St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-09-13
Japan OF TODAY
George II. Colby Writes of Its Com.
ditions and Prospects. Work.
of MIR. Henison.

! i am writing iyoH Df a new Empire
dalism; of "a most remarkable race
hut recently emerged from harhar-
ism. History presents no parallel to
the rapid growth and development
,of this wonderful people, for the real
progress of Japan dates only from
| 1868, or from the accession of the
present Emperor. The reforms be-
gan with the Government and work
ed downward to the people. In jEldgg-
! ing of Japan, therefore, we must do
SO from the ruling classes and not
/ fran the masses, for the ruling
classes are progressive while the
masses are conservative.
/ Tourist differ widely in their esti-
mate of the Japanese character,
hence the varied conjactures regard
ing the future cof this new empire;
and even so well versed a writer on
Japan as Lafcadio Hearn, in express
! ing dis views of eastern peoples,
makes the startling statement that
''the Occidental cannot understand
the Oriental mind Having lived
two years in daily intercourse with
! the Japanese and lately travelled
1000 miles or more in the Empire,
visiting town and country, mingl1ng
with all classes, | concur with this
statement, for 4 often had occasion
to modify my views concerning this
peculiar people. Two thousand or
more years of hermit life must pro-
duce in a nation peculiar character
istics which, to our civilized life,
would seem strange if not mysterl-
Gus. Go with me then to this far
off land, which I describe to you as
saw it.
The night of October 18th our
steamer skirted the shores Of Japan,
and at eight a. m. on the morning OF
the 10Th, at the breakfast hour we
entered the bay of Toxic and before
us behe1d the city OF Yokohama,
while to our right, distant about "a
mile, was the old town of Kama
gowa, where Commodore Perry land
ed in 1853, and which is now sub
urb of Yokohama. Sampans innum-
cradle soon surrounded us, with now
and then steam yacht from a hotel
in the city confronting us. Casting
anchor in the stream we were soon
landed on the wharf fronting the
customs, where we. were delayed but
a moment. At our left we were
surprised to see modern structures
not unlike those at home, while di-
rectly before us on our right, sepa-
rated by broad canal, were to be
seen nothing but low japanese build
ings. We were directed across the
street to a small booth where we
found a Chinese money changer, and
here we parted with SIS greenland
in exchange for ten yen of japanese
bank bills. These bills are about
two-thirds the size of our American
bank notes, are printed in black
with the Emperor's likeness in one
corner, are exchangeable for gold
coins at par value and are of -vari-
Gus denominations from one to 1000
yen.
Here we were first introduced to
the jinrikisha, or one-man power
carriage, which is an enlarged baby
carriage drawn by native placed
between two thills. The wheels of
the carriage are about two-thirds
the diameter of our carriage wheels,
and they are constructed for one or
two passengers, are provided with
carriage robe to keep the rider from
the rain and a hood or covering
to shut out the rays of the sun. TAX
ing our seat and placing our bags in
front of US we we're soon on our
way to the railway station, distant
about a mile. Here we discharged
our jinrikisha man by the payment
of 20 sen Go cents) and entered the
station.
The Railway Station.
This structure was quite like most
of the stations on the various rail-
way lines of the empire. 1t was a
wooden building of sufficient length
to shelter a long train, and on our
right were rooms for first-class pas
sengers and also for second and
third class combined. An informa-
ton bureau was just outside, where
English as well as Japanese was
spoken, and directly in front of the
entrance was a small booth for the
sale of tickets, where was installed |
middle aged woman as . ticket
agent. Purchasing our tickets, we
passed through a gateway where it
was demanded and punched, when
we were admitted to stone flooring
as long as the station, where we
found ourselves facing a narrow
guage railway bed with coaches to /
which were attached sign-boards de- /
noting their destination as well as |
their class, list, End, or 3rd. The I
coaches on all the roads we travelled |
in Japan were a compromise between
the English and the American, win
d I6uQ0nCy IOWdIO Tie S6nOId1 cl-
rangement of the latter. They were
lighted by electricity and heated like
the European coach and were pro-
vided with closets and lavatories. On
long runs meals were served and
sleeping berths were provided. At
all stations porters were to be found
who were readily recognized by a
red band on their caps. A system of
checking baggage prevails every
where not unlike that at home, and
while no one is annoyed on the
trains by the ubiquitous newsboy
one finds all his wants in this line
at the railway station,
where vendors of food, drinks, read
ing matter, cigars, etc., may always
be found.
The distance to Toxic is Is miles
Z q -L=--- !