The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-11-04
c. WEDNESDAY MORNING, NOV VEMBER 4, 1896

pen and pencil utterly drops from the
fingers in despair ] believe IN the
carminc lotus the glory Of nature can
90 no further The houses are nearly
all of straw, with the thatched roof.
in whose sides a hole like unto dor
mcr window allows the smoke to es-
cape. The walls arc also of straw.
through which the daylight is often
visible, so that in that bitter climate
it must be hard struggle to endure
the long winters. Almost on every
roof you see the grass and plants
growing. with frequently regular
flower garden Of tiger lilies. About
two doors, front and rear, serve for all
practical needs, and windows Of any
kind arc conspicuous by their invisi-
bility. In the extreme north We
passed several horse farms, where the
best japanese stccds are bred for the
cavalry Of the army, as many as one
thousand yearly butno cattle, swine,
sheep, or other familiar domestic ami
mails arc in sight. Not the least pic
turesquc portion Of the landscape is
the tccming population. They seem
to be ever on the move. | doubt if
any nation on earth use the railways
as much as the mass of The people
here. 1t is tho same in the street
cars in the cities, Or the bassha on the
highways. Nearly all travel third
fare, which is very cheap. 1t is a
triho warm in Japan in August, and
the primitive innocence of the race is
frequently repeating itself. Asarulc
tho laboring women arc dlyrobcd down
to the waist, and the lat,..n- mcn
devn to string. The little angels of
tho plains usually have neither robes
nor string This va, quite a shock,
as well as picturesque, at first, but
long ere my vacation had ended both
the startling and romantic had van.
ished. Indeed, had seen quite an
abundance Of the same kind much
nearer Tokyo than these.
My stay in Aomori was brief, as I
desired tU move on To 4 more falubri
Gus cline. Here, too, We have very
hopeful work, and arc the only church
in the city save the Presbytcrians.
The governor of Aomori has daugh
ter in our St. Marearct's school here
in Tokyo, as also son, who is one of
our communicates in San Francisco
For these reasons himself and wife are
very courteous towards our mission
aries, which means great deal in this
land of of1icialdom. We now leave
IIondo for Yczo, also called the Hok-
kaidc. Only channel Of about fifty
miles separates them. yet the two is.
lands arc as geologically distinct as if
they belonged to two hcmisphercs.
The flora of Yczo is quite like that Of
our Southern States, while the fauna
varies so from the main island that it
is possible they have been separated
for ages. Mororau, the southern ter
minis of the lIokkaidc r. r., lying
across Volcano bay, was the next de-
sired haven. 1t was in this bay I saw
my first school Of sperm whales. One
festive fellow followed quito close to
the boat, presenting several times
full view of his mighty frame. In
deed, such socability served To make
us a little uncomfortable. 10 see the
graceful curves of silver spray issue
from his aristocratic head as be
dashed about, recalled the pictures Of
the Second Reader about twenty-five
or thirty years ago. 1t is usually a
tcmpestuous sea off IIokodatc Head.
on all Of which occasions | promptly
"go down = but on this ride the sea
was as placid as this paper on which |
am writing. So | remained up.
The sail along the shore was equally
as lovely as that by rail through Hon
do, while several active yolcauos COM
manding the bay and towering sky
ward, did not dctract from the inter.
cSting scene. One of these had the
pleasure Of ascending on the return
trip.
Now we arc in the country Of the
Amos, the descendants Of the aborigi-
ncs Of .Jaran-''thc hairy men, az
they are called. and properly SO
When the ancestors Of the present
japanese came over from Corea some
time about the beginning Of the
Christian era, they gradually dispos-
scsscd these Amos of the main island.
at last driving them into \ Iezo, where
alone they may now be found. AS al
ways happens to the inferior race,
they arc fast vanishing one. They
number at present only about fifteen
thousand in the Hokkaido, as against
$50, 900 Of japanese Their decrease
is due somewhat to absorption BY mar,
riagc with the japanese, but to a
much greater degree by disease
These Amos have pushed in
to the interior until it is rare to see
nne by passing on the train. Only
two or three villages arc seen along
the whole line of the road. The route
TO Sapporo recalled now one of the in
terminablc swamps Of Arkansas, now
nnc Of the rolling pralrics of fthc West
Ny surroundings were distlnctlvcIy
American. Trees that | climbed in
earlier year. lined the road flowers
as common as those of our hedges
SMILED on nc as | passed. The road
itself was built hy an American firm,
md said to be the cheapest ever con,
-tructed On looking at the aplcndid-
ly built engine ! saw the legend
baldwin locomotive Works, l.. S
A - stepped the rroulcr at the
sight, for the engines III llondo arc
the English pattern, which, Of course,
is always inferior to the American
The Hokkailo is destined to be the
sranary OF japan it only needs
American energy and industry to de-
vclop it.
Sapporo was reached August Sth.
Here again is strictly American
.ity. though do not know whether
five Americans dwell there. Perhaps
not twenty foreigners, all told. Some
time in the seventies General Capron
and number of .\ncricon employees
laid out the place and inauguratcd a
number of Western enterprises but
the japanese could not keep the
pace thus set. and much of the
movement came to naught. But the
broad well paved streets, the i'm.
proved sewerage, electric lights. and
! |, tn