The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1915-09-22
Everything Seems Oper-
ated Backwards.
THE BLACKSMITH SITS DOWN
To Do His W0rk-N0 Chin.
neys For Houses-Con.
Stantly Bathing.
WINDOW pANEs ARE NOT USED


ed around, upside down, inside out,
topsy turvey things are IN japan. A
Japanese carpenter draws the plane
toward himself and a blacksmith
sits down to work. A Japanese
blacksmith never knows the joys of
getting tickets to the circus, for he
hasn't place for the advance man to
paste up his three-sheets. The whole
front of a japanese blacksmith shop
is open with other buildings damned
up so close on each side that the cir
Gus man couldn't get n poster in. A
Japanese book begins on our last
page and finishes on our first para
graph. And their sentences begin at
the top of the page and read down.
like long columns of figures. They
wear white to funerals and judge
poetry by the beauty of the hand
writing.
Japanese houses haven't any
chimneys, so that you may see
/ whole plateau of houses with not
single curl of smoke as far as the
eye can reach. The japanese cook
ing is done outside the house in
little charcoal stove. They have no
stoves to keep themselves warm
only little hibachis-gallon jars with
charcoal in them, covered with fine
ashes. There isn't enough heat in
one to SINCE miller, and whenever
they get too cold they take a warm
bath. Bathing is a sacred rite.
Whenever they have spare mo-
ment they run and take a bath.
When business is dull they hurry to
public bathhouse and jump in; if
they miss one train they take bath
while waiting for the next. They,
take them hot-steaming, sizzling
hot. And the strange thing is they
don't do the bathing in the tub; they
have little foot baths about the size
of crooks that they use for washing
themselves, and when they are thor
oughly clean they climb into the tub.
If you should get into the tub first
the proprietor would break into tears
and tell you that you were bankrupt
ing him, for the same water is used
all evening, no difference how many
guests the hotel has. After soaking
awhile they crawl out. steaming all
over, gently blot themselves, get into
kimonos and sit around bare-ankled.
One would think that before the ev-
ening was over fieet-footed runner
would have to be dispatched for
medical assistance, but instead of
that they never catch cold.
One thing to be thankful for is
that the floors are not boards cover
ed with carpets. as they are in our
country; in Japan they are covered
with mating three inches thick. and
when you sit down you are given
cushion and a padded two-legged
milk-stool on which you are suppos-
ed to lean gracefully with one elbow,
while you use the chop sticks with
serve soft-fried eggs. | never knew
until | tried to eat soft-fried egg
with a couple of knitting needles,
why the Japanese invited Americans
out to dine with them. Now / I'M
derstand why they preferred having
me to dinner to attending a comedy
at the Imperial Theater. assert.
without fear of successful contradic-
ton, thatno white person will everbe
able to eat soft-fried egg with ease
and grace while lightly chatting
with his Japanese host--he cannot
help worrying about his chin and
wondering II the kimono will wash.
A Japanese house hasn't single
window. And it's only the most sty-
lish of them that have a pane of
glass. A person who has pane of
glass somewhere in his house sets
the social pace in that neighborhood.
Instead of glass they have paper
pasted on sliding frames. and
through the paper the light filters.
one wonders how they keep
the rain out; this is little trouble.
for outside the paper walls are a Sc
ries of wooden doors, which also
slide back and forth.
When the time comes to retire.
you look around for the bed, but
there isn't one in sight. 1t is rolled
up In a drawer. and the Japanese
wouldn't know bedsiead from a
quilting frame. Millions of people
in Japan have grown to manhood.
voted. paid taxes and gone to their
reward without ever having clapped
eyes on an American bedstead. To
make the bed ready. the servant
opens the drawer and unrolls the