts in the South and to form a bulwark
'gainst the designs of Russia, which seems
o have desire to add Yezo to lis Siberian
The houses are simple wooden