Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-11-15
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE RECORDER sSPHc-
IAL CORRESPONDENT, Who Is
MAKING A Tour OF THE EAST
ERIN COUNTRIES.
fSnecial IN RecLrder)
Especial to Recorder.)

ERIN COUNTRIES.
Especial to Recorder)
Yokohama, Japan, August a.
quick and pleasant trip from Hon
olula has brought me to the thresh
hold Of the Flowery Kingdom.
am still at the Threshold for
write this letter on board thu
steamer as we wait in Tokyo bay
where are anchored two miles from
land. One of the tYphoons, those
terrible revolving windstorms fol
which this coast is famous, ha'
been blowing, and We have beer
waiting for the heavy swell to sub.
side 30 we can land. There are nc
wharves at Yokohama, and We
have to 60 ashore in small boats
A swarm Of sampans, clumsy ma
tive boats, is around the ship and
the men 10 them are clamorinR
Justify for passengers. but the
captain sa, to wait, and we do not
care to risk our lives just to get on
land.
Vas going to tell you how
these japanese boatmen are dress
ed but the better word to use is
"undressed." They wear vide
sleeved, seanty garment which
reaches to the krees. and in add.
ton to this some of them have a
cloth bound around their heads.
The boys are not so we'll dressed for
all they have on is the marc, or
loin cloth which the law compels
them to wear. Most of them are
hideously tattooed. They keep up
continuous chatter, interspersed
with shouts OF ''hai," 'hsi." which
is a warning for the other boatmen
C., get out of their way. These
sampans are so tightly packed
about the ship that one could walk
over them as upon a snrging floor.
Our trip from Honolulu was
broken by a stop st Midway Island,
a most desolate spot in a desOlate
ocean, where cable operators and
thousands Of sea birds are the only
inhabitants. The monotony of the
lives of these men must be terrible,
and were it not for their communi-
cation with the world over their
cables they surely would 20 insane.
The poor fellows were glad to talk
with the passengers Of the ship.
and said they got SO lonesome at
times that it was only by greatest
effort of mind that they stood the
awful isolation. Two of the ope-
rators who we're ON The island went
insane, and now they are changed
every three months so they can
stand the strain.
At Guam, where we also stopped,
conditions are somewhat better,
for in addition to the Americans
lhere are natives, and the island is
covered with trees. The natives OF
Guam are similar to those of the
Philippines, and they have learned
the value Of international COM
merce, for they brought many cur
los to the vessel to sell to the pas
sengers. They have learned that
people on ships are easy victims
and they demand extraordinary
prices for their wares. | am told
that when whites fisrt came to the
island they could buy beautiful
tapas, shields and clubs for what
ever they chose to give, but now
You have to pay more than is ask
ed in San Francisco for the same
articles. II does not take long fol
the savage to learn that the tourist
and his money are easily parted.
have been much impressed by
this trip across the Pacific. In al
the days at sea since we left Sar
Francisco We have not seen q sin
gle vessell of any description until
we entered the harbors OF Honolu
lu and Yokohama. | wondered
what would happen if an accident
should compel US to take 10 the
small boats while away out in thu
ocean. Our chance OF rescue
would have been small indeed
Fortunately the weather was beau
tiful until we ran into the outer
edge of the typhoon on the coast
of Japan. | am glad it was mol
the inner circle for the edge wat