First-, second- and third-class cars are_Seven Legs Across the Seas: A Printer's Impressions of Many Lands

running from Kowloon to Canton. The first-class coaches are of

European style--compartments--and the second- and third-class cars are

open, with an aisle and seats on both sides, like the American cars,

but without cushions. The fare for first-class travel was six cents a

mile, and three cents for second-class accommodation. The water

pirates, like hippopotami on a foraging expedition, sometimes take a

stroll from their river haunts and succeed in plundering the

passengers of the railway train. Along the line could be seen small,

level patches of ground, not over four feet in length in some

instances, banked on a hillside by stones to keep the soil from

washing away, on which grain and vegetables grew. Little land is

allowed to go to waste in China.

Back I went to Hongkong.

CHAPTER III

An American ship was boarded at Hongkong for Manila, P. I., but the

vessel had been built in Glasgow, Scotland. The distance from Hongkong

to Manila is 630 miles, and 60 hours' time is required to sail between

the two points. The fare, first-class, was $25--four cents a mile for

sea travel. One has little choice anent "class" on these boats, as

second-class is very inferior. First-class accommodation, however, was

good. After two days of rough sailing land was sighted, and next

morning the ship passed through the right channel of Corregidor Island

into Manila harbor. Thirty miles from the entrance is Manila. After

leaving the ship, it was the first time I had been on American

territory for nearly three years.

What a marked difference in the appearance of streets in Manila to

other cities of the Far East. Instead of Chinese or natives moving

merchandise and other wares on split bamboo sticks or by ox carts, or

donkeys drawing two-wheeled vehicles, large, fat mules and horses were

hitched to big, four-wheeled trucks loaded with heavy wares, together

with big motor trucks taking part in the healthy business scene.

Besides, flitting about the streets were light, neat-appearing,

two-wheeled vehicles drawn by smart-moving ponies. The two-wheeled

trap, called a calesa, is the chief conveyance. The men driving these

were certainly a strange class of "cabbies," for they did not seem to

care whether they secured a fare or not. The calesas, numbering 3,000,

are both a handy and a cheap conveyance, the charge being 20 cents for

the first and 15 cents for each additional hour.

The principal business street is known as the Escolta, and little can

be said in its favor. Most of the business houses are conducted by

Chinese, Indians and Arabs; and a great many of the buildings are

owned by these merchants, who would be satisfied to do business in a

pig pen so long as money came over the stye. The street is well paved,

well policed, and a good street-car line has been laid in the center.

But it is the lop-sided appearance of the thoroughfare that grates on

one. The sidewalk at the head of the street is eight feet wide, and

gets narrower and narrower until the walking space has been reduced to

eight inches. The Escolta being the Broadway of Manila, it is well

crowded with Filipinos, Chinamen and Americans. A better street might

be substituted for the Escolta, but that thoroughfare is owned by

Chinese.

The only way to make a modern town out of Manila would be to destroy

the relics of Spanish "art" and rebuild on scientific lines. The best

way to accomplish this would be to have fires started in sections of

the city when a tornado is blowing a gale of 60 miles an hour, the

firemen devoting their energies to protecting people, but not putting

a hand to a hose to combat the ravages of the flames.

A good street-car system courses the city and outlying districts, but

the fare, like the steamship charge, is too high. There are

first-class and second-class cars, and the fare for first-class is six

cents and second-class five cents. The United States and her colonies

are the only territories we have traveled in where a receipt is not

given a passenger for his street car fare.

Manila has few good buildings, in which respect the Philippine capital

differs from cities in British colonies, but after Manila has been

under American control from 50 to 100 years there will no doubt be a

better showing in this respect.

We had reached another place where potatoes do not grow, where one

gets only condensed milk for his coffee, where meat and flour are

imported from Australia, and cabbage, onions, celery and cauliflower

come from other countries; where vaccination is the first precaution

suggested for the preservation of life; where one is apt to become

sick if he drinks water that has not been boiled; where one dare not,

if life should be dear to him, eat a piece of raw carrot or other

vegetable, or even fruit, that grows near the earth; where every one

sleeps under netting at night to keep the mosquito from injecting

into his system malaria fever germs, and where one must not forget to

keep a weather-eye out for the bubonic flea. Everything unerringly

suggests that the tropics have been reached.

Doctors say it is not necessary to drink whisky in the Philippines to

ward off disease, but as cooks are liable to forget to boil the water,

few of the old "tropicalians," while in sympathy with medical oracles,

seem to place faith in the mindfulness of island cooks. Convulsions

and consumption are, in order, the causes from which most people die

in Manila. The death rate per 1,000 of the total population is 39.61.

New Year's eve was celebrated in the usual American style, with floats

on motor-cars and wagons moving about the streets. On one motor-car

was a large barrel, which looked like a street sprinkler. A white

canvas covered the sides and there was printed on the cloth in large

black letters, "Keep off the water wagon!"

The hours of work are too long in that climate. In most hot countries

the working time does not exceed eight hours a day, and in other

tropical climes seven hours is the rule. But Americans work nine and

ten hours a day.

On the Luneta, an inviting stretch of green sward, located along the

shore of the bay and between the walls of the old city and a

residential section, concerts are given by a good band six evenings

during the week. The entertainments continue for an hour, from 6 to 7

o'clock, and, judging by the crowds in attendance, are much

appreciated. At these concerts the Filipino appears at his best, so

far as clothes go. He is vain as a negro in show of clothes, and if

European clothes meant advancement for native races the Filipino would

claim first place. He often appears much neater than the European.

As with most colored races, the Filipinos are ingrates. They were

neglected under Spanish rule, it is safe to presume, and now, when a

stable system of government has been fixed, and schools, sound money,

sewerage, better water, better wages, better treatment, and a brighter

future have been provided, they still ask, "What is the United States

going to do for us?" All the governors of the provinces are natives,

but the treasurers of provinces are mostly Americans. This may be

changed in the future, but a return to the former custom--a white man

to handle the money--would soon follow, for very good reasons.

The worst railroad trains ever ridden on were those running from

Manila. I traveled as far as San Fernando, 38 miles from the capital,

and the time required to cover that distance was 3 hours and 48

minutes. Another trip was made from Cavite to Manila, 25 miles

separating the two points, and two and a half hours was the time it

took to cover that distance. In both instances the track was level.

The ten-ton engine drawing a train over a two-foot gauge up the

Himalaya mountains made as good time. Third-class fare is too high for

poor natives; two cents a mile is too much. Steamship fare for

coastwise ships is exorbitant. If the owners of railroad lines and

coastwise ship owners do not make money in the Philippines, it will

not be because they do not charge enough.

Native women walking about smoking big, black cigars do not look very

edifying. They may be seen any time in the streets, puffing rings of

smoke from cigars or cigarettes.

Unlike other countries visited, few of the natives in Manila were in

their bare feet--even the children wore neat-looking sandals.

A starched, springy cloth is worn about the neck of the women, shaped

like a horse-collar. The "collar" is tied in front with a knot, and

rests on the shoulders and neck. In size and design it is larger than

a horse-collar, and the women are constantly touching it, first on one

side and next on the other, to keep it straight or in right position.

The "collars" are sometimes of silk and of varied colors.

Windows without panes of glass are seen here, formed by upright

panels, an inch wide, nailed to a crosspiece three inches wide, each

having four such crosspieces. Intersecting the spaces made by the

panels and crosspieces are smaller pieces of lath, which form

three-inch squares in the window. In these three-inch squares flat

pieces of light-colored seashell are placed, which admit light, but

through which the hot sun cannot penetrate. The windows do not raise

or swing, but slide from side to side, when closing or opening. Panes

of glass are seen occasionally, but these are often painted a dark

color to keep out the sun. Sunshine seldom reaches a room, as windows

are closed on the sunny sides during the day.

The natives' homes put one in mind of a squirrel's nest in a tree.

Often they are hid with banana bushes and other growths from every

side. The huts are built on poles from three to ten feet from the

ground. The frame is composed of round and split bamboo, and the

covering is generally of what is commonly known as nipa palm. They all

have a few chickens and a pig. Their food is mostly fish and rice.

The presence of chickens about natives' homes is accounted for by

their weakness for cock fights. Cockpits are no longer allowed within

the city limits, but, as Manila does not cover a large area, from 15

minutes to half an hour's ride in a calesa will find one at a pit

where the native sport is taking place. Gambling is the incentive for

that sport, and so long as a Filipino can gamble he will not work.

Prize fights are not permitted in the Philippines, and it is a

criminal offense for a newspaper to publish a challenge for bouts.

Americans of sporting ilk find Manila an uncomfortable place to live

in. Every once in a while groups of free-and-easy characters are

rounded up by the authorities, taken to a ship sailing for the United

States, when they unwillingly bid good-by to Manila's shores.

The climate of Manila differs from that of other countries the same

distance from the equator. A majority of Europeans wear the same kind

of hats as are worn in the States. Neither were white clothes much

worn. In other sections close to the equator one would fall from

sunstroke did he not wear a helmet or some other heavy head-covering.

The city and country around Manila is flat and swampy. When a season

of heavy rain occurs the suburbs are partly under water, many of the

streets being in a deplorable condition. Both the sewerage and water

systems are modern, however, but some of the business streets are

poorly paved.

Several daily newspapers are printed in the capital, but, aside from a

white man being in charge, the printers are mostly natives. The same

applies to the island printing office located in Manila. Wages paid

the native printers are from $18 to $25 a month. Laborers receive from

50 to 75 cents a day. American mechanics receive about the same wages

as those paid in the States.

Soldiers, in khaki uniforms, are always to be seen about the streets

of Manila, a fort being located just outside the city. A similar

uniform is worn by the British troops in some of their colonies, but

the uniform worn by the American soldier looks neater, for the reason

that the American uniform is starched, while the Britisher's is

ironed. Both police and soldiers are gentlemanly fellows.

Evicting the dead sounds strange, but this takes place in Paco

Cemetery, in Manila. The dead are placed in niches built in a wall,

from six to seven feet thick, which encloses an area of three acres of

land. The wall is perhaps eight feet high, and three niches, or burial

places, are built one under the other, with a wall partition between.

Rent must be paid for these niches, and when friends fail to meet the

bills the remains are taken out and placed in a heap with others

formerly evicted. One may pay rent for these burial vaults as long as

he wishes, but from five to ten years seemed to be the length of time

relatives retained regard for the departed. The graveyard is over a

hundred years old, but the dates appearing on the slabs of the vaults

bear record only of deaths within five to ten years. All the burial

places are not like Paco, however, as in a number of cemeteries the

dead are placed underground. The total number of vaults in Paco

Cemetery will accommodate 1,782 bodies.

Hotel accommodation can be had for $2 a day. Boarding houses charge

from $40 to $60 a month. Similar articles cost considerably more in

Manila than they do in the States. No duty is levied on American

imports when brought to the islands in American ships.

Manila is divided by the Pasig River, and a busy shipping place it is.

North of the Pasig is the business center of the city, and, save for

some shipping, there is little business on the other side of the

dividing water. The old walled city, however, is located south of the

Pasig. The wall itself is the oldest on American soil. Compared with

that at Canton, it is limited, as the Manila wall contains an area of

less than a mile. Its construction was started in 1591, but was not

completed until 1872. The Spaniards did not seem to be in much of a

hurry to finish the work. However, it served as a protection from

assaults by Chinese and by the Moros; but in 1762 the English led a

successful attack on this defense. Built in the walls are numerous

chambers which had been used as cells for prisoners, and in some of

these, after American occupation, were found instruments of torture,

and even human bones. The churches and convents still stand behind the

strong walls, and bear witness to the suffering, bravery and endurance

in the early history of the Philippines. Some of the buildings in

Intramuros are used as government offices. Originally seven gates led

to the enclosure, but the Americans decided these were not enough, and

two more openings were made. The fort and enclosure were built to

command a wide view of Manila Bay, allowing a good stretch of land to

intervene between the historic wall and the shore.

Manila has a splendid fire department, good schools, numerous

churches, museums and libraries, theaters, sports grounds, hospitals,

charities organizations, a very good municipal ice manufacturing

plant, and club buildings. One will find in that far-off possession

most of the advantages to be had in the cities of the United States.

Baseball games are played here the year round, and the Filipino clubs

make a good showing.

Good steamship accommodation could formerly be had for $125 on

intermediate ships from Manila to San Francisco, but recently the rate

has advanced $50. On the larger ships, first-class, the fare is $250.

The sailing time between the two points is about a month, the distance

being 8,000 miles. Much cheaper rates can be had on Japanese ships,

second-class, but if one can afford the difference in price the $175

rate is worth the increased sum in accommodation. The increase of $50

on the intermediate vessels has diverted considerable travel from

American to Japanese ships, because many people cannot afford to pay

the higher sum.

CHAPTER IV

We left Manila with passage paid to San Francisco. Out through the

splendid bay we sailed, when the ship was headed for Hongkong, where

ships were changed. Leaving at night, a flare of light in the business

center of Hongkong gradually tapered up the side of the mountain to

the fort on the summit, nearly 2,000 feet. We had started for

Shanghai, China. Every ship that leaves Hongkong for San Francisco, of

whatever nationality, has Americans aboard. After two and a half days'

sailing the ship anchored off Wusung, where the sea was yellow with

the muddy water of the great Yangtse River delta. A ship tender was

boarded and a start made up the Huangpu River, which was crowded with

ships, and along and away from the banks smoke-stacks towered for 14

miles, when the boat was made fast to a wharf at Shanghai. From the

wharf, looking over a strip of green, there rose a wall of big, solid,

clean-looking business buildings, nearly as good as one will find in

any city of the world.

One has a varied choice of post offices in Shanghai, as there are

seven, representing as many nationalities. These are French, Russian,

German, American, British, Japanese and Chinese. Shanghai is another

Chinese city known as a "treaty port," which signifies that China had

granted land concessions to one or more nations, on which to build

cities--forts, if necessary--and collect revenues from imports, and in

some instances from exports, passing through the treaty port. Chinese

live in some of the concessions, but they make their home in these

districts only by sufferance of the country, or countries, to whom

these tracts have been granted. The Chinese residents have neither

voice nor vote in the smallest matters pertaining to the general

government of treaty settlements. Large numbers of Chinese living in

both the French and International Settlements found protection under

these flags during native wars, when their own country could not offer

them a place of safety.

In 1843 British troops occupied Shanghai, and by that means a land

concession was gained from China. About the same time the United

States was granted a similar concession, and seven years later France

had also acquired a land grant there. The American and British

concessions were amalgamated in 1863, but France would not join the

two English-speaking nations in the formation of one foreign

settlement. The title of the American and English land tract is "The

Foreign Community of Shanghai North of the Yangkingpang," but the

territory is commonly termed "The International Settlement." Since the

pooling of interests by England and the United States additional

territory has been acquired from China, until the International

Settlement now comprises an area of 6,000 acres of land; while France,

choosing independence, has only the original concession, 358 acres.

Self-governing powers are exercised by the International Settlement,

which includes imposing taxation and policing the territory. A council

governs the Settlement, and the members are elected by European

residents who pay a house rental of $400 and by landowners whose

property valuation would bring that sum annually if rented. Land

cannot be bought outright for building or speculative purposes, as the

land was conceded on terms of perpetual lease. No matter how much

interests a Chinaman may have within the Settlement boundary he cannot

vote on municipal matters. Harbor dues, import and export taxes--any

revenue from commerce passing in or going out through the section of

the harbor owned by the respective countries--is collected by the

officials of that country. The United States has the better section of

the water-front, but English and Japanese ships practically control

the trade of that important port.

Shanghai is the distributing center for the commerce of the thickly

populated sections on the Yangtse River. Large ships can travel on the

Yangtse in certain seasons of the year as far inland as Hankow, 600

miles from the delta. Then smaller vessels go on to Ichang, 400 miles

still further inland, and river craft from there carry cargoes to

Soufu, 500 miles further, or 1,500 miles inland from Shanghai. The

total length of the Yangste, which rises in the mountains of Thibet,

with its tributaries, is 3,000 miles. The width of the river at the

delta is 30 miles. Shanghai is mentioned in history dating back 2,000

years.

Professional mourners, or weepers, at funerals is an occupation in

China that brings in a good fee, if the weeper be a good crier.

Preceding a funeral is what one may term a band, the instruments

producing noise being brass pans or trays, beaten by men. After the

pan-beaters come several Chinese, wearing high, fluffy hats. The

coffin, which is generally a log of wood shaped out and of cylindrical

form, follows the men wearing the strange headgear. The coffin is

borne on two bamboo poles, two Chinamen at each end--four carriers in

all. Relatives and friends of the deceased follow, either walking or

riding in a ricksha, wheelbarrow, or carriage. Among this group a

woman will be heard crying lustily. It is really touching to hear the

deep intonations of grief as vented in a loud, mournful sound, until

it becomes known that the apparently grief-stricken woman is a

professional mourner, never having known the deceased in life.

Women and men do not play parts together on a Chinese theatrical

stage. The actresses generally wear long beards and mope around the

stage, showing no more life than that of a snake when the frost is

being thawed out of his body by an early springtime sun. To a European

the plot is long drawn out, lifeless, and even tedious. But the

Chinese have a way of overcoming this, as tea drinking seems to be as

much a factor of the playhouse as the performance. Small tables

resting on bamboo-pole legs are placed about the seating space of the

theater. One will no sooner have got settled in the seat than a waiter

will appear and place a teapot and cup and saucer before the

attendant. Neither milk nor sugar accompanies the tea, and the charge

is ten cents. In a short time another waiter, carrying in his hand a

stack of steaming towels, will stop at the table and lay a hot cloth

over the teapot. He pauses, for the price of the towel is five cents.

Later, still another towel fellow stops, removes the one the first man

placed over the teapot, puts a fresh steaming cloth over it, waits

until he has received the five cents, and walks on. The hot towel

serves a dual purpose--keeps the tea warm, and is used on the face and

hands to regale the weary theatergoers while enduring the mopy

performance. In the cheaper section of a theater, what looks like a

store counter is built, from which the "gallery gods" drink tea.

The Chinese of Shanghai appeared to be in better circumstances than

those in Canton. The young women are very distinctive, and were seen

to better advantage than in other places. The millinery era has not

reached China, so far as applies to Chinese women, and for that reason

most of them go about without head covering. When one is seen wearing

anything on the head, it is generally a man's cap. Chinese women are

very particular about their hair, and, when not all combed back, it

rests on the forehead, like bangs. Hundreds of young women may be seen

with bare head, wearing a shiny silk jacket and snug-fitting trousers.

They are straight as an arrow, and their rosy cheeks, unassuming

manners, tidy hair, and generally neat appearance unite to their

credit. The Chinese boys are mischievous little fellows, and all the

children seemed fat and strong, with rosy cheeks. The "Chink kid" was

the most attractive we had met. All the children seemed to have double

the amount of clothes necessary, and most of them wore bulky shoes,

made of grass and reeds.

Chinese cooks, as a rule, are paid no regular salary. They agree to

feed a family for a certain sum a month, and the money not used out of

the fixed food allowance is his. He does the marketing, and it is

needless to add there is some sharp bargaining between grocer and

butcher and the cook. For a European family of six a cook would agree

to furnish food for from $50 to $60 a month. Beef and mutton sold at

15 cents a pound. Vegetables, however, were proportionately cheaper.

One of the courts of the Settlement is known as "the Mixed Court." A

Chinese judge presides, but there is always an American or an English

official sitting on the bench with the native judge. Punishment is

meted out to the native not as the Chinese authority would have it,

but as the white officials suggest. Most of the black and yellow races

prefer to be adjudged by a white man, for a white judge will have more

of the milk of human kindness in his heart than a colored official.

Like Indians, the upper class of Chinese seem to be little concerned

about the condition of the poor and starving. The well-to-do Chinese

give alms to the needy often, to be sure, but that apparently laudable

trait is practiced more out of fear of a beggar's curse, when evil

days would befall him. The high-caste Indian also gives to mendicants

to ward off evil days.

The Native City is located outside the bounds of the Settlements

concession, where Chinese were as numerous, and the streets as narrow,

as some in Canton, but of much smaller area. Some of the territory

within the wall was under water--a pond--over which a bridge had been

built. The bridge was purposely built nearly zigzag to foil the Evil

One if he should pursue any of them. Beggars were very numerous in

that section of Shanghai, and the mothers, like those seen in Canton,

begged, at the same time holding up the little hand of a babe, in

which one might put any offering. The Long-Hau pagoda, seven stories

in height, located outside the city, is a credit to Chinese skill.

Few horses were seen drawing loads in Shanghai. Most of the cartage

and trucking is done on bamboo poles by Chinamen and with hand trucks,

pulled by ropes and shoved. Five Chinese pull the same load a horse

would draw.

The condition of the ricksha pullers of Shanghai is pitiable. Fifteen

thousand Chinese are engaged in this occupation, some of them so weak

that they frequently fall to the ground from exhaustion, caused by an

empty stomach. When a Chinaman quails under hard work it is because he

has not a fighting chance to make a showing. Chinese pay them two and

three cents for a ride, while Europeans pay five cents and over. The

owners of the rickshas pay 75 cents a month to the Settlement as a

license fee, and the puller must pay the owner 40 cents a day. Often,

when a puller has not earned the rental sum, 40 cents, he will remain

in the streets all day and most of the night in the hope of at least

earning the required charge. If he cannot pay the 40 cents he is

deprived of his occupation until he has settled for the last ricksha.

The wheelbarrow of this city, used to carry passengers and move goods,

is the oddest device in use the world over. It differs from similar

vehicles in that the wheel is in the center of the frame instead of in

front. Above the wheel is also a frame, on which to carry articles of

light weight. A rope is tied to each end of the barrow handles, and

the loop rests on the Chinaman's neck, passing under his arms. A

Chinaman will wheel a weight of half a ton for miles on this crude

device. An article may weigh 500 pounds which cannot be divided--must

be carried on one side, the other side free of weight--yet he will

short-step along with the one-sided load until he has reached his

destination. The barrow will not tip over. On each side of the wheel

may often be seen sitting Chinese women with bare heads, wearing white

blouses with pink stripes about the sleeves, with baggy velvet

trousers, and snow-white stockings showing over neat, boat-shaped,

black or colored velvet shoes. Passengers get a long ride on the

wheelbarrow for from two to five cents. The owner pays a license fee

of 40 cents a month for his crude vehicle.

Windows of Chinese temples, and sometimes other buildings, are the

same as those seen in Manila--light colored seashell.

Both the dollar and the tael are in use in Shanghai, the former worth

from 40 to 50 cents and the tael about 65 cents.

Chinese mechanics are paid from 20 to 40 cents a day. Printers receive

$10 to $18 a month. The working time is eight or nine hours a day.

Carpenters were on strike for an increase of from two to five cents a

day. If a Chinaman hod-carrier, or one working at unskilled labor,

should be taken sick, the wife will often take his place until her

husband is able to resume work.

An unfriendly feeling seemed to be harbored toward Americans by other

Europeans living in the Chinese coast cities. It was claimed that

since American occupation of the Philippines the cost of living had

advanced 50 per cent., as the influx of Europeans to the islands had

created a greater demand for Chinese meat, vegetables and other

necessities. Hotel expenses were very reasonable in Shanghai, however,

as $1.50 a day only was paid.

Bombay, India, was the most attractive city visited in the East, and

Shanghai, China, with a population of a million inhabitants, was the

second best city. Between the landing place on the river and the

splendid front of buildings that give a visitor his first impression

of the metropolis of the Yangtse is a stretch of green, grass-covered

land, known as the Bund. To the right, opening off the park strip, are

the Public Gardens. A good street car system is a feature of the city,

and electric lights are numerous. In any direction one may look,

enterprise and good management are in evidence. The river is teeming

with craft, large and small vessels loading and unloading at each side

of the waterway, and high smoke-stacks, rising from cotton and paper

mills and shipbuilding yards, add much to the thrifty surroundings;

then large oil tanks, busy warehouses, and the gunboats of great

nations anchored in the river give the place a metropolitan

appearance, while the buildings at every turn are good. The streets

are crowded with people, and the stores filled with purchasers, most

of the merchants in that section of the city being Europeans. The

attractive buildings on the Bund do not comprise all of the good

buildings of Shanghai, for some of the homes, built of red and

gray-colored brick, two and three stories in height, are good to look

at. Then there are sidewalks to the Shanghai streets, which are well

paved with asphalt and granite blocks, and these are kept clean. Many

churches are to be seen. Schools are frequently met with, and parks

have been placed at convenient sections; also a horse racecourse,

sports grounds, and good hospitals. In fact, both English and United

States officials have done well in the upbuilding of the International

Settlement.

Down the Huangpu River, the channel walled by merchant ships and

gunboats, we sail to Wusung, where an American ship was boarded for

Japan. Most of the passengers came from Manila, and were returning to

the States to regain their health and seek employment in a country

where people can drink water and eat raw fruit or vegetables, whether

grown in the ground or on trees. The first thing noticed among the

passengers was the absence of strong drink during meals. Stimulants

are a feature at mealtime with almost every other nationality

traveling in the Far East. A day and a half's sail through the base of

the Yellow Sea brought us to Nagasaki, Japan.

After the vessel had anchored, flat boats or scows loaded with coal,

and also with Japanese men and women, were seen heading toward her.

The women were to help load the ship with bunker coal. Each woman and

girl had over her head a white cloth, with large, black Japanese

characters stamped in the print. Grass baskets, that hold but a

shovelful, are used to coal ships at this Japanese port. The scows

have been made fast to the ship, the baskets are being filled, the

coal passing line is formed from the barge to the vessel, extending up

a ladder to a hatch over the bunkers. The tidy looking women are now

passing baskets from one to the other as quickly as one would hand a

plate to another if needed at once. A stream of these is constantly

being tossed from one to the other, and small girls are engaged at

returning the empty ones to the scow. Two, and even three, streams of

coal run into the bunkers from one scow by means of the handleless

baskets, and, as from three to five scows will be unloading at the

same time from both sides of the vessel, it will be understood what a

large quantity of fuel can be emptied into a ship from ten to fifteen

of these coal lines. The time required to furnish a vessel with bunker

coal in this manner is from four to five hours. The wages of the coal

passers are based on the amount of coal a ship takes on, as an equal

sum is paid the coalers. This amounts to from 15 to 25 cents each. As

many as 500 Japanese--mostly women--keep life in their bodies by this

means of employment.

The harbor was attractively dotted with partly green islands, and in

front the country was hilly and mostly terraced. The terraced hills

are the "farms" of the people. Every inch of land that can be built up

with rock to a level surface is used to grow vegetables and other

products.

Oxen, hitched to carts and wearing grass shoes, was something that had

not been seen--the grass shoes--in other countries. A grass string

passed between the hoofs, which was connected with another grass

string or rope wound about the fetlock. These held on the shoe, or

grass mat, protecting the hoofs from wear on the roads.

In India boards are sawed from logs while sticking in the air at an

angle of 35 degrees, with one man on the log pulling a crosscut saw,

and another under, on a platform, pulling the saw downward after the

fellow on top had pulled the saw up. At Nagasaki boards were being cut

from logs by hand also, but the sawyer stood on the ground and ripped

the log from the side, in the same way that meat is carved. The saw

was two feet long and a foot wide, with deep teeth, and with that

implement slabs were being ripped off logs 20 feet in length. Like the

Indian, the Jap pulls a plane toward him, while a white carpenter

shoves a plane from him. Still, one may see any day in New York City

men "chopping" wood with granite blocks.

While the rest of Japan was closed to foreigners, Nagasaki, for 200

years before the country was thrown open to the world, was an open

port, and even then life was none too safe, as missionaries had been

killed in that section. Nagasaki has a population of 150,000, and most

of the people are engaged at coaling ships, working in a shipyard, or

in pottery works. The streets are narrow, but tidier than those seen

in some cities left behind, and the homes small, none higher than two

stories, mostly of wood construction. Ricksha pullers in this place

were a pest.

CHAPTER V

Nagasaki was left behind when a start was made through the Inland Sea

for Kobe, a day's sail separating the two ports. The sail is an

attractive one, as this stretch of water is thickly dotted with

islands. Were the vegetation tropical it would favorably compare with

the journey through the Fiji group. The Inland Sea is generally calm,

and foreign ships, together with those of Japan's large fleet of

merchantmen, were winding and twisting about the islands in every

section of the noted land-locked waterway. The vessel we boarded at

Shanghai was the third one since leaving Manila. Our journey through

Japan from Kobe will be by rail.

The ship anchored in the bay, and passengers were brought to the

wharves in tenders. Modern buildings were in evidence, and street cars

and railroad trains were running through the city. In general, Kobe

presents a much better appearance than Nagasaki.

Almost every woman seen in Japan has a child on her back, the mother's

custom of carrying her babe, and most of the girls also wear a bulky

piece of cloth likewise, which is tied about the waist. On a farm

where there are no reckless boys, and the head of the family is

satisfied with the easier ways of life, a colt may be seen walking

about a pasture or enclosure with a sack of grain tied to its back;

this is put on the colt's back to break it in to ride. The bundles on

the girls' backs looked as if they had been placed there for the

initial lesson in carrying a baby. The knapsack-like cloth is called

the obi. Japanese fathers seemed to take more interest in their

children than Chinese parents, as we cannot recall seeing a Chinaman

carrying a child.

The Japanese home is the flimsiest anywhere. Thin pine boards, with

paper windows and doors, generally one-story and attic, constitute

their shell-like dwelling. Low stools and mats are prominent household

accessories, but no chairs or tables. A mat on the floor serves as the

seat in a Japanese home, which is neat, and the people present a

favorable appearance. The roof is its most substantial feature, being

covered with black tiles. The doors slide to one side. Crosspieces and

upright panels compose the frames of doors, and the squares in

windows, which in Manila are of seashell, are covered with paper in

Japan. The paper is frequently broken, when new "window panes" replace

the torn ones.

The household stove of Japan is a portable earthen bucket, generally

white in color, with a handle. Charcoal is the fuel generally used.

This stove cooks the food of the family and also provides heat in cold

weather. The family may be seen squatting about the white earthen

bucket with twice as many hands over the fire as there are members of

the household. A fan serves to coax the charcoal along.

While the Japanese are poor, they seem to be well supplied with

clothing. The flimsy character of the homes may account for the

thickness of cloth worn, as the weather gets cold in Japan, ice and

snow being in evidence. The kimono is worn entirely by women, and

generally by men. Occasionally a man will be seen wearing European

clothes, but Japanese women are always dressed in the native garb.

Some of the small boys wear a helmet after the style worn with a coat

of mail, and look really warlike in them.

Both Nagasaki and Kobe are located on hilly ground, which necessitates

the building of walls in frequent sections of the cities. These walls

are very sound, and a feature of them worth mentioning is that no

mortar appears to have been used in their construction.

Most of the modern buildings here were built by firms from other

countries, but there are also modern native structures. The business

quarters have sidewalks, but away from that section there are none. No

street paving was seen either in Kobe or Nagasaki. On the hillsides

the soil seemed to be hard, and in the level sections loose gravel was

used for paving.

No cabs were seen in Kobe, but street cars and rickshas were

plentiful. Street-car fare ranged from one and one-half to four cents.

The ricksha pullers of Kobe were an improvement on some of the starved

Chinese pullers of Shanghai. A great many of the pullers of Japan have

no shoes on their feet, but wear cloth, generally white, for

protection. Walking over gravel roads did not seem to bother the

Japanese ricksha pullers.

Kobe has a population of nearly half a million, and is second to

Yokohama in importance as a seaport, much tea being exported from this

port. Behind the city rises a range of high hills, covered with pine

trees--a natural park. In front is a splendid bay, from which rises

many masts and smoke funnels from vessels at anchor. Some of the

streets are of good width and others are very narrow, but all are

clean. Attractive homes have been built on the hillsides, but the high

gates and fenced and walled enclosures lend to the dwellings the air

of a prison.

Cloth grain sacks are never seen in the Orient. Anything of that

nature which contains goods is made of grass.

In the railway stations of Japan are kept on file publications of

current dates. This unusual custom seems to be appreciated by the

traveling public, as many passengers may be seen turning page after

page of the periodicals while waiting for a train. The railways are

government owned, and the fare, first-class, is two cents,

second-class one cent, and third-class one half cent a mile. Some of

the first-class coaches contain wicker chairs, with observation

platform at the rear. Second- and third-class coaches are provided

with cushioned seats at the side of the car. The width of the tracks

is from three to four feet, and the fastest schedule is 35 miles an

hour. Meals on trains cost 50 cents. By paying a small additional sum,

through steamship passengers may travel by rail on their steamship

ticket from either Nagasaki or Kobe to Yokohama, or vice versa, with

stop-over privileges at any point. Many passengers take advantage of

this liberal concession. No stations are announced, but the name is

printed in big letters on a wide board. Strangers are informed of

their destination by a trainman shortly after the train has pulled

away from the preceding station. The signs at stations prove a better

guide to foreigners, as Europeans are termed in Japan, than announcing

them, for words sound so much different when spoken in the native

tongue.

We have reached Osaka, the second largest city in Japan. This city has

a million inhabitants, and is a very important commercial center. Few

horses or oxen were seen here, most of the cartage being done on

two-wheeled trucks by men, women, and boys. Chinese truckmen pull

their loads with a rope passed over the shoulder, but the Japanese

pulls his load by his breast. A pad is laid across his chest and a

rope is put over, the ends of which are generally fastened to the axle

of the truck. It is hard to believe that human beings can do the work

of horses, mules, and motor trucks in a manufacturing city of a

million inhabitants, but they really do so.

Carriages or taxicabs were not seen in the city. Ricksha is the means

by which luggage is carried and places reached when traveling other

than by street car. Street cars in Osaka are crowded all day. Unless a

car is boarded at its starting point, it is generally a case of

holding on to a strap. Four and a half cents is charged for a

street-car ticket, but there is a coupon to each, which is good for a

return journey--two and one-quarter cents a ride. Cars are numerous,

single-decked, and they travel fast. Traffic is so heavy that two

conductors are required to collect the fares.

The theater district of Broadway, New York City, is termed the "Great

White Way," but some of the streets on which bioscope and other

theaters are located in Osaka also cast a great flare of light at

night. The attractions are printed on cloth of bright color, secured

to poles extending from buildings on each side. These signs, all

printed in Japanese characters, meet in the center of the street, and

large arc lights, some of them red instead of white, illuminate the

surroundings. This, together with music, noise, and the crowds packing

the streets from curb to curb, may appropriately be termed "The Great

Colored Way." It is a sidelight of life in another part of the world

that has to be seen to be understood. No expense is spared in lighting

in front of amusement buildings in Osaka. The price of admission is

five and ten cents, and the places are jammed during opening hours.

The unit of money in Japan is the yen, which is 50 cents in American

coin. The half-yen is a silver piece; some of the lower coins are also

silver, others nickel and copper. Sen is used as the American cent,

and 100 sen makes a yen. The plural is never used in yen or sen,

always 30 sen and 20 yen. A sen is one-half of a cent.

A few wide streets course the city, and modern business buildings show

up here and there, but aside from these the buildings are of wood and

the streets narrow. No paving, however, covered the streets, neither

were sidewalks in evidence. A river flows through the city, which

serves as good drainage to this populous center.

The price of food is much higher in Japan than in India and China.

With the exception of Singapore and Canton, hotel expenses did not

exceed $2 a day, but $2.50 was the cheapest for accommodation in most

Japanese cities. Though all wanted $3 a day, a little haggling brought

the price down a yen. In our hotel in Osaka the room was heated by a

small charcoal stove, of an upright gas-stove shape, instead of the

bucket kind. On first sight it seemed a joke, but it took the chill

off the room in a short time nevertheless.

A pleasant change in hotel service was met with here. With the

exception of Australia and New Zealand, and one place in Durban, South

Africa, at every place we stopped male servants were the rule. After

leaving South America these were black men. With two exceptions, Delhi

and Benares, there was no such personage as a woman housekeeper seen

about the hotels--men, men, men at every place. But in Osaka, a

rosy-cheeked Japanese girl, with the "training saddle" tied to her

back, placed the charcoal in the stove, and fiery embers were slid on

top from a dustpan shovel; in the dining-room, also, the girls, in

their counterless slippers, would shuffle, shuffle, shuffle their feet

from the dining-room to the kitchen, and soon shuffle back with the

ordered food--the sound of the girls' feet more amusing than annoying.

One wonders how hotels in some countries exist, for often not more

than half a dozen guests are living in a big hostelry. The trade seems

to come from foreigners only, for seldom is a Japanese seen about.

Osaka was my first stop from Kobe, and, inquiring from a young man how

I might reach a certain point, he volunteered to show me about the

city. His kind offer was accepted. He proved to be a professional man,

could speak some English, and seemed to take delight in doing me the

slightest kindness. He took me to a splendid park and other places of

interest, and insisted on paying his own street car and ricksha fares.

The working hours in Japan are ten a day. Mechanics receive 75 cents

and laborers from 30 to 40 cents a day. Rice, fish, and tea seemed to

be the principal food, and if the quantities of food were no larger in

proportion than some of the teacups in use, people live cheaply. A man

seen eating a bowl of fish and rice with chopsticks was asked what he

had paid for it, a vendor having just sold it; he said 30 sen--15

cents. Ten cents would seem a big price for the same portion in

America.

Osaka is intersected by canals, and over a thousand bridges within the

city lines cross these waterways, resembling Amsterdam, Holland, in

this respect. There are nearly 2,000 places of worship, hundreds of

schools, colleges, and academies, five daily newspapers, paper mills,

machine shops, and an arsenal. Tea, silk, and copper figure largely in

the exports from that busy center.

If few modern buildings, narrow streets, latticed front and part paper

homes, one story in height, and shops located in these buildings,

illustrate Japanese progress, then Kyoto, next visited, is to the

fore. The old west capital, as Kyoto is termed, puts one in mind of a

pile of wood boxes that have been gathered together to make a bonfire.

This city is one huge tinder box. In size Kyoto is the third city of

Japan, with a population of half a million people, and it is the

bucket stove alone that saves the residents from becoming homeless

through the ravages of fire, for if wood and coal stoves were used

there would be frequent conflagrations. The roofs are covered with

black tiling, and the houses have no chimneys.

The bazaars or shopping centers of these cities are busy places, and

resemble an arcade. These are formed by reed blinds being placed above

the street, which, pulled by ropes, roll on wires and stretch across,

preventing the sun from shining below--similar to those in Canton.

Meat is scarce about these shopping places, but rice, beans, dried

fish, and vegetables are much in evidence. Radishes serve the same

purpose in Japan as potatoes in America; they grow as large as a big

cucumber, and when numerous in vegetable stalls an unpleasant odor

arises from them.

When a horse or an ox was seen drawing a truck, the driver was always

found at the side, or leading it by a rope; it seemed to be the custom

not to ride in a loaded vehicle. Cabs are not seen in the city,

ricksha pullers doing the hack work. A great many of the public

streets are too narrow for a carriage to pass through. Men do most of

the trucking.

Pulling a rope depending from a bell, to warn the spirits that a

devotee has come to worship at a shrine, is a national religious

custom of Japan. In front of each temple a thick rope dangles from a

bell above, and, as the finger-soiled Bible indicates the owner's

studious religious tendencies, so does the frayed ropes attest the

frequency with which worshippers summon the spirits to bear witness to

the supplicant's invocations.

Kyoto is well provided with attractive temples, built during the

residence in that city of the governing powers. These buildings, like

the homes, are constructed of wood, and as one walks about the

churches the floors often squeak. As in India, shoes must be covered

with canvas slippers before entering. The Japanese, also like Indian

worshipers, leave their clogs or sandals outside. Priests are in

attendance, and one of these escorts a stranger through the building.

If the temple be a Shinto place of worship the priests are considered

descendants of the Sun. In one respect there is no similarity between

the priests here and those met in India, as the Japanese officials

were free of the spirit of beggary. A fee is charged on

entering--generally from 10 to 25 cents--and that is all that is

expected.

No seats, pianos or organs were seen in the temples, but the floors

were covered with mats, on which the worshipers kneel. Off the main

church are rooms, where tapestry, with holy figures outlined, hang on

the walls, and shrines are sometimes found in the cloisters. The

temples are generally located in attractive grounds, often used by

children at play. About the buildings are stone or cement posts, on

top of which is a four-cornered cap, with a roof or covering larger

than the pillar; these represent square lanterns. Under the roof the

inside is hollow, with four corners as supports. Lights, put in these,

radiate from the four openings. It is one of the sacred emblems of

Japan, and hundreds of these lanterns stand in temple enclosures, each

one the gift of a well-to-do adherent of the faith. The temples are

covered by a roof which seems out of proportion to the building. The

eaves are very deep, the supports often richly carved, the designs

generally typifying some feature of the religion. The entrance to a

Shinto temple is always marked by two stone or wood posts, one on each

side, from 12 to 18 feet in height. About two feet below the top a

long, straight beam of stone, from a foot to eighteen inches wide,

rests in mortises of the upright posts. As the cross stone is solid,

one end is placed in the mortise of one pillar and placed across to

enter the mortise in the opposite one, the ends extending from two to

four feet from the pillars. On top of these posts rest a wide stone

cap piece of warped appearance. The whole is called a torii, and

appears only at the entrance of a Shinto temple. For walks, the

enclosures are covered with gravel, like the streets, or the natural

soil serves the purpose of tiling or pavement. They bear no

resemblance to temples seen in the other countries visited, neither

are they as expensively fitted as some of the mosques and temples in

India.

Poor people of other countries do not, as a rule, have two pairs of

shoes, but every Japanese seemed to possess that coveted number. When

we say shoes, we mean something--anything--to keep the feet from the

ground. The Japanese "shoes" are pieces of wood, a trifle longer than

the foot, arched at a point between the joint of the toes and instep,

with heavy braid. Another strip of braid, coming from the point of the

shapened wood on which the foot rests, is secured to the cross braid,

which fits in between the big toe and the next. Under the footboard

are fastened two other thin pieces of wood, two to three inches apart,

and sometimes three inches high, resembling the bridge of a violin. In

wet weather, high-bridged clogs are worn to keep the feet from the

ground, and in dry weather low-bridged clogs are used. Sandals are

worn by some Japanese, but the bridge clog is the shoe of Japan.

High-bridge clogs make more noise than low-bridge ones, and when a

dozen persons walk on a sidewalk wearing this footgear one knows the

Japanese are coming. The clogs cost from 30 to 50 cents a pair.

Bathing in Japan is a custom that must not be overlooked. In the

country districts one tub--of wood--is used by a family. Often the

bathing takes place in a yard, and the members go through with the

custom, one after the other, while steam is on the water. The same

water answers the purpose of all.

Small hens' eggs and two-wheeled vehicles go hand in hand in the

Orient, as in both respects, particularly in pigeon-sized eggs, the

Japanese products are the same as first met with in Bombay, India.

Kyoto is flat, with a pine-tree covered hill behind, on which a number

of temples stand. Looking over the city from this elevation, it

reminds one of a huge lumber yard. By reason of fires having occurred

frequently, a few wide streets course the flat site, and not more than

half a dozen modern buildings rise above the one-story, flimsy homes.

Without these fire-swept tracts there would be no street cars in some

Japanese cities. In Osaka and other cities the ravages by fire are

being taken advantage of to replace the alleys with wide streets.

Dwarfed pines, fruit trees, bulbs, and other plants are seen at many

homes. The Japanese are poor, and are taxed heavily by the

government; still, the full, rosy cheeks of both women and children

would not suggest the hard conditions they are forced to endure to

keep body and soul together.

Kyoto, the literary center of Japan, is also noted for its porcelain,

lacquer goods, cutlery, hardware, and silk manufactories.

Comfortable chairs in a clean passenger coach, with an observation

compartment at the rear, and but four foreigners as passengers, was

the agreeable manner in which we started for Yokohama. At nearly every

stop the platforms of the coaches were not only swept but washed.

Nothing was lacking to insure comfort, and the train traveled at a

speed of 30 miles an hour; but, like the flimsy homes of the people,

the coach, which was a first-class one, was not the solid car that one

is accustomed to in other countries. The railway stations were of good

construction, however, being clean and tidy.

Along the route women and girls were seen carrying bundles of coarse

grass and reeds from the hills. In China men are seen carrying on

their shoulders large numbers of shoes made from such material. In

rice fields, and where other grain had been cut, the stubble was level

with the ground--nothing allowed to go to waste. A great many of the

hills were terraced with stone walls in order to raise food to live

on. At one section of the road the train passed through a valley,

hills rising from each side. The soil was naturally rich and of

considerable depth. Women and men were engaged here in shoveling dirt

into grass baskets, which was carried up steep hills and deposited

near the top on small patches of land that had been made level by

building stone walls to prevent storms from washing the soil back

again into the valley. Often a Shinto shrine appeared, and peasants as

they passed bowed, bent their knees, and moved their lips. All seemed

to be warmly clad, had rosy cheeks, and none looked untidy; nor was

there any begging at the railway stations. On we went, winding about

hills, then through valleys, until, after rounding a sharp turn, a

white mountain loomed up in front and to the left--Mount Fujiyama, the

sacred mountain of Japan, which rises to a height of 12,365 feet,

located 86 miles from Yokohama. By early evening we had reached the

cradle of modern Japan.

To Commodore M. C. Perry, of the United States Navy, credit is given

for starting a new era in the history of Japan, at Yokohama, in 1854.

Yokohama is to Japan what Shanghai and other cities are to China--a

world treaty port. Commodore Perry practically forced Japan to open

her gates to other nations of the world, after they had been locked

for 2,000 years against all, except the Dutch at Nagasaki. As in the

treaty ports of China, the hand of the white man is in evidence at

every turn in the good docks, warehouses, customs houses, splendid

postoffice building, good bank building, racecourse, public gardens;

wide streets, with pavement, some having walks; gas, electricity,

street cars, and other signs of progress. A short distance from the

concession strip of land the native city is located, with the usual

small frame dwellings and narrow, unpaved streets. In 1859 a foreign

settlement was established, where only a fishing village had stood

previously, but to-day Yokohama is the leading seaport city of Japan

and the terminus of ships sailing from European and American ports.

Beyond the business center of the city, on an elevation known as the

Bluff, foreigners live. These residents have their churches,

libraries, clubs and societies, and are free from any interference.

Horses and oxen, instead of human beings, were found pulling loads of

merchandise, and cranes at the docks were used to load and unload the

thousands of vessels that come and go. A good railway station adds to

the appearance of this foreign city, but there is little native

interest to be observed compared to other typical Japanese centers.

At Kamakura, an hour's ride from Yokohama, is located the great

Daibutsu, the Japanese Buddha, 49½ feet high, with a circumference of

nearly a hundred feet. The Daibutsu is composed of bronze plates,

brazed together, and has eyes, four feet in length, of gold. In the

center of the forehead is a silver ball, denoting wisdom. The ear

lobes are very long and the hair curly. This great image rests on a

stone foundation, and the position of the Buddha is that of sitting

down, hands folded, in reverential meditation, the feet being partly

under. It is hollow inside, and a shrine has been erected within for

worshipers. A ladder leads to the top of the Daibutsu. Kamakura has

been sacked by warfare, racked by volcanoes, and ravaged by fires on

various occasions, but for 600 years the great image has remained in

the same position. It is a striking work of art. From the twelfth to

the fifteenth centuries Kamakura was the capital of the Shogunate, and

at one time had a population of a million people, but to-day it is but

a seaside village.

CHAPTER VI

An hour's ride from Yokohama, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is reached.

The water here is shallow, Yokohama being practically the port for the

official city of Japan. Tokyo has more open space than other native

cities, and street cars, rickshas and crowds of people about the

railway station gave ample evidence of having reached a large center.

One of the main streets of the capital city is wide, with sidewalks,

and good business buildings rise at frequent sections along the

thoroughfare. Goods were displayed in the windows, and clerks were on

their feet; whereas in other cities Japanese merchants, like the

Indians, were seen sitting down on an elevation or low counter, with

feet partly under and the sandals or clogs on the floor. Away from the

business street, however, are the one-story frame dwellings, with

latticed-like doors, having white paper in the window squares to admit

light. Outside the home are several pairs of clogs, as, again like the

East Indian, Japanese enter in stockinged feet. The same sliding doors

were here, too, and the streets were as narrow and as free of pavement

as those of Kyoto and other cities. The charcoal buckets were

surrounded by members of the family, each one seeming to take turn in

fanning the embers to a stronger heat.

A visitor would find difficulty in getting about Tokyo, as the street

signs, where they appear, are printed in Japanese, and the same

applies to those on street cars. Large, modern street cars were in

use, and the travel was so heavy that two conductors, as in Osaka,

were kept busy collecting fares. The fare was the same as that in

other cities--4½ cents with a return coupon, or 2¼ cents a single

ride. Traffic keeps up from morning until late at night. A stranger

would do well to have written down in the Japanese language on a piece

of paper where he wishes to leave the car, as no English is spoken by

conductors, and the pronunciation of the names of places is not at all

as the spelling of the word would suggest in English. As many people

held on to the straps as were seated.

Japanese believe in the merit of water, as was evidenced in the

sprinkling of streets, these being partly muddy all the time, which

suggests that high-bridge clogs are generally worn. Very few of the

streets were paved with asphalt or blocks, the paving peculiar to

Japan--loose gravel--being in evidence on most of them. Many canals

and a few rivers run through the city, and bridges are frequently met

with; some of these are of iron.

One misses restaurants, bakeries, and similar stores when traveling

through the Far East. Not enough foreigners live in these parts of the

world to create a demand for such eating places. Rice is the principal

food, and one never sees a loaf of bread or a cake displayed in store

windows. Eating is confined to the home or hotel.

Tokyo covers an area of 100 square miles, and good parks are included

within its boundaries. The grounds about the Mikado's palace and the

government buildings, the latter of European design, are in keeping

with a national capital. A high wall surrounds the grounds in which

the palace is situated, and a moat, containing clear water, separates

the wall from streets on each side. The effect that should accompany

an imperial residence is marred, however, as the entrance to the

passageway leading to the grounds was enclosed with an unshapely frame

structure, guarded by soldiers. The streets through that section of

the city were paved with loose gravel. Green stretches of grass and

park spaces, together with splendid vistas, characterize the scene

about the location of the imperial palace. Visitors are not allowed to

enter.

The police and military systems of Japan are so perfect that a

foreigner's whereabouts while in the country will be accounted for by

the authorities to the minute. The officers have shelters to stand in

throughout the city, in which a telephone is placed. None seemed

officious, but they can put their hands on a visitor any time they

have occasion to do so.

At one end of the city is located what is familiarly known as Asakusa

Temple, the church of the poor, the grounds and buildings of which are

nearly always crowded with people. On and near the grounds are seen

fortune tellers, fakirs, toy vendors, flaring advertisements,

observation towers, side shows, idols and altars, and the clatter of

clogs is loudly heard. In front of this temple are shrines, one of

them erected to Binguru, the helper of the sick. Binguru is made of

stone, and wears a pink bib. The people believe that by rubbing an

affected part of the body on the stone image they will be cured. As a

result, Binguru is growing less in weight from year to year by reason

of so many hands coming in contact with the stone god. Priests sell

pictures of the goddess Kwannon, which, the people believe, will bring

them good fortune--a baby boy to a home, for instance--and, in a

general sense, keep away evil days. Then the church treasury is

replenished by priests telling fortunes. The contribution box is

different to those seen in any other temple, being 6 feet long and 18

inches deep, with strips of wood nailed across the top, one side

higher than the other. Between the strips over the top were openings

of two inches. A railing separates the money trough from worshipers.

Though the people are not burdened with money, the coins rattling in

that cattle-guard-like money-box sounded like rain dropping on a tin

roof.

The amusement center of Tokyo is located a few squares from Asakusa

Temple. Hundreds of theaters stand within a short radius, and the life

of the Chinese and Japanese peoples reaches its zenith in these

districts. The streets are literally emblazoned from both sides with

vari-colored canvas, containing, in Japanese, an account of what is

going on inside the buildings. Pictures of the show are painted on

sheets of cloth in red, yellow, orange, black, blue--in fact, all

colors--and large lights hang thickly above these--truly a striking

combination of light and hues. The charge for these performances is

from 2½ to 10 cents.

At one theater, where admission was five cents, foreigners' shoes had

to be covered with cloth. It seemed as if religious custom was being

carried too far to be halted by an attendant with a pair of canvas

slippers to conceal leather from the floor of a five-cent show house.

After leaving and walking a square's distance from the building, a man

stepped in front and offered 10 sen, the sum paid for admission, but,

having forfeited all claim to it, I continued on my way. But that

would not do, the usher refusing to leave until I had accepted the 10

sen. Thereupon I returned to the theater, bought another ticket, and

submitted to slippers custom.

A trench was being dug on one of the main streets away from the

business center, and a pile driver was used to drive heavy scantlings

for shoring. The iron weight was raised by ropes, pulled by women.

Pulleys were fastened to the top of the derrick, and ropes ran over

these. A dozen women were engaged at the work, each one with a rope in

her hand, and if the ropes had been colored the scene would have

resembled that of a Maypole gathering. They all pulled together when

the weight was to be raised, and some of the pullers, stepping back as

the weight came nearer the top, danced, hummed a keep-step song, and

joined in laughter at the same time. When the weight reached the top

of the derrick, all let go the ropes, and gave a shout as it hit the

First-, second- and third-class cars are used on the railway line