New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 24, 1921, Page 17

the hotel, where we were the door by the nice and dry attendants. bad ample time in which nted with this plac re stalled here for three rain. And it did rain that a deat mute would it. However, one after- ot an opportunity to walk e Motosu where we found the male population down at the No fishing. This lake is on the level as Lake Shoji, and is and one-half miles from it lalk there was along the side of pntain and through the woods. very pleasant Village of Motosu village of Motosu has just one with houses on cach side of it. very poor place of perhaps abitants. How they live or a mystery, as the country here is not a farming country mean " l More Scenery. sy back to the hotel we wonderful cloud over the Ban. This cloud was the gigantic toadstool, very White. It just covered the of Fuljl, and, on account ht of it, we saw it in which made it look truly his peculiar shaped cloud n once in a great while, called Fuji-kasa, which Fyji-umbrella. We likened it banital shaped hat, because it us as it Fuji had on a ite hat. There were no louds in the vicinity of it, and Mained stationary over the top b3t all the afternoon, and I do now how far into the night. 17-Mile Hike. ly in the morning of August ® started on a seventeen mile from Lake Shoji to Tambara on Fujikawa river. We had three horses for the ladies, and horse for our baggage. No. 6 shows the party just the start. As there was a JMght rain falling, the ladies have 1 paper jackets. We have our en staffs (kongo-zue) in our and if you look at them close- u can see where they were as we ascended Mount Fujl IFl at my right is an Eurasian— ughter of the man who built ywned the hotel. Her good-look- eatures evidently came from the s side of the family. soon as this picture was taken, ladie: mounted their horses, pegan our journey. Be- . C. could mount her was necessary to put a over the beast head, but in the saddle, and the groom at head and under way, she behaved decently for a Japanese horse, ided no one got within reach of heels. In fact, the last is true of he horses out here. b about half an hour after wa ed the sun shone forth once , and we had a most beautiful day for what proved to be a fcturesque tramp over the ns. We scon came to Lake osu again, but far north of the ge, and for about two hours, tar on the mountain side, we wound way in and out around this like. trall was so narrow and the side mountains so steep that the A hoof of the horses would k down the trail on the side to- d the lake. But such a beautiful The shore lire was very lrre- the lake was very deep and blue; always the lake and Fuji San was aur left hand until we reached the way | nand out around this lake from here wo looked the length lake and directly toward Fount At Top of Divide. the top of the divide, which almost a shatp ridge, we could the Fujikawa river about 12 miles ¥, and mountains and mountains, wonderful cloud effects among ym. Here the ladies had to dis- and walk down the mountaia 4t avas so steep that it was impossi- te ride down it. We soon came .rul & mountain torrent which ollowed several miles until we hed a valley. Here were a few uses and a Japanese inn, where we our lunch. fter lunch Mr.’ C. proposed soak- our feet in the river, which I rtily seconded, as my feet were pg much the worse for the wear recelved from descending a ntain slope only about five to 15 rees from the perpendicular. So © @ reguiar hobo I soaked my feet the river, and you cannot imagine bw good it felt to them. By some misunderstanding Mrs. B.'s prseman continued on toward Tam- while we were doing the tramp n the river, so 1 did not see her la until about 4 p. m. mg donned our shoes, and as e MOw had to ascend the mountain, other two ladies remounted their praes and we continued our journey hich was along a narrow trail on e mountain side After a while we caught up with rs A. and Mrs. C. and their horses ing beside a pool of water, and, [#4¢ looked good and pure, we risked king a drink of the water. Mr. A nd Mr. C. now decided to ride, as ey were tired, and let their wives mlk. As soon as they were mounted pushed on ahead at a good fast walk d about 4 p. m. I caught up with B. very much to her surprise is point was another divide not fver 18 inches wide at the top, where pne could look down the mountain qually well on either side. Soon rs. B. dismounted and we walked ogether until we reached the low untry and after passing through unknown village I induced Mrs. B. remount her horse as we still had ite a distance to go. Town of Tambara, en we reached Tambara we nd that the town was divided into parts by an overflow from the (Fujikawa), so I had to wait Mrs. B. rode on to the west side the town apd the horse and returned to ferry me over the ad country. 1 also found that had to jump a sort of a Bton® wall and a walled ditch before was time for me to dismount, which s done without accident. When the rest of our party arrived, down the river to Iwabuec horses and grooms were now dis- missed and they returned to Shoji. It was getting dark wben we land- ed at Yokaichiba, so we did not have a chance to see what this Japanese burg looked like. We found the ho- tel to be a two-story affair, with a narrow balcony on the south side of the second story, off of which was two foreign furnished rooms. That is, each room had a double bed in it, with about 30 inches of space between the bed and the wall, and one chair. At least our room had one chair in it. I cannot vouch for the other room, which was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. A. Mr. and Mrs. C. elected to sleep on the floor in one of the Japanese rooms on the first floor and I assure you their choice met with no opposi- tion, Japanese Food. We had the proprietor, who could speak a little English, supply us with some food that we could eat, among which was some split cels fried in soya bean sauce, to help out our own supply., The table was set on the little balcony on the upper story, and we wedged ourselves around it, except in the one seat on each end and when the food was served we fell to with a vigor born of much evercise and a fairly long fast, much to the enjoy ment of the crowding natives who came to see the animals (?) feed. The fried eels are worthy of special mention. We each had two pieces about two inches wide. They were the nicest, richest brown color imag- inable, and they tasted jusg as good as they looked. In fact, fried eels are considered a great delicacy in Japan, and in Tokyo there are what might be called Fried Eel Restaurants where they make a specialty of serving fried eels. Mrs. B, who always declared she never liked eels in any form, ate her portion of them and said she liked that dish very much. When she was told that they were eels, she said: “Were those eels? Well, I always thought I never liked eels, but I liked those; they were fried so nice and brown, and they looked so delicious, I really liked them.™ All On Boats. We were up early the next morn- ing and immediately after breakfast we boarded our boat for a trip down the Fujikawa river to Ono. We sat on straw bags filled with charcoal, where were placed in the bottom of the boat. To me there appears to be four reasons why bags of charcoal were used for seats. (1) The boat was not provided with built-in seats; (2) the bags of charcoal are light in weight, they are portable and they may be placed anywhere in the boat; (3) they could be used as life-pre- servers in case the boat was wrecked in the rapids, and (4), it takes only one day to go 40 miles or more down the river, but it takes the men from tour to six days to haul the boat from Iwabuchi up the river to Tam- bara, so they can sell the charcoat in Iwabuchi and have less weight to haul, or they can use it for fuel for campfires on their up trip. The river boats are about 40 feet long; they have a flat bottom made of wide boards; the bow Is high and sharp, and the stern, which is a little lower than the bow, is square; the sides are high and they are prevented from collapsing by three or four nar- row strips of wood, about equally spaced between the bow and stern, secured near the top edge, or gunwale, they are like our skiffs in shape, but they very flexible, and they bend and conform very much to the waves. The Japanese boatmen claim that the boats are built in this manner so they will glide over a rock in the river if the boat should strike one and not be wrecked on it, as would be the case if the boat was built rigid or stift. The river was very rapid and rough and the boat was controlled by two men in the how and two men in the stern. Each man in the bow was armed with a long green bamboo pole shod with iron on one end to keep it from splitting when it was thrust against the rocky bottom of the river by the men in their efforts to direct the bow of the boat. One of the men in the stern of the boat had a similar pole, and the other man had a long steering oar, but both men used the oar or poles as the exigency of the situation demanded. In very rough places in the river we used large sheets of oiled paper to protect us from the spray, and once the boatmen put the b ashore in an eddy while they went down along the river banq to study out a plan for rounding a bend in the river, which was very swift and rough. Hires Carriage. After securing accommodations in a Japanese hotel, we hired a Basha, which had springs on it, to take the ladies up to a temple on Mount Min- obu, while we men folks walked up there. Before the Basha could start the driver of it had to set a shoe on his horse, which was done in this manner. He found a stone which he placed iIn the road and picking up the horse's hoof he placed the toe of it on the stone, and there the horse stood while his master hunted up another stone to use as a hammer, with which he set the shoe and then the start was made. It was a nice walk up to the temple, but the sun was very hot and as it was two miles uphill which became steeper as we ascended, finally terminating in steps (stairs) in the mountain, we shed a good deal of moisture on the way. Japanese Temple. However, we got there without much delay and we found that it was a temple well worth seeing. I had seen all the principal temples in over two thousand miles in Japan and T did not care to see any more of them. But this one was different from any of the others T had seen and T would like to mive something like a detailed description of it but it would take too long to do it, =0 T will only men- tion two things. This temple is a school for priests and head of a Budd- hist sect czlled Nichiren (2) Great heavy roof timbers are held in place in the mouth of huge carved tigers' heads, and the furnishings are of the most ornate designs in gold. Town of Minobu. The town of Minobu lies at the base of the abrupt rise to the temple and on our descent we stopped at a Jap- urned 10 ONO the mountain we saw some Japanese straw hats for sale so we stopped and bought enough for our party. The price was ten sen (five cents) each to foreigners, but a string with which to tie them on our heads cost ten sen each, so the total cost was twenty sen each, or ten cents. On our return to Ono, we had to get the consent of the police to do down the river the next morning, as the river was so swift and rough and swollen from recent heavy rains. Aft- er the usual amount of talk we ob- tained their permission to go down the river, so we retired for the night with visions in our heads of a most delizhtful boat ride the next day down the Fujikawa river. About 2 a. m. I awoke to the sound of rain, and after making sure I was lying in a dry spot, I went to p again. Much Rain, When we arose in the morning it rained. Yea, it poured dcwn; rain was a thing of the past; it simply came down in unbroken streams. So we decided to cross the river at Ono, and take the trair for home. Our boatman wanted the full contract price, but we finally settled with him at half price—twenty yen ($10.00)— and he agreed to take us across the river. But we were toisted on to an- other chap and into his boat along with Japanese and a lady from Wash- ington, D. C.. and her Japanese wom- an guide, called a courier in English. The boat, after being loaded with its human freight which was ferried from the shore to the boat on a cooiie fer- ry, was hauled well up stream and then headed across the river which was very rough and swift. There were six men to pole and work tha boat across the river, but they missed the landing, and we had to swin into the bank of the river some dis- tance below, whero we made z land- ing without mishap. Cave In. After waiting at the railroad sta- tion in Ono for about one hour after the train was scheduled to start, we wergq informed that the train could only take us ten miles as there had been a cave-in on the road, and we would have to leave the train there and walk four and one-half miles to the next station. Would wa do it? Yes. I bought six Japanese umbrel- las at one ven fifty sen (75 cents) each, and leaving our baggag? in the Ono station bagzage room with in structions to forwaid it to us when the line was again opened for traflic, we boarded the train and began our journey home. On leaving the train and “hitting’ the ties on that four and one-half mile hike to the next station, wc soon came to a long tunnel through which wo passed, the water coming through the roof of the tunnel in solid streams that nearly wrecked our paper um- brellas the first thing. ~It was so dark in the middle of the tunnel that wegl could not see wherc we were going, g0 we had to feel our way along. On leaving the tunnel we came to a cut through a high gravel ks, the only deposit of gravel I have seen in Japan. The heavy downpour of rain caused stones weighing 50 to §9 pounds to come rolling down the steep sides of the out onto the rail- road track, and there was stones of all sizes lying between the rails, anc they kept rolling down and fallin all around us. However, we & through this cut after a while with out accident, though one stone abou the size of a hen's egg went througi my umbrella, but it did not hit #ne Presently we came to the cave which occurred in front of anoth tunnel. There were two men bur here, though we did not know it = the time. The men on guard herr would not allow us to go through th tunnel, so we had to take a path o the side of the mountain next to th river, and walk around the. tunnci which was about as dangerous passing through it. However, in ti we came to the railroad again whi we followed as the surest means reaching the station for which were headed. And rain? How it @ rain! It rained so hard that I h to laugh at it. As we were now walking about d: east, approaching the town of Shi akawa, we had the wind on our bac! Presently T saw a "Japanese comi: toward us bearing a very large pan umbrella which he was holding front of him so that the lower cd just escaped touching the ground b tween the rails, pushing his way alo against the wind. When he was abm two paces from me I gave two lon sharp, rapid imitations of a locom- tive steam whistle. Without raisi his umbrella an inch, he jumped ways into the ditch which was ab knee deep with running water. As ! passed him I looked over my s at him. He looked up and grinne and continued on his way. Arrives at Shibakawa. When we arrived at Shibakaws there was a railroad bridge at th west end of the railroad station, anc quite a distance up the river which i spanned w the regular road bridgec Naturally we wished to cross the rail road bridge to the station; but som: men who were on guard at that end of the railroad bridge would not allow us to cross it. While we were debat- ing the question some men camc across the bridge on a flat hand-ca and they, like all Japanese, stopped to look and listen and to see wha would happen Well, this is whs happened. For one yen (50 cents) they took us all acr the brid the railroad station, we sitting o1 wet floor of the ¢ The water. ever, did not wet us any. That impossible under the conditions. At Shibakawa we could not get thing to eat in the way of a regulay meal, so we picked up what we ¢ 4 at a little stand back of the stat'o paying for it with wet paper mon:y which the man in charge spread ot on a board to dry. We had to wait here about an hour and a half for the train. When that pulled into the station from the south, we got aboard of it at once, where we sat for about one hour, and then we were informed that the train would not start as there was a wash out on the line and we would hav- to walk five miles to Omiyamachi. So we got out of the train and “hit” the ties for a five-mile walk in the dew (?). After walking about a mile we were one advantage about this particular road. It was on a hillside, and there Wwere many small streams crossing the road. When we waded across these streams the swiftly running water would wash the earth or sand out of our shoes, which reduced the friction somewhat. Soon we came to the washout, ana there were about five lengths of rails suspended high up in the air, stretched from one side of the wash- ed-out bank to the other like a clothes line. This washout ecarried away three Japanese houses, but we did not learn whether there was any loss of lifa or noi. We arrived at Omiyamachi about dark. This was a large town or city, but very poor. We bought some fruit and fortunately we were able to pur- chase some wheat buns and a jar of jam which kept us from starving to death. Train for Fuji. Here we took a train for Fuji, a small town on the main line of rail- road running to Yokohama. At Fuiji we had to wait until 11:30 p. m. for a train te Yokohama and Tokyo, but it did not stop at Kama- kura where Mr, and M C. were sum- mering, so they took the train for Numazu where they remained for the night. Mr. A and I went out to see what kind of a town Fuji was, but we did not find it a very inviting place. It was like all Japanese towns. I kept a sharp lookout for a place where the ladies could get warm, and we all could dry our clothes, but T did not discover suitable place of that kind. Howev we purchased half of a very delicious watermelon, which surprisea the ladies very much and which we ate in the waiting room of the rafi- road station. Mr. A. and I discovered a small house near one end of the station platform, in which there was a pit in the floor for the usual Japanese char- coal fire. We obtained permission to have a fire built in this place, and after it was going nicely we took the ladies there and they were overjoyed to again feel the genial warmth of a fire, as they were quite cold. By the time the train arrived we were quite dry and feeling quite comfortable once more. Forced to Await Train. On the way to Yokohama we ob- tained a little sleep. We arrived at the Yokohama station at about 3:50 a. m. on Monday, August 9th, where we bid zood-bye to Mr. and Mrs. A the most delightful of companion and they continued on to Tokyo where they reside. As for Mrs. B. and I, we could not get any kind of a vehi- cle. to take us home, so we had to wait until the first electric train from iTok o0 came along to take us to Sak- uragicho. Here we could not get even a rickshaw as it was so early in jthe morning, so we had another wait jof about a half hour. Finally two Jrickshaw men came alons, but they would not take us up on the Bluff, they were looking for easy jobs only. After a while more rickshaw men ar- jrived, and I cventually got one to itake Mrs. B. I told her to ride home and 1 would walk. It is about one ¢mile and a half from the Sakuragicho i-tation to our house. I had walkea iabout three hundred feet when a light ;rain began to fall, but T had my faith- iful old friend—the kasa—with me, so {1 put that up to keep off the rain and §f had on my raincoat as well; but that had been so thoroughly washed ,!h.’ll it was no better than an ordin- coat. Before I had gone three sity blocks the rain came down in orrents and when I reached home T | vas soaked to the waistline again. Baths In Japan. This letter has stretched out very iuch longer than I intended when 1 tarted it. but I must now 'tell you .wme things I omitted as 1 hurriea nrough our journey around the base »f Fuji. In a Japanese hotel or inn here is no such thing as a private »ath unless it i3 in a larga hotel on he mlain routes of travel, and thosa re called foreign hotels. We, of ourse, were traveling through the nterior of Japan, and the only hotel hat had a private bathroom was at ake Shoji, but that is a foreign ho- 1, and they had two bathrooms with he bath tubs set in flush with the toor. Here, of course, we could have private bath, which we had every orning during our stay there. At ' the other places they have onn athroom and one bathtub for all omers. and all comers. men. women nd children all get in the tub togeth That is, up to its capacity; that for the Japanese or anyone who viches to join them. were early risers, and for- ners. we would let the ladies go while us men shaved. and then would go in for our bath. The ethod of taking a bath is this st, soap all over and then get in he bath tub of hot water; after ono ‘omes out of the tub he takes a small nd tuh of clean hot or cold water \nd pours it over himself, thus com- Jleting the bath. At one place at vhich we bathed in this manner tha ubh was so small that the three of us got into it with difficult The Japanese taka very hot baths, and there is no w to temper the water s it is heated dircctly by a charcoal stove built in the bath tub. The )ath tubs are made of wood: the, quare and deep; there is a led hel! arnund tha inside on which one an sit. ~nd it serves a tep in gzet- ‘ine into or out of tha tub. At soma »f the larze Japanese inns they point aith nrida to a tuh that accommodate; peonle at a time, and one that ac- mmodate: 0 people at vonder. and tha Japanesa point t out to one and tell him over and sver that it will hold 50 pcople at ma time. Fleas Arve Pests. Another thing T must tell you ahout is the flc nd in Japan one can- not flee from tha fleas: they ara everywhere, especially in Japanese houses where they always use tatami The tatami ia mado of straw, and it is about one and one-half inches thick and each tatami is full of fleas. If I woke up during the night whil on our trip, I nearly always heard Mrs. A. or Mrs. C. hunting for fle: They did not seem to bother M very much, and I thought I w AZE W N VARY N ™ vicinity. - CLEARANCE OF Coais, Wraps, Etc. 15 off manufacturers and who will attend lh:s sale CLOTHES SLAUGHTER " You will make your dollar buy a good two dollars worth A Suit :Sale Dominant Here are hundreds of Men’s SUITS in scores of styles ; made to retail- at $35 to $50 placed anywhere on my body with- out touching at least three flea bites. I was actually peppered with them. Traveling Expensive. Traveling in Japan is expensive to say the least about it. And when one considers what he gets for it, it is tremendously expensive when com- pared with traveling in America. However, we enjoyed our trip, and as we look back upon it, we feel that we enjoyed it at the time, and wa now enjoy the recollection of it. The experience was worth a good deal to us. And I hope you will enjoy read- ing about it. If you do, I shall feel well paid for the privilege of afford- ing you the pleasure you derive from it Yours fraternally, C. B. BISHOP. “The Place to Buy 2 Good Piece of Meat” is at Y. Jones Quality Market 16 MYRTLE STREET. We specialize in Roasts, Chops, Steaks and Chickens. JUST TRY JONES finals at the women But she was trying hard. L WAGE-EARNE R5 TH[S message is directed to Y OU Men and Women of this YOU who are affected by the High Cost of Living - WiiQO VALUE EVERY DOLLAR YOU EXPEND. We have made some fortunate purchases from cash- hungry gladly pass the big savings on to YOU, Benefit by this CYCLONlC SUITS and Silk DRESSES Every garment wup-to- the-hour quality, workmanship, and fit. n style, $14.98, 51850 Boys’ SUITS High-grade, sturdy Saits for the active youngster.’ Wash DRESSES Season’s latest creations. Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt, American champion, was eliminated in the tennis tournament held recently at Beckenham, Witness the picture. B satisfying! 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