The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-21
HE WRITES OF JAPAN
MONTGOMERY MAN RECEIVES
 INTERPRETING LETTER.
William T. Roane Describes a Visit to Capital of Flowery Garden Y the People and Their
 Customs.

RI H Roane of Montgomery has re- ceSved a very interesting letter from his brother William T. Roane who has tray elled in Japan.
 william T. Roane is with the Educa- tional Department in the Philippine is- lands having been appointed from the University of Mississippi, His letter to his brother a young railroad official If Montgomery is especially interesting be- cause it written before the war between Russia and Japan began.
 MT. Roane writes as follows:
 'tAs I promised to write you about my travels in China and Japan on my re- turn here I will do so this morning.
 "I left Manila on the Sunkean, about the 1st of June, and after a voyage of three days arrived at Hong Kong.
 ''The city of Hong Kong is known as Victoria, and is situated on a beautiful harbor. The most wonderful sight that meets ones eye there is the Peak. This is reached by a tram-via, that is. drawn by means of a cable to the top. The road is nearly perpendicular. The hous- es are scattered over very steep hills, but we can easily travel up these hills in chairs, with long poles attached. car- ried OIL the shoulders of the Chinese Go o- lies. There are about 100000 Chinese ii Victoria, but as Great Britian owns the city and island, there. are a great many English there, in fact, one would think he was in a European city.
 ''The police in the city are English and Indians. The Indians are called 'Sikhs.' and are very tall and strong and the Chi nese fear and respect them. During my stay there the plague was very bad, in fact, hundreds of Chinese died every day.
 The Chinese would dump their dead in the streets at night in order to avoid the quarantine of their homes. In some cases the English, would destroy every thing in affected house.
 Walking down Queens Road" one of the most important streets in Hong Kong, one morning, I saw a crowd gath cred around an object and upon closer inspection found 1t to be a child four or five years of age who had died the night before and had been thrown into the street. Bodies from three to four days after death are found and when remov- ed are so decomposed that parts drop from them. This makes the traveller anxious to leave the city.
 "I left Hong Kong on the Nippon Yu- sen Kaisha, which means, Japan Steam- ship Co.,, for Kobe, Japan. The trip took about five days, and every modern convenience can be found on these mag nifcent G,O0O ton twin screw steamers
 '"The first thing one notices when ar- irving close to the coast of Japan Near Kobe are magnificent mountains, GOV r. cd with all kinds of beautiful foliage. What a wonderful country is Japan! 1t consists of about $500 mountainous ls- lands, and compares an area to Great Britian and Ireland. The first thing up- on landing was the examination ot our baggage at the custom house. The Ja- panese are very strict about silks and to- 1,,kV talR dnn fc FNftrs cent.
 From Kobe we went to Oska, one of the most important cities in the Empire. There the exposition of Japan was held this year. The exposition was fine and I think 1t compares favorably with the one held at Nasville. It is indeed sur prising to note the progress of this na- ton. In the last thirty years she has risen from obscurity, to one of the fore most nations
 From Osaka we went to Yokohomd, the principal seaport. Here can be seen the ships from all over the world. It is a beautiful place, and many Americans and Europeans reside there The ral- road fare from Yokohoma, a distance of 3SO miles is only $7 United States curren- cy.
 From Yokohama it took us less than an hour to reach Tokio, the capital. Here Is the seat of the imperial government. and the grounds surrounding the palace are beautiful. They are surrounded by three large meats filled with water and inclosed by large, high walls to keep the people from seeing the palace
 'The mode of travelling through the country and streets is by Jinrikishas. These are drawn by men and some of them go very fast. Most of the houses are small and the roofs are made of tile or slate. There are no doors or windows in the house, but sliding panel is used. No furniture is seen, and upon entering the house you would be requested to re- move your shoes and leave them at the door. I have often wondered why no one would steal the shoes, but there has never been one case of that sort. The floors are so very clean and contain such a high polish that one can see himself from the reflection. They sleep on mats and sit on the floor.
 '"The people are very polite and when you enter their homes or shops they bow several times to the floor and suck their breath through their teeth to show you they are greatly honored by your visit
 ''The hotels in Japan are run on the Eu- ropean plan and cost from $5 to $S per day, about $2. 50 to $4 United States currency.
 "The shoes for the most part are made of wood The men and women wear long gowns, with big sleeves and tie them on with long sashes.
 "The school proposition now occupies a great portion of the interest of the Japa- nese people. There are great many American schools with American teach CTS. The Imperial University at Tokio is immense.
 "Ohe thing that a person especially no- tices in Japan is their cleanliness. The floors shine like polished silver and not a speck of dirt can be seen. Most of the Japanese eat with chop-sticks. Their food consists of rice, pickles and tea.
 ''The most beautiful spot in Japan Is at Nilxko, 200 feet above the sea level. Snow