The morning call., 1894-04-22

she got about 10 of our cents for twelve
| hours work. She sat baTeheaded and
| barefooted on the stones and pounded
away with a hammer breaking the rocks
| into uieceS. AS | watched her, two ia
| panese men in blue cotton gowns passed
| by. carrying stone weighing about 400
pounds, which was tied by rOpe to pole.
| which rested on their shoulders, and
third man pushed past them with load OF
long boards on his back.
There are no such things as stoneb0ats
and lum Der wagons in Japan, and human
la Dor takes the place of steam and horses.
There are no lumber-mlls in the country,
and logs are sawed into boards by hand.
A lum oer-yard consists OF a lot OF boards
tied up into bundles containing about five
or six boards six ncbes wide and half an
inch thick. and usually about twelve feet
in len 9Th. and it is of such lumber that the
most OF the japanese houses are made. The
heaviest of the rafters of the temples are
sawed out by hand. and it is by men that
they are carried up and put into place.
| There are many queer things here In the
way Of building, and l understand that
there are people who make business of
manufacturing roofs for buildings. The
roof of japanese house is put on before
| the walls are fitted in and there is big
| scaffOding made OF the height of the pro-
| posed structure and running all around it
| before the work of putting up the house
begins. This scaffolding is made of bam-
| boo poles tied together with ropes of straw,
and the men who put it up have nothing to
do with erecting the building itself There
| is a company in Yokohama which does
| nothing else but make scaffOlding, and it
rents it to the builders al SO much per
| house.
! Almost all of the japanese houses are of
WOOD. They are built close together in
! the towns and a ire sometimes sweeps
| them away by thousands. II is said that
| Toxic burns down every seven years, and
/ fires which destroy a thousand houses are
not uncommon. There are now steam fire.
engines In the large cities, and all of the
smaller places have fire departments aud
| hand-englDes. The Japanese go wild
! whenever there is a fire in their neighbour
| hood. They turn out en- masse, each car
! Tying paper lantern, upon which is
painted the name of his house or his bust
ness place, and rush toward it. They have
lanterns hung up In their houses ready to
| run out with them TO fires, and il is mat
| ter of etiquette If You have friend in the
neighborhood Of the confagration to
call and leave your card and tell him that
| you came to help him, thinking the house
which was burning was his, and to leave
your card with congratulations that he es-
capped. The firemen themselves carry Ian
terms and they yell as they run. Each fire
| company has leader, who carries a Ian
tern fastened to the top of a long pole and
| ornamented with steamers of paper. He
| elm bs with this 20 the roof of the building
which is on fire and directs the men, and
| he is expected to stay at his post until the
| streamers catch fire. The firemen of Yoko-
hama have blue hats, like butter bowls,
and on their backs are the characters
which mean Yokohama Fire Brigade. The
| country fremen tie a handkerchief on
| their beads and are more often barefooted
| than otherwise
| Until lately there was no such thing as
in To-
there are several AMI they are doing well.
There are no foreign companies. and the
| insurance companies of other countries
| c0nnne their risks here to life. / chatted
last night with the manager of a leading
American insurance company for Japan
and China. He tells me that this Amer.
can institution Is doing a good business
here. and that the people are insuring more
| every day. The highest amount the COM
pany insures for in Japan is 100000. 1t
has taken out two such policies lately, and
has written a number of $50, 600 aud S25,-
600 policies. The most of its business.
however, is in 5000 risks. and it insures
here at the same rates as in America. 1t
does not try to push iIS business among
the Chinese, as there is more danger of
that he is about TO die he wants TO go to
his ancestral home. This may be a thou
sand miles in the interior of China. where
there are no foreigners, and all sorts or
IrumpeQ up evidence c0ulQ De sent In as
to the death. You could buy the testi-
meny of the Governor of Chinese prov
ince for 500 or so, to anything, and the
result would probably be that the COM
pany would be systematically defrauded.
In Japan it is impossible for one to de-
fraud as to a matter of life and death.
The system of registration OF births and
Deaths is perfect, and the Gar of Russia
has not better method of keeping track
of his subjects than has the Mkado. There
are 80. 600 policemen in the empire and no
end of detectives. The secret service Of
Japan is said to be the most perfect in the
world, and though this land has the
shrewdest of criminals there is little wick
edness that is allowed 10 60 UNPUBLISHED.
Every man and woman In Japan must have
a passport, and this is the case With for
eigners as well as with the Japanese. In
changing bis residence the police call upon
man as soon as be has settled ana de-
mand TO know all about him. They do not
take his own statement but write TO the
city from which be says he came, and il
his story Is not true one he is arrested.
He dare not leave Japan without the per-
mission of the Government, and it is almost
impossible now for japanese woman 10
get away from Japan without she can
prove that she is going into some legiti-
mate employment abroad. and that her
associations there are TO be good.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Copyright. 1894