The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-09-07
FROM KARUIzAWA
Correspondent Writes Of Trip
From Yokohama.
WONDERFUL MOUNTAIN TUNNEL
Incidents Along the Route
of the Railway.
Comfortably Established in an Old
Tea House-Arrangem
of the Rooms.
Especial Correspondence
Karuizawa. Aug. 19. Is

Karuizawa, Aug. 19, 1897.
EDITOR P. G. Awe left Yoko-
hama Wednesday morning for this
in all Japan. AT an elevation of 3,400
feet the air is pure, and of about the
temperature of our Honolulu summer
trades. 1t is on the back bone of the
from the East to the West coast, but
just over the ridge on the western
side. 1t is a large plain, circular, three
miles in diameter. 1t looks as if it
had been in ages past a mountain
lake of large dimensions. The soil is
gravelly loan, not under cultivation,
except in patches. Some small shrubs
dot the vast expanse Of green, which
would seem to be the ideal locality
for grass and hay. But 1 have seen
no cattle pasturing in the fields, and
it is said that sheep cannot be kept,
because Of the Omnipresence of the
buffalo grass, which is so tough and
wiry as to cut their tongues.
japanese railroads are not run at
breakneck speed. 1t took us eight
hours and a half to make the trip
from Yokohama. We came from YOkO-
hama to Tokyo, Is miles, in 81 minutes.
A boy from the hotel, bought our
tickets, checked our baggage, and
placed us and our hand baggage in
the best available car. We were favor
ed with the company Of a lady mis-
sionary to whom we had been intro
drced, and whom we trusted implicitly
in the different changes of trains that
we had to make, four times in this
one short journey. The railroads are
run on the European system. No per-
son is allowed to pass on to the plat
form without ticket, which is punched
at the stile, and given up on going out
at ones destination. There were no
conductors to call for tickets at any
stage of the journey, and no calling
of names of the stations.
The cars were second class and third
class, the compartments running across
the cars in European style. The third
class had no cushions, and in this only
did they differ in appearance from
the third class. These seemed dirty
as we'll as hard, and were said to be
infested with f1eas. There were plenty
of railroad officials in blue serge caps
and suits. Many of them were young
boys, serving their apprenticeship for
their future life work. Crossing the
tracks except by the bridges was strict
ly forbidden, but this was too much
for rheumatic knees, and in our in
nocence we crossed the rails.
The country for the first six hours
was one level plain, well cultivated,
without fences, the various small
patches showing beans, tomatoes, In
dian corn, taro, sweet potatoes, all very
much like the vegetation to which we
were accustomed. In fact the scenery
did not seem strange at all. The jap
anese cottages were partly thatched,
partly shingled, partly tiled. The uni
form dingy black does not enliven the
landscape, nor the somberness of the
village streets. The long strips of cloth
or paper, emblazoned in red and yell
low and white, served to give bright
ness to the scene, as we passed village
after village. These all seemed neat,
tidied up for inspection, as do not the
railroad villages of our Western States
Among the curious sights at the,dif-
ferent stations were the vendors of
cakes Of all kinds of incredible cheap
ness. Strangest of all was the peddling
of cubes of ice, two or three inches in
length, for one sen, half cent in Unit
ed States money. 1t is brought from
the mountain lakes, and looked like
purest crystals. Fruit was to be had
also. apples. peaches, grapes, all pick /
ed before full ripeness. The heat on
the plains at noon was intense. but the
OF the Grand Hotel had put
up a basket of toothsome edibles for |,
our tiffin, not forgetting some bottles |
of Hirano water.
We finally reached the base Of the !