St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-01-09
Odd Things in Japan.

III 49,
American eyes. 1t all begins wrong to
start with. Thus, person from the
United States goes west to reach the Tar
East but the remotest West, from the
Japanese standpoint, is the country be
6rst reaches when sailing due east. The
Inhabitants OF an island with an i'm
mense coastline might be expected to be
largely interested in shipping affairs and
to possess modern means Of water trans
portatIon. On the contrary, the first
thing that greets the eye IN The In,
land Sea is sampan, that curious old
craft that has probably remained un-
changed and unimproved for centuries
1t is clumsy boat propelled by sing
oar and that with a joint in it. While
there are double railroad tracks, the
trains are run SO that they pass on the
lett side instead of the right, as in the
United States. Street cars do the same
thing and persons meeting pass to the
left. Railroad travel is less expensive
than in America, as tirstrate class fare
on the government lines is only three sen
a mile, or one and one halt cents Amerl-
can money. More than 80 per cent. OF the
Janpanese public travels third class. Men
make Of themselves beasts OF burden and
horses are rarely seen. What few there
are have their heads refined down instead
Of up There noses are on level with
their knees. Dullocks, wearing shoes OF
matted straw, are used TO some extent.
The output OF the great copper mines IN
the interior, employing 10000 men, is
hauled twelve miles 10 the city OF Nlkko
by bullocks hitched singly to low wheel
ed cars, each carving hal ton of the
metal. Carpenters use tools in the re
verse way. They draw the p'anes to.
ward hem to shave the wood and the
saw cuts only when drawn up instead OF
being pushed down. The government is
now taking up the question Of increasing
the number of dentists. The estimated
population of the empire is 40 100000
and there are only 400 dtntists, or one
dentist to every 100000 persons. There
are cities Of $4,000 population without
single professional dentist 1t is as
serted, however, that the Japanese have
good and well preserved teeth.
All babies have their hair shaved from
part Of the head. 1t is common to see
little girls OF FIVE or six years PLAYING in
the streets each with a baby securely
strapped upon her back. 1t is also pos
slble to see mother hitched to a wagon
heavily loaded and carrying her child up
on her back, Cradles are not used fire.
quently and the babies seem to be in
some ones care constantly. AS in con-
tinental Europe, women BARRIERS are
common and are quite as efficient as the
men. A woman's hair is not only her
Gro wning glory, but also her greatest
care in this Land OF the Rising Sun. 1t
is arranged in so complicated fashion
that in order not to dIsarrange it while
sleeping, large portion of the women
do not use ordinary pillows The sub
stitute is wedge shaped cushion that
fits the back of the neck. Some of the
poorer women have their hair dressed
only once a week. Cripples are rarely
seen in Japan. A Yokohama physician
explains this by the absence of all SO.
called labor saving machinery.
japanese folks crowd the best theatres,
but even their greatest actor, Danjuro,
playing to packed house in his own
theatre in Toxic can get only a cat call
from the gallery occasionally. Revolv.
ing stages are used. The audience eats
and drinks cons antly during the per-
Torrance. Attendants rush about at all
times with kettles Of hot tea and smok-
ing food. Three stated meals are not
the rule in Japan. The japanese wants
to eat and drink frequently. For this
reason, boys and men peddle food and
drinks at every railroad station at all
hours Of the night and day. The cars
are Uttered with little tea kettles and
boxes from which rice and other things
are eaten with chopsticks.
What all Japan admires most seems to
be the lannon's mountain of Fujiyama.
At recent exhibition of paintings at
the imperial galleries in Yueno Park at
Toxic, out of a total OF about eight
hundred pictures displayed, there are
forty eight paintings of the great noun.
t in peak. Curiously enough the tiger
seems to be favorite with the Japanese
assists. There were more than a score
of canvases representing tigers, but there
is not single picture of lion, leopard,
bear or wolf.
The stranger wonders at the crowded
# the tombstones in ceme-
teries. 1t is the custom to bury the dead
in a sitting posture. The collins are
nearly square and it is possible to bury
more of them in a giving space than of
the oblong caskets. Many of the at.
PENDANTS at funerals are clothed in white.
The back cover of an English book
would be the front cover OF Japanese
book. Nearly all the newspapers printed
in the japanese language are folded in
fashion which to an American would
seem cross ise.-[ New York Sun.