Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1899-09-15
in
Observations by a Member
of Company A in Yokohama,
Japan.

Musician Pettee Of Company A
wrote the following descriptive letter
from Yokohama, Japan:
Yokohama, Japan, Aug. 14.-The
Grant tied up at the Pacific mail dock
last Thursday night with all we'll on
board, and in the morning we were
marched ashore. The band went off
first, then the North Dakota, Idaho
and Wyoming regiments, all in blue
uniform. With band playing and
colors flying we We're marched in col
umns Of tours from the dock up the
principal street Of, Yokohama-the
Bund they call tito the Grand hotel
AN American establishment. Here
the men were dismissed, and we
found we had indeed fallen among
friends.
The American ladies of Yokohama
were present in force and were abso-
lutely untiring in their efforts to make
the boys happy and at home. A
bureau Of information, a writing
room, place to check parcels, and all
kinds Of good things to eat were fur
nished free. 1t seemed so good to
converse once more with bright AM
erican women that we all felt CRATE
full to them, and Pm glad to say that
the lei from our boat behaved like
gentlemen. l was surprised to hear
that the California regiment, who
We're here Il few days previous, had
acted as a Whole very ungentlemanly
and became intoxicated to such an
extent as to make a provost guard
necessary.
1 am quite well acquainted with q
good many mighty fine boys among
the so-called Gallant First but they
are sadly in the minority and have to
stand by and see their comrades dis
grace their nation in a foreign coun-
try. OF course the conduct of the
returning volunteers has a very great
effect on the opinion the intelligent
little Japs will form of our people, so
the actions Of a few men might be of
more consequence than appears at
first thought. l have noticed that
Americans look more lightly on in
temperance than other nations, espe-
cially by the Japanese. A saloon is
almost an unknown thing among them
as l have ascertained from actual OBJ
servation.
Yokohama is q model Japanese city
and is their principal seaport. 1
found a place where they rented BIZ
cycles and decided to view the town
awheel, which proved to be a very
satisfactory method. They have reg
ular winters and summers here, and
the houses are very similar to AM
erican buildings, a good many being
of brick trimmed with granite. There
are innumerable fine buildings that
would do credit to any American city
and the entire place doesn't look very
different from our home towns. OF
course the people are lore numerous
and oddly dressed but extreme clean
Illness seems to be a national charac-
teristic. Japs eve enter their
houses with their shoes on as is evil
denced by the numerous pairs lined
up by each door. The Japs are not
as far advanced as we are but they
are far ahead Of anything we saw at
Manila-not excepting the Spaniards.
Excuse me from having anything to
do with a Spaniard. Their much
boosted ''hOnOr" and Integrity ex-
lists in such a form that it is hard
for a straight forward North Ameri-
can to understand. At the Grand
hotel a couple Of fashionably dressed
young dons We're engaged in CONVEX
sation and l understand enough of
what they said to make my blood
boil. They detest the sight of an
American, although they pretend to
be very friendly-two-faced rascals
they are.
A good deal Of manufacturing is
1npn hn1.0 01,1 rv1,1rovD,, T 1,Dn ,I %1,o
hum of machinery 1 was drawn to
investigate. Silk mills, cotton and
WOODEN mills, flour mills and all kinds
Of machine shops, ship building and
navy yards We're all found running
busily. They use nearly all Amer
lean machinery and are superintendent
by American workmen. I also Wis
tied their railroad depot and shops
all were very similar to those in Am
erica They have good railroads
and are commencing to manufacture
their own iron and steel. Japan is
at present very busy in strengthening
her army and navy, also defending
her coast. They are very progress
sive and consider the United States
their best friend among nations.
L decided to have a good bed while
on shore, SO went to the Seamen's
Mission-a branch of the one in Maya
saki-and got a fine bed, having, of
course, the luxury of white sheets.
You can't imagine how good it feels
to get into a sweet clean bed. Gov
eminent blankets and canvas hunks
get monot0nous after a while, as do
some other things in the army.
Our second day on shore was
marred by the news that q case Of
small pox had been found on board
the Grant and that u ship was
quarantined by the Japanese govern
ment. We were allowed to stay
ashore till night and then had to go