The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-03-05
MOE WRITES OF
JAPANESE TRAVELS

One Of the interesting experiences %
the Japan trip is the daylight ride on
the Imperial railway through the eoun-
try. Leaving Tokyo at Shimbashi sta
tion, on the Shimonoseki limited. we
were whirled through cities and viii
lages in a never ending panorama Of
quaint scenes. Stops were mace about
every 50 miles TO change engines and
look over the equipment. Funny little
water carts were drawn up to the side
Of the frst'elass coaches. and water
pumped by hand through a hose into
the tanks.
Everything in Japan is of the dwarf
variety. The coaches are small. the
engines small, track narrow guage. and
everything condensed into small space.
The equipment is patterned after
American style, the engines built in
Germany and America, and the coaches
in America. The air brakes work by
the vacuum instead Of compressed air,
following as nearly as possible the
principle of the japanese to do every
thing the opposite way to American
methods. Coaches are of first, second
and third class. Excess fare is charged
on limited trains. Seats in the first
and second class coaches run length
wise, after the manner of street cars,
but the seats are wider, so that the
native Japs can slip off their sandals
and curl up on the cushions Oriental
fashion. There are no conductors on
the trains. The ticket must be shown
before going through the gate, ard is
taken up after leaving the train by the
gate man in passing out.
At the principal stations are water
basins for the second and third class
passengers. drinking fountains, ETC.,
those coaches not having these accom-
modations for the occupants. Peddlers
of all sorts meet the trains and hawk
their wares. Newsboys. with tray
suspended by strap from the shoul.
ders, offer for sale literature of all
kinds. One of the publications that
could be recognized was PUCK" in
Japanese. Boys and girls with the
native oranges, some loose and some
done up in small bamboo baskets, or in
a small net, holding a dozen or more,
for 10 sen five cents gold. Others
have lunches packed in cute little bas-
kets. The lunches contain a piece of
meat, bread, butter, salad or pickles.
cake. paper napkin, tooth pick and a
bamboo splint to use as fork. Curl
Gus other packages wrapped up in
small baskets, tubs, or piece Of split
bamboo. As few of the peddlers speak
English and there is no time to inspect
the packages. one takes chance and
buys prize package. Some OF
these prove palatable, but most OF
them, while considered delicacies by
the natives. do not appeal to the Amer
lean. The writer drew" a bamboo
tub of a kind of salad, which appeared
to be mostly garlic and horseradish.
Some of the hawkers had large de-
canter of hot tea, from which they
filled small earthenware teapot with
wicker handle, Gaping it with small
cup. All this for four sen two cents).
The ladies of the party were enthusl-
astic over these souvenirs, and invari-
ably bought out the stocks of the depot
merchant. The tea was very good.
At The stations government porters
handle the grips of the first class pass
engers, exacting small fee for the
service. The guards in the coaches are
respectful and attentive to passengers.
The rock ballasted road bed, together
with the hydraulic hamper on each
coach, which fits against similar on
the connecting coach, insures comfort
in travelling not often experienced on
American trains. The speed is not
very great, not ecxeeding 25 miles an
hour as a rule, but every measure is
taken for safety. The road is double
tracked between the principal cities.
In passing over a mountain pass or
around the base of Mt. Fujiama, which
can be plainly seen from the train for
long distance on clear day, large
mountain engines of the American pat
tern, act as helpers.
The pleasure of the journey to the
tourist, however, lies in the quaint
landscape. The train passes through
fields of rice, tea, ginseng and vege-
table gardens, although at this season
of the year. only the small tea bushes
and sprouting rice are much in evil
dence. Young onions, caulitlOwer, cab
hage and lettuce are seen in green
patches. The rice fields, which seem
TO comprise the bulk of the farm
products. are a curious crazy quilt of
| irregular patches, the beds. beiug level,
and covered with water, and in case of
slope to the ground, are in terraces.
The rice is sprouted from the seed in
beds raised to a higher level than the
beds for maturing the plant, the small
plants being transplanted much after
the manner of our strawberries. They
are set out with mathematical accur-
acy about six inches apart, and the
beds flooded with water. Very rarely
did we see any other than hand labor,
the workers using a sort of wide blade
| mattock to turn over the soil. The
divisions between the rice beds are
about foot high, and serve as paths.
Every foot of tillable ground is util-
lied. Rolling land or mounds are lev.
eled, the irregular patches being the
result of conforming to contours of
the land, or running around natural OBJ
stacles. While the rice patches are
mostly so to 100 feet square, some are
no more than a few feet wide and a
dozen long, or crescent shape. This
land is owned mostly by old estates
and rented out. the unit of measure
ment being six feet square. 1t is
valued at about $1,000 an acre. The
farmers live mostly in small colonies
along the highway, where a dozen
houses will cover no more space than
large barn on an American farm.
The renter of the land makes a bare
subsistence, even as little as are his
requirements.
The highways around the large cities
are excellent although narrow, being
only about l6 feet wide. They are
mostly of sand-clay material, but
great attention is paid to grades. As
there are not many autos, and most of
the hauling is done by men hauling a
two wheeled cart, these roads are kept
free from ruts and in good condition.
In an auto ride from Yokahama to
kamakura. about 20 miles, several
tunnels were passed through; at other
places abrupt hills were cut down and
fills made, so that it made a road al
most as level as railroad grade, al
| though winding around in a bewilder.