The sun., 1908-07-19

and Japanese carpe ntering lies essentie lly
In the work of the saw. which with US has been
brought to perfection through centuries OF
experiment. Every wood 10 carefully
studied, it's grain known. the soft and hard
parts used one to supplement the other.
and when we complete q boat. a piece Of
furniture or a house there is not nail in
t, and yet IL is perfectly aa:e and perfectly,
strong and secure.
aThere are long bridges IN Japan reaching
over rivers and lagoons in which there Ia
not nail. and not only the smaller boats
but the larger pleasure craft are built In
the same way. The nail that tears the
beautiful grain OF the woods In practically
unknown to u.s."
You say something about lacquer. and
he misundsrstands. repeating lock and
key and laughing heartily. You do not
correct the mistake. You have heard an
American carpenter curae at the intricacies
Of this lie preserver, but have never known
1t treated with such humor.
1You Americans are great on looks and
keys. You have them everywhere. You
put them on your doors, on your boxes.
ON your cabinets, on your gates. We do
not use them. we have no need for them
In Japan. / think It Is becaase your country
Is 30 easy; 30 easy that people forget and
help themselves to each other's property.
We are not so easy over there. and so We
remember when an article 10 not ours.
ayes. 1t is easy he repeats In mood Of
"Reminiscences. Il 60 to gambling house
here and by and by the policeman comes
in and say: What, not open YETI Hurry
up with your Til. and then they hurry
UP and open. We have no,such policeman
over there, but that IL because We are not
easy / suppose He wears q Shocked ex-
preston in addition to his smile for fear
you may misunderstand, and hastens to
assert that America has treated him well.
He brings a dozen Of Japanese saws
with handles Of camphor wood and light
as fans. The teeth along the edges are
fine as those In mustache comb In some.
and none are as jagged as ours. He wields
deftly and shows how the Japanese worker
always saws toward himself. not away as
the Occidental does. and In using the plane.
a constant companion Of the carpenters
work. this same motion Is made ,trebling, he
says the power Of the arm.
The Japanese carpenter also uses his feet
He wears no shoes and covers them merely
with merino slippers. and when 1t becomes
necessary to hold any big piece Of work 80
that he can have both hands at liberty his
toes are as supple as a monkeys. why
else do you suppose we have toesi' he asks
naively. sYou 60 into an American car
penter shop and you viii see carpenter
holding great block Of wood and saving
with one hand. In Japanese shop the
feet are employed to grip any awkward
substance. The jigger saw is unknown
TO our wo rkmen.
"Then the waste In the American shops!
All the shavings-w do thsy gos' He
moves to q drawer, brings out an armful Of
delicately tinted wall papers and asks you
TO examine them carefully.
There are silvery grays. browns, green's.
lemons. On them are faint markings like
those on maple bark and wood, on beeches,
elms, walnut, mahogany.
'They are the famous japanese wood
papers. 90 fashionable now for interior
decoration. In the Japanese shops the
planes are made very wide. sometimes
eighteen or twenty inches, and when the
wood Is shaved long pieces are taken of.
These are prepared and tinted in a way
ch does not interfere with their being
liable. This cannot be done with Amer
kan papers. and there is besides beautiful
lustre and a design that for beauty cannot
be matched. because 1t Is one OF natures.