The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-08-14
CAPT. F. Lei. PARKER.
Decrbes Scenes in japanese Town, and Tells Something
Of How He Dined-A Curious People Of Curious Custons
July "a, 1901
July -, ISUt'
Al Sea IL 6. A u M tAue.

July "a 1901.
At Sea U. S. A. I. Meade"
Today is Thursday. aud we expect TO reach
San Francisco Saturday.
We left Manila just about midnight OF the
The i;oat would have sailed at .. m, but
General Macarthur. who was one or the pas
sengers, could not very well iall 10 atlehu
reception given in his honor oy the new gov
eruor, Judge Taft. SO the Meade waited, WIN
steam up, mis- return from ashore and then
started out Of the harbor.
The III rst few days OF our trip were very un-
eventiul, although the passenger ilst was
large. the people seemed quiet ami subdued.
was walked up on the morning OF the 9th
from q cot in which / bad slept on deck 10
keep cool, To find the boat entering very
picturesque harbor, which proved 10 be that oi
The queer little Japanese light house at the
entrance looked very odd In the early oaWp
Japan has certainly the sdvan tage OF being
characteristic, even In the imitation OF west
ern nations.
Aswe were delayed a few moments waiting
for the health officer to come ABOARD, oelore
proceeding down the harbor, had time 10 go
below, get dressed and return win my CAIN
era TO get the benefit Of the picturesque seed
cry as we steamed several miles tnrougn d
the city. BY this time the sun was well up
and l got some pictures, which nope VIII
turn out nicely-the only ones was aole 10
take, since II Is penal ofsnce 10 use Gamers era
Japs had taken especial pleasure IN sendlng
TO the penitentiary two Russian officers VINO
had been detected violating this law. IneS
would probably not be so severe OIL an Amer
ican but did not care to take any chances
of missing the Meade, so my Japanese Pic
lures were taken at long range.
One OF our first things that attracted our at
tenLion was the native way OF propelling
boat. Instead OF rowing or sculllng from ti'e
centre Of the stern, Jap moves MS craft oy
means OF long pole resting on one corner ol
a mo hpN
the boat. Standing 80 as 10 lace the sue o.
the latter. he pushes his end OF the pole acros,
the boat and then pulls 1t back again Win u
twist of the wrist. In this way he gets up
very respectable speed and mauipu lates II
boat 20 or 80 feet long, with considerable ease.
Before the Meade had let her anchorage, we
were surrounded by three "Sampans," ana as
soon as the gang plank was lowered stream
Of enterprislng tradesmen and peddlers came
aboard with u most varied assortment OF
The tailors seemed to be out In particularly
strong force aud would guarantee a satisfac
tory suit, made TO order from any OF thelr
sam mples In six hours time. A good many OF
the passengers invested In clothes, especially
those officers who had been In the provinces
and had no opportunity TO keep supplied VIII,
presentabe wardrobes. AS 1t was uncertain
whether would need furs Tor South Dakota,
or duck for Texas, did not invest.
AS soon as possible the coal lighters were
alongside and the real business OF the day be-
Women. and a Queer looking lot they were.
l was particularly struck with their social
ideas as TO dress re form-or more correctly
dress ON missoD-and the entire aosense OF
any embarrassing false modesty about ap-
pearances in public. Just as the WORK was
about TO begln one Of the women fell over
board. On being pulled back by her conpan.
ions she stood on the deck of the lighter and
made complete change OF clothes with 10
more apparent consciousness than an Amerl-
can woman would show in adjusting her nat.
Many of the women had their children with
the family contained girl OF nine
or ten, the latter carried at least one baby.
slung on her back SO as TO leave only lts
head and neck free TO wabole about. ii d"
girl was available. the mother carried tne
baby in the same way while she worked Win
the coal baskets. 1t Ia nothing uncommon
to see q party OF children playing together
and sisters about, the latter half the time fast
asleep in the midst OF the jabber and noise,
with their heads hanging back and bohbing
up and down with every motion OF tnr
human perambulator. IL eVloently pays 10
be boy in Japan.
After break fast went ashore and spent the
morning looking about in the stores TO See
what wanted TO buy. 1t was very interest
ing. AS knew, however, that we would have
two or three days In which TO make our pur-
chases i did more looking around than buy
Tne Japs are fully alive TO the fact tia,
Americans are particularly fond OF being
swindled, and humor the fancy for all they
the way. The arrival of troops en- route Il
the signal for the doubling, at least OF all
prices, and some enter TprislDg tradesmen Keep
special set Of price tags 10 put on When q
transport IL reported In sight. Az the same
time they do business with the smiling gen.
iallty Of man who Is doing you favor, but
enjoys 1t because he likes you 20 much.
In the afternoon Craig, Schoteld and TOOK
into the suburbs, ending up with some more
shopping. The "jinrikishaw" is a great in
stitution. IL Is practically little two wheel
ed buggy, just large enough TO hold one per
son, with u muscular little Jap IN place OF d
horse. 1t involves none OF the responsibility
OF driving, and has all the iatter's advantage
larly pleased when seItled my first bill, and
found that for some five hours use, my bill
was 2S cents in our money.
In the evening we took In some OF the tee
houses. / presume that the ones we see are
kept up chiefly by the patronage OF foreign
sightseeing people, but they are quite Inter
esLing nevertheless. The best one OF These
we saw was beautifully clean and neat, the
floor being covered with the freshest Of matt
Ing. We Understood how II was kept so fresh
when the proprietor made US take OH oul
shoes at the door. The Japs bave the custon
OF leaving their shoes outside, and insist on
Its being compiled with by foreigners In tneil
temples, tea houses, &c.
The chief objection saw to the custom wal
the fact that The people, and especially the
women, save trouble by wearing simply toe
slippers, sometimes set in top OF heavy wood
en- clogs; as these have no heels TO hold then
on, 1t is necessary In walking TO drag the Z, e
along the ground 10 prevent them from slipp
walk.
On entering the tea house and removing
our shoes, We were shown into pretty, coo
room, with thicker mating than usual L
take the place Of chairs. The ceiling which
was new, WAS covered with innumerable lit
tie paper wheels, fastened by pins, neces
sary precaullon 10 crcumvent the little de
wills that otherwise iniest new house. Tn
dancing which formed the main feature o
the entertainment. as we did not care for tn
tea and cake. was in teresting chiefly az nov
city. II did not strike inc as remarkabl.
graceful. though the costumes OF the geisha
made the scene very bright and attractiv
one
The music was most remarkable, although
the instruments themselves we're not ver
different in appearance from banjos ant
drums. The banJo-like Instrument was pick
ed on the principle OF the mandolin, eXcep
that the "pick," Instead OF being the size OF
twenty-five cent piece, was built on the gen
eral lines OF u meat cleaver, and was abuu
eight inches long.
The music and dancing was accompanie
by singing that could be compared only 10
very disorderly cat concert. The most Inter
esting thing In the affair was the appearing
OF the actresses themselves. The best OF tn
geishss are about ten or twelve years old, au
in the quaint gowns they suggest nothing s
much as dainty little pieces OF doll mechar
ism.
The representations we are accustomed t
see OF japan eve costumes, &C., are not at q
exaggerated, and the little ladies that look 8
you from ian or piece OF tapestry are Ju'
like these one sees on the streets or In IN
houses OF NagaSaki. I did not, however, fin
the women especially pretty, in fact onl
saw two or three that could be classed .
such.
The second day of our stay. spent prime
paIIy in the shopping district.
Menoher took Inc to curio shop, whic
proved so fascinating that spent most OF th
day there. The WORK 10 ne seen was of tn
greatest variety and beauty, and benefitte
me more than anything ever saw In a stor,
pnIsOnic " ar hoo if,,l