The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-08-25

no uncommon sight. to see an engineer
in his bare feet The Japs are a great
set They don't overload themselves
with clothes and they attend to natures
call when and where they feel like it. ]
have to have an interpreter with me all
the time, also a cook, as 1t is impossible
TO eat their grub When we go to ho-
tel we have to take our shoes of, and
sit on the floor, as they have no chairs
or tables When want a drink of wa
ter 1 have to tell my interpreter to tell
my boy to get me a bottle of water
can't go to the store or anywhere with
out my interpreter at my SIDE He pays
all bills, buys railroad tickets and every
thing When we travel walk to the
cars on Riksna, and get on. Don't bother
with anything, simply because can't.
When pay bills he translates them so
can see if they are right. He makes out
the check in Japanese and I sign it.
There are dug wells in this country
600 feet to 1,S00 feet deep. They pump
air down to workmen and use ropes
made of rice straw.
The Japanese hotels are a fraud. A
very few have chairs or tables. Nine out
of ten sit on the floor, eat on the floor,
and sleep there on a rug. Before going
to bed we have to fill the bed with in
sect powder, or the feas would eat as
up. Men and women battle together in
the same big tub. The people are very
polite and have had no trouble with
them yet I'm moving our stuff out here.
1t was all carried or dragged by men and
women. The women do most of the hard
work. There was 80 of them on the
boiler. 1t is a round one feet 10 inches
by 8 feet, forty 3 inch fiues in it. We
could not handle one of our boilers here.
We pay people for that kind of work 10
to 20 cents, our money, a day. Ny cook
gets $3.50 per month, interpreter $40. My
interpreter is well educated, a good book
keeper, can talk Chinese, japanese and
English, and is a good typewriter In
some parts of this oil field they get 8 and
10 feet of snow. In the winter time have
to use snow shoes, but it don't get cold
They have no ice. The mountains are
white with snow now. have been up
to snow line twice since I came In
some of the villages we visit I can hard
ly get along the streets for the kids
-crowding around to see the foreigners
We have visited several places where mr.,
taken great many pictures of the diff
ferent places and have some very good
ones VIII send you batch as soon as I
can find time to print them When the
people find out have a camera they
annoy me all the time to take their pic
lures We are picking up great many
relics The people at the hotel here gave
me handful of old coins for taking their
picture. Some of the coins are over 200
years old, have been in this family that
long. bought a fine tea set a few davs
ago, made on Saddo Island They are
very rare, and there is only one place in
Japan they can be bought They had
just one set when / was there. Five
cups, teapot and hot water pot cost me
ven, 81 our money An old man in this
place IS making me a tea set out Of
white clay carved and burned It will
take him a month to make and burn it:
when done he will charge me 81 10 ON.
money. The hotel proprietor here saws
he is charging me 10 cents too much be-
cause I am a foreigner