Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-25
JAPANnsn oARpnNrR1,
Peculiar Ways They Have of Wofking and
 the Tools Usea.

Fecullar ways They Have of Work1ng and the Tools Used.
 Lumber is worth about twice as much in Japan as it is with us. Common lum- Der, which we sell for $10 and SIP thou sand feet. will bring 40 yen-that is, $2O 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 tim Der off their mountains here for 2bo0 years, and although the forests have been reproduced 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 fa- cilities. 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 abundance of water power everywhere. l understand they have tried them, but they have not been suc- cessful.
 They cut all lumber by hand with wide and thin saw during time of year when they have nothing else to do, and each man who Is 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 underneath, but usually not with the same saw. have seen four or five men working on the same log, each saving off his own board. They raise the log at an incline of 45 degrees, with one end on the ground and a rest about the middle, and when they work down to the rest they tie it up and begin at the other end again.
 All the lumber Is dressed by hand. I have found but one blaming mill in the country. That is in Yokohama. It em- ploys about 150 hands, and, cufiously enough. it's entire product is made into boxes and shipped to India. It does no business in the local market The ma ohinery is all from Boston. The mana ger tells me that the company is think Ing of enlarging the plant by adding a sash factory and machinery for making blinds and doors, also for the India mar ket. l do not know why they do not sell their goods in the local market, but I presume there is 6 good reason for it; perhaps they get better prices in India.
 The Japanese make all the woodwork about a house by hand, and most of their houses are all wood. They are very skill full in all kinds of cabinet and joiner work, and are more rapid than our peo- pie Their tools are better adopted for doing close work than ours, and are kept very sharp. Besides, they give a great deal more labor and patience to ar article
 
 CTS. You never see scratches from the ncked tools in their planed work. They use very few nails. but mortise almost everything. It is usually so we'll done that it is difficult to detect the joints except by the grain, and it lasts forever. Some of the ships are made without bit of iron in their composition. Every thing is mortised.
 What do they get? Skilled machinists, carpenters, jOiners, cabinet makers and It. ics get 40 to 42 sen day for twelve hours work. That is equivalent to 20 and 21 cents of our money; while second-rate workmen get from b to 20 sen day, and women, who work right along with the men in the shops, receive from 10 to b sen. They do not accomplish as much in twelve hours as our skilled mechanics, but they do it better.
 The Japanese manufacturer and con tractor usually prefer hand labor to ma chine work--first because it is better fin ished, and second because it gives em- plOyment to more people. l find this to be true in the government shops, with rich men who are putting up large buildings and with large employers gen orally. There is no prejudice against ma chnery, and l do not think there would be any difficulty in introducing American machinery of every kind into Japan if our manufacturers will go at it in an in- telligent manner
 The Japanese are very skillful in han ding machinery when they once learn how. They learn best by imitation. It 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 fidel- ity. even to any blemishes or ornaments that may appear. l have seen some re- mar[p blp GX1mnlpS of their imitation. Usually the finish is a little rougher than the original, but the working parts are identical and they get the finish all right after a little experience.