Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-09-14
Our Japan Letter.

SAPPoEO, HOKKAIDo, Aug. 9th, 1894.
Editor of the Banner: SIR: Mrs. Sew
erance and myself having moved to a
New England climate for the summer. it
may interest our friends, your readers,
to hear a little about our surroundings
and life. We are about 1000 miles dis
tant from Kyoto, where we have been
recently stationed by the Mission; we
are away north in New Japan, where
the Ainu has his home and the dug-out
still floats on unexplored rivers. Amer
lean engines haul past this city tons of
coal daily, from the well-wOrked mines
where prisoners find their best medicine
in hard labor. High brick smoke stacks
signal out great establishments where
beer and beet sugar, and cloths of flax
and hemp are made. This is the capt.
tai of the Hokkaido, and there are good
foreign style Government buildings.
kilograms concerning the war with
China come quickly to hand. Steamer
connection daily with the main islands
gives us daily papers in English. The
Agricultural College and College Farm
have given New England air to the
whole region. Instead of rice fields
where workmen stand in water foot
deep to work. here there are meadows
and wheat fields, and horses and COWS
roam over stretches of fine grassland.
The streets are full of carts and euues-
trians. Dog-ca and buses are in the
city. The jinrikisha is here, too, but
the man who pulls here collects high
wages. The air is dry, and there is a
breeze every day. 1t has been but 75O
all day some of the time. To-day it is
very warm, up to $40 in the house. We
have rented little Japanese house with
glass windows in it, for i've years, at
$2.75 month, and we have regular New
England food, cucumbers, potatoes,
carrots, beans. corn, currants, gooseber-
ries, apples, etc., etc. The best of milk
is bought, and butter, too. We get
beef, pork and fish. We have bread and
cake and ice cream. 1t is the finest kind
of a place in which to recuperate
Whereas the heat is almost uncomfortable
south, we here can walk out in the day
time to the distant hills and gather ferns
and flowers, go to the two public parks,
and visit the museums in which there
are very excellent collections of the pro-
ducts of this region, relics and manufac-
lures also. We can sit in a little tea
house over an artificial lake, AMI eat
ice or write poetry, or perhaps bet'or
Teuu It. hOOSJefS crow, crows are an
over Japan and in every city. Dogs
keep us safe from robbers at night. We
may go to church in an Independent
church, in an Episcopalian one, in a
Methodist one, or in Presbyterian one.
We may attend temperance lectures or
make them in a hall where 200 may
meet We may fall in with foreigners
from China at the Hoheikwan (Hoheik-
wan, summer palace, built for the EN- &.
peror, but used as a hoteD. We can
visit the Hospital Rest House for the in
valided Ainu, established by the Rev.
John Bachelor, and there we may see
the light that Christ puts into a believ-
er's face. We may sleep well at night
if our thoughts have been good through
the day, and so the time passes, little
children coming to bring us flowers and
get acquainted, we thanking them and
passing back some Christian magazine.
We feel the time is well spent here
and shall return refreshed to another
years work. Hoping you will enjoy as
good summer, am yours sincerely,
@. NJ. SEVERANCE.