The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-09-04
A Letter to Boys From Japan.
BY BISHOP C. B. GALLOWAY.

A promise to write occasionally
special letter to my own little boy about
things seen and heard in Japan, has
raised the question, Why not tell all
the boys? For are they not alike in
terested in certain sights and scenes ?
In response thereto, I send this letter.
Many timeL since leaving home, l have
had at least one little pair of black
eyes in mind as I looked upon some
curious or funny thing, and wished
they could enjoy it. Some of these l
must tell about.
Well, the first thing that would make
a boy laugh and his eyes dance would
be the way people travel here in Japan.
There are few carriages and horses
little ugly ponies-and the COWS they
work to carts are too slow. So they
ride in a sort of baby carriage, with
two wheels and shafts in front, drawn
by man. Itis called the "jinriksha
"a pullman-car. I can imagine an
American boy stepping into a jinriksha
the first time, and see the broad grin
on his face while the little yellow
skinned man for horse starts off at a
brisk trot. He never felt so funny in
all his life before, and never rode be-
hind suoh horse. The idea of pony
telling you of the different places as
you pass along-that is, if you under
stand Japanese, or if he has learned
little "pigeon English. He tucks
the lap.robe around you, brushes the
dust off your clothes and shoes when
you get out, takes your satchel into
the hotel or station, and, if necessary,
will get your money changed and bring
you the exact amount. Now, what do
YOU think of such horse as that?
And does be go fast? Well, he
trots Of at the rate of from six to eight
miles an hour, and can keep it up nearly
all day. A lady told me yesterday that
she rode behind one for thirty miles
last winter, and he hardly broke his
trot the entire trip. You ought to see
his muscles, especially the calves Of
his legs. They are large and hard,
and make him able to run long time
and pull heavy loads. Sometimes he
will strike for higher wages, even after
he has made firm bargain. At least
he does this with fresh foreigner.
But the poor fellow gets little pay.
The rates are fixed in some cities
usually about eight cents an hour.
You can't travel that cheap in Amer
ica.
You ought to see the shoes worn by
COWS and oxen. They are made OF
straw, and are tied securely around the
upper part of the foot. have seen
some horses, also, wearing straw shoes.
So COWS, oxen, horses and boys all
wear shoes made Of straw.
What funny way they have in ia
pan of counting the ages Of people !
They count the year child is born as
one year, and the next year as two.
So if little boy is born on December
81, he is one year old that day, and
the next year, January 1, he will be
two years old. Such young gentle
man in America would be only two
days old. So much for living in ia
pan.
Another curious thing is this-all
the boys in Japan have the same birth
day. The birthday of the boys is the
fifth day of the fifth month (; of the
girls, the third day of the third month.
What jolly time the children must
have, all celebrating the same birth
day!
You would be amazed to see how
the japanese write the names of per-
sons. The given name always follows
the surname, and the title follows that.
For instance, the youngest member Of
my family would not write his name
Mr.. Ethelbert Galloway, but Galloway
Ethelbert Mr.. And if letter should
be addressed to him at home, it would
be written backwards, in this way:
America,
United States,
Mississippi,
Jackson,
Galloway,
Ethelbert !.
Mr..
But these people do nearly every
thing just the opposite from US. They
write from right to left; they turn to
the left on a road or street; they pull
plane, and push drawing-knife;
they count cattle by the tails, and
not heads they say so many tails Of
cattle; they put horses head to the
opening of the stall and many other
things too numerous to mention.
How American boys would enjoy
seeing these Japanese fish They
have peculiar little boats with one
square sail, and go far out to sea on
fishing expeditions. One way they
have Of fishing I especially wanted to
see in order to tell you about it. It
is on certain river, and at night.
They have a number of large birds
called cormorants, around whose bod
les they tie strings, and put them into
the water near their boats. These
cormorants dive into the water after