The Portland daily press., 1895-09-17
sept14d3t
JAPANESE CARPENTRY.
Peculiar Ways They Have of Working and
and the Tools Used.

Japan Letter in Chicago News.)
Lumber is worth about twice as much
in Japan as it is with us. Common lum-
Der. which we sell for $40 and S12 a
Thousand feet, will bring 40 yen-that is,
$40 gold-here. This is due chiefly TO
the scarcity of timber and the great labor
required to work it up by their primitive
processes. They have been cutting timber
off their mountains here for 1850 years.
and although the forests have been re-
produced again and again during that
period it is difficult and expensive to get
logs down from the mountain sides in
the absence of the necessary facilities.
They usually go into the woods and cut
one log at a time, which they haul out by
hand or by oxen for many miles. Where
streams are convenient they use them as
we do, but they have no saw mills in the
mountains, although there is an album
dance of water power everywhere. l I'M
derstand they have tried them, but they
have not been successful.
They cut all their lumber by hand with
a wide and thin saw during time of year
when they have nothing else to do, and
each man who lis engaged in business
that requires lumber usually buys his
own logs and cuts them up himself at
odd times. Women and men both work
at it. One man or woman will work on
the top of the log while another works un-
derneath, but uually not with the same
saw. I have seen four or five men work
ing on the same log, each saving off his
own board. They raise the log at an in
cline of forty five degrees, with one end
on the ground and a rest about the mid
de- and when they work down to the
rest they tie it up and begin at the other
end again.
An the lumber is dressed by hand. l
have found but one planning mill in the
country. That is in Yokohama. 1t en-
ploys about SO hands, and, curiously
enough. it's entire product is made into
boxes and shipped to India, 1t does no
business in the local market The ma
tells me that the company is thinking of
enlarging the plant by adding sash fac
totry and machinery for making blinds
and doors, also for the India market. l
do not know why they do not sell their
goods in the local market, but I'presume
there is a good reason for it.; perhaps they
get better prices in India
about a house by hand, and most of their
houses are all wood. Fhey are very skill
ful in all kinds of cabinet and joiner
work. and are more rapid than our people.
Their tools are better adapted for doing
close work than ours, and are kept very
sharp. Besides, they give great deal
more labor and patience to an article than
our carpenters and cabinet makers. You
never see scratches from nicked tools in
their planned work. They use very few
nails, but mortise almost everything. 1t
is usually SO we'll done that it is difficult
to detect the joints except by the grain,
and it lasts forever. Some of their ships
are made without bit OF iron in their
composition. Everything is mortised.
What pay do they get? Skilled machin-
lists. carpenters joiners, cabinet makers
and the highest class of that sort of me-
chanics get 40 to 40 sen day Flor twelve
hours' work. That is equivalent to 20
and 81 cents of our money; while second.
rate workmen get from Is to 90 sen
day, and women. who work right along
with the men in the shops, receive from
10 to is sen. They do not accomplish as
much in twelve hours as our skilled me-
chanics will in eight hours, but they do
it better.
The japanese manufacturer and con-
tractor usually prefer hand labor to ma
chino work-first because it is better fin
lSled, and SeCOHu DoCduS6 IL gives en-
ployment to more people. / find this to
be true in the government shops with
rich men who areyputting up large build
ings and with large employers generally.
There is no prejudice. against machinery,
and I do not think there would be any
difficulty in introducing American ma
chinery of every kind into Japan if our
manufactures will go at it in an intelli
gent manner
The Japanese are very skillful in hand
ling machinery when they once learn
how They learn best by imitation 1t
is difficult to make them understand how
to use machine by explanation, but if
they can sit by and see some one else do
it they will learn very rapidly. And in
copying machinery they reproduce. the
original with great exactness and f1del-
ity, even to any blemishes or ornaments
that may appear. have seen remarkable
examples of their imitation. Usually the
finish is little rougher than the original
but the working parts are Identical, and
they get the finish all right after little
experience.