THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 7, 1908.
ON
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ANNIE LAURA MILLER., WRITE5 . OF TRIP
AROUND THE BASE OF cJAPAN DIG MOUNTAIN
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BY ANNIE LAURA MILLRR.
"Off the beaten track." What a potent
phrase it is in this tourist-ridden land of
Japan, bringing up visions of wildly beau
tiful scenery, of country people always
courteous, and of old temples hid among
evergreens on remote mountain sides all
undisturbed by the noise of the outside
world. These visions became so strong
during the July heat that they lured us
away from home for a four days' trip
around the base of Fujiyama.
The railroad was left behind at Go
tern ha. a little mountain town of one
street that exists because it Is a favorite
starting place for pilgrims who "climb
Fuji every year. By the thousands they
go, for the mountain is sacred to them
and religious pilgrimages are popular.
Gotemba in holiday attire with gaily
printed hangings and banners flying from
the inns, yet wore a deserted look, for it
was too early in the morning for the re
turn of pilgrims, who wait at the sum
mit to pray to the rising sun. In the
town we hired a little tramcar, drawn
by a raw-boned horse, and were soon on
our way. The fat and comfortable peas
ant driver sat half of the time in the
bucket containing the horse's meal of
grass and corn, and the other half, leant
against the dashboard frankly ignoring
his beast and gazing with fixed eyes at
the "Injin sans" who filled the car.
Housing liimself occasionally, he wound
a pewter horn so lustily that the sound
rang far and wide, whereupon he col
elapsed in the horse backet again while
the neglected beast plodded along at his
own pace. From the cultivated plain
where rice, mulberry trees, beans and
corn grew in patches about the farmers'
thatched houses, we came to a moor with
pines, bamboo, grass and wild flowers
In abundance; while, to the left, high
above, half hidden in fleecy clouds, tow
ered the sacred mountain. A group of
men sitting under trees at a shed where
horses were changed, and a crowd of
white-clad pilgrims packed so closely in
a boxcar that their hats were hung out
side, were the only people we saw until
we came to the village of Subashlrl.
A noon-tide quiet wag over thelace,
but In the farther edge of the town we
met some pilgrims returning from tho
ascent. Clad in tightly-fitting garments
of white cotton with rosaries about their
necks, bells ringing at their waist-bands,
staffs of white wood In their hands, straw
sandals on their feet,, fringed straw
mats swinging from their shoulders, and
wide palm leaf hats to protect their heads
and bodies from whatever the gods might
send, they came walking down the -road
toward the temple, there to make their
final prayer to the goddess who dwells in
Fuji's crater.
At Yoshida. in a grove of ancient cryp
tomerias, stands a Shinto temple, sacred
to this same goddess. In a shed in the
temple yard stands the white statue of
a horse all harnessed for the gods to
ride: there is a little pine tree planted
by Prince Kunl (the least of the Im
perial Princes), and in the temple are
the enormous heads of two tengu, hideous
hohgoblins, the votive offerings of soma
township at the beginning of the China
Japan war. Strange it is, but true, that
progressive Japan is a land where fairy
tales still hold sway in the childlike minds
of the peasantry. Everywhere in this
country of contradictions one comes up
on temples dedicated to beneficent fairies
who shower blessings, or to fear-insir-Ing
hobgoblins, imaginary beings whom
we Occidentals discard with The books
of our childhood.
At Yoshida -we left the tram line and
walked for three miles across the moor
to Funatsu. By the wayside is a shrine
containing a big wooden image with a
face of gold lacquer. It is the kindly
Jizo. the god of little children and pat
ron saint of travellers, most human and
lovable of all the Buddhist deities. There
were offerings hanging there, diminutive
temple archways made of tin, bunehes of
wild flowers, and straw sandals bigger
than any man wears, woven especially for
offerings and presented at shrines by
those who wish to become untiring pedes
trians. Carters came trudging along be
side loads of logs, a youth sped by on a
fcicrcle.
a pine tree begged the one smoker of
our party for a whiff of foreign tobacco;
other farmers in the fields near by be
came interested and the smoker was
forced to hurry on with hla small store.
Funatsu is a mountain town with
quaint houses having shingled roofs held'
down by pieces of lava. The two-storied
Inn stands on a rocky point jutting out
into lake Kawaguchi. Beside it - a
crumbling archway marks the way to a
Shinto Temple in a state of repair; while
beyond is a Buddhist temple with a Ana
old monastery, where the monks used to
tell their beads long ago when Buddhism
was a mighty power in the land. Many
of them rest, no doubt, under the grey
stones In the neighboring cemetery,
having attained in death to that com
plete mastery over earthly desires which
was their dream when alive. The inn is
a poor one and we were lad to leave
the next morning, although the landlord
had done the best that he knew for the
comfort of his foreign guests, even
sending out for the only cook in the
town who could season to please Euro
pean palates. Very good omelettes the
only cook made, and very proud she was
of the fact, as she showed by appearing
after breakfast, apparently to help the
nesan pick up our beds, but actually to
pick up whatever compliments might be
forthcoming. She knew that cooks, as
well as poets, are born, and not made.
Lake Kawaguchi all a-shimmer with
morning light had looked beautiful from
our rooms at the inn, but we did not
realize its beauty until we were out in
a boat on the water. On our right little
white clouds rested softly on the tops
of high terraced hills that came down to
the water's edge: on the left was the
broad moor at Fuji's base, occasional
pine trees and houses breaking the line
of shore. Passing a wooded island with
a shrine to the Goddess Benten, one of
the seven good luck deities, we came
after an hour and a half to a village at
the end of the lake. Some women flail
ing grain paused in the steady whack!
whack! whack! as we went by, and two
small girls, out for a walk with babies
on their backs, fled up an alley there to
peer at us, half-terrified. Climbing to the
hilltop we saw at our feet the town and
the lake of Nishinoumi.
No spot level, nor fertile enough for
cultivation met our eyes after we left
the village until we came to Xemba at
the further end of the lake, after an
hour's boating. Here we landed In a
forlorn little plot of buckwheat, growing
in rocky soil at the water's edge. Fol
lowing a narrow path around a hill, we
met a curious figure. A stout peasant
came walking painfully s"idewlse with a
heavy beam some ten feet long tied
across his back, himself his only beast
of burden.
At Shojl Lake we shouted for a boat
and saw it soon putting out from below
the white hotel across the water. A
Japanese woman, the wife of the English
proprietor, met us at the landing and
escorted us up the pretty wooded prom
ontory to the hotel.
Early the next morning as the mist
rolled away from the lake, we left the
hotel, a curious procession : three men
carried a kago containing the "Okkasa
ma." who barely fitted in in a cramped
position with her hat off and her
feet hanging out, for the "Okkasama"
is about two Japanese ladies in size.
Then came two black mountain horses
led by bettos and ridden by members of
the party; following were three more of
us walking, and in the rear came three
coolies with baggage strapped on their
backs.
After three miles we came to lovely
Lake Motosu, where Fuji showed above
the old lava stream. Excepting this one
place, high mountains with clouds resting
on their summits shut in the lake. The
path goes for several miles 200 feet above
the lake, and from this height we could
see now between the red-barked pines,
now through the branches of hard wood
trees, now over open grassy slopes, ,the
clear, blue water that deepens to Indigo
near the shore where the mountains coma
down . steeply. There are little coves
with shallow beaches, and one wooded
peninsula runs far out? It -was 8:30
o'clock; no sign of life was on the lake.
a srous of farmers under 1 only the mountains and clouds war mlr-
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rored there. Once we heard voices, and
looking far down, saw the bobbing hats
of a few peasants who were making
shelves for crops, and looking up above,
saw other peasants, literally scratching
the stones for an. existence.
The summit reached, we espied a village
set in a deep and narrow valley that
cuts Its way boldly through a hurly-burly
oi. hills. .
Down, down, down we went by a steep
path till we came to a mountain stream
and the little beginnings of cultivation;
tiny places built up with rock where rice
grew with a fringe of egg-plant about
it to economize every scrap of earth.
Back of us we could see the steep zlg
zas: oath that had brought us down from
the higher mountains, and -In front of us, a little well-populated valley along the
beyond the river, were dim blue ranges bank of a tiny rlv toward the moun
tains from whence it nows. Then, turn-
clothes and a straw coat from which is
sued lean arms full of action. The young
man in the stern had a quiet, thoughtful
face that showed no change of expres
sion all the day as he moved the rudder
slowly back and forth, looking steadily
ahead. The river is a shallow and nar
row stream running among gravel bars
between hills terraced for the most part,
yet ehowing here and there curious, col
umnar formation of volcanic rock. After
we had been some time gliding swiftly
down the river we came to a cluster of
houses on the bank, where we disem
barked, for we were bound for Minobu to
visit the tomb of Nichlren.
For two miles and a half we walked in
with, lines of white cloud drawn across
them. Late in the afternoon we came Into
the valley where the bamboo and persim
mon trees proclaimed a warmer region
than that of the mountain lakes. Along
the stream was a stragling village, and
from the doorways little children rushed
pell-mell to shout and wave their arms at
the "IJin sans." At one place in the brook
stood a lare family bathtub, its stove
filled with burning faggots. Had we been
a few minutes later we should nave seen
the steam arising In a cloud and, en
veloped in the cloud, the red face and
shoulders of a bather, for bathing In
Japan is not a private affair in a tiled
room with a porcelain tub. At a village
on tle bank of the Fujikawa we hired a
boat and dropped down the river to spend
the night In a semi-foreign Inn at Yokal
ohiha. The kago coolies, grateful for the "Ok
kasama's kumsha." were with difficulty
restrained from waking us the next morn
lag at 4 o'clock to give us thanks and
sayonara. "Af 8 o'clock we were under
way, sitting on seats improvised from
sacks of charcoal and matting, in a high
sided, hlgh-prowa boat 40 feet long,
built of pine boards and having a bottom
so thin and flexible that it rose and fell
with the motion of the river. In the bow
stood a slender young man dressed In a
palm-leaf hat, straw sandals, a fluttering
white shirt and woolen under-drawers:
the last worthjof chronicle, because they
are worn so much as outer garments by
Japanese coolies that I think the wear
ers regard them as a final touch of ele
gance to a Summer costume", just as their
superiors do white cotton gloves. How
ever, the costume was soon forgotten in
the un-Japanese face of the man, a keen,
thin face with a high forehead and pierc
ing eyes. Occasionally he would thrust a
long bamboo pole Into the rocks beneath
the waveB and we would sail safely past a
treacherous boulder. The two rowers were
strange figures; one little man wore a
kimono tucked up above a shirt and
trousers of striped cotton, and a hat tied
by a coolie towel about a face as rosy,
round and amiable as that of some sweet
natuced old lady. He was the owner of
15 boats, a man of some wealth in his
village. The other was an old man with
a face faded and shriveled as an Autumn
leaf, a veritable scarecrow of an old man,
in & calm-leaf bat. colorless cotton under-
Ing suddenly, we came to the ereat arch
way of the temple set in cryptomerias at
the bottom of a ravine where a stream
comes 'rushing down from wooded moun
tains. Along the bank of the stream fol
lowing its course runs the single village
street of Minobu, a street of small shops
and dwellings. In the opened rooms here
and there were old men on . their knees
turning wooden beads for rosaxles which
were displayed for sale. Passing through
the great two-storied gate built of new
wood, elaborately carved, end listening
for a moment to the sound of drums and
mumbled invocations that came from
some place in its Interior, we crossed a
curving bridge of stone and came to a
steep flight of steps. As endless, appar
ently, as Jacob's ladder, they went up to
ward the sky through a grove of crypt
omerias. Two hundred and eighty big
stone steps, and we reached the top quite
breathless to find ourselves in an open
space with a queer little red pagoda on
our left; not an ordinary pagoda we dis
covered, but a tomb filled with the bones
of believers. To our right stood the bel
fry; beyond it the abbot's quarters and
the monastery, and facing us was the
main building the Founder's Hall. Leav
ing our shoes at the foot of the temple
steps, we mounted to be greeted by a
gaunt and shaven priest wearing a white
gown wreh a purple mantle over It.
How the fancy of Japanese artists
in wood and paint turns to the animal
world! Dragons, phoenixes, storks,
seablrds. and tortoises cunningly
carved, riot over the doorway. Within
the greats wide hall is the pulpit,
where the abbot preaches; there are
rolls of Buddhist prayers in boxes on
small tables: in the nave a gorgeous
gilt baldachin hangs, and beyond, di
vided from the audience hall by gilded
pillars stands the ornate altar of red
lacquer and gold. In front of It are
two blue and white lanterns of Hizen
pottery. The ceiling Is gilded and dec
orated with many colors, but most In
teresting Is the elaborately ornament
ed shrine. Before it knelt the priest
who had greeted us, and facing him
another priest in a robe of green silk
with a purple mantle embroidered with
a golden . crest. One prayed and the
other chanted, then slowly rising they
opened the golden doors of the shrine.
rolilng up a screen of silk and bamboo,
and disclosing to' our view a life-size
statue of Nichlren, grim, severe and
black as Othello, sitting absorbed in
thought as If the weight of the world
were on his shoulders. For a moment
we gazed, then the curtain dropped
before the face of the law-giver- Fol
lowing the. "Nightingale Gallery," so
called because the boards emit a
musical sound beneath the tread, we
came to an ante-chamber and entering
by a covered gallery, reaohed the Hall
of the True Bones. It is a small oc
tagonal . building, with a highly pol
ished floor of red wood; on the walls
are painted lotus flowers and leaves of
natural size, growing from blue water
against a background of gold; above
are elaborate carvings of many colors,
gorgeous yet toned to perfect harmony
by gold and black, -and ending In a
ceiling held with metal fastenings. The
pagoda-shaped shrine of gold lacquer
stands in the center of the room, with
a gilt baldachin hanging above. The
priest of the green and purple robes
knelt before the shrine rubbing his
beads and murmuring, "May we be
saved by praying to the bones of
Nichlren." Then he arose and opened
the golden doors on one side of the
shrine. When he had prayed.and knelt
four times and opened all four doors
we saw before us the bleached and
crumbling bones of the saint of the
13th century. They are kept in a little
octagonal crystal pagoda, resting In
a lotus blossom of silver) above a re
versed lotus flower of jade, all held
together by a frame of the Oriental
alloy called shakudo, which Is inlaid
with silver. The priest gave 'us a
paper wherein we were blessed for
ever. Folded Inside It and tied with
cord was a paper containing a few
grains of rice, a cure-all for bodily
Ills.
Back In the boat again we went
swinging over the rapids, narrowly but
surely missing rocks that would have
impaled us had our boatmen been less
alert. One wreck we saw on the way
and one log raft stuck fast in a shallow
rapid much to the dismay of the men
in charge, who gesticulated for help
and pushed and pulled vainly, wading
to their knees in swift water. Boats
were coming up with sails set to catch
the wandering breeze, but depending
principally on trackers, many of them
young boys who walked along the
bank and In the stream- tugging with
all their strength against breast straps
fastened by ropes to the empty cargo
boats. We passed villages and cuM
vated hills and valley stretches, where
the low banks were built up by rocks
In bamboo baskets; we passed a wire
bridge of a single span 165 feet long
that bent and swayed as two men
walked over it from the island to the
mainland; we passed wild bluffs, with
a shelf of road high above the river;
we stopped at a town where the police
officer forerunner of civilization in a
uniform of white with white cotton
gloves came and paid his respects to
the official members of the party; we
passed a paper mill; and then among
the smaller hills that cluster about the
high mountains above, as children
cling to their parents' knees, we came
suddenly to the sea.
A narrow canal took us up to the
railway station. Our boatmen waited
until we had learned what train we.
could catch, then with many thanks
and many bows said Saj-onara. When
they were gone, wo turned our faces
toward 2Uth century Japan, and step
ping aboard our train were back once
more in the fnmiliur beaten track.
WOOD PULP FROM SAWDUST
Ingenious ficlieme That May Cheapen Ihe Price of Paper.
o
FFICIAL Information sent to the
State Department at Washington,
-. C, by L. Edwin Dudley. United
States Consul at Vancouver, B. C may
bring Joy to the hearts of tens of thou
sands of large wholesale dealers in
what is known to the paper trade as
"news," and the coarser straw or bond
paper, the former definition applying to
paper which is adapted to the use of
newspapers alone, while the latter a
per is that which includes manila,
wrapping, ox board, building paper,
etc. Mr. Dudley's communication
should bring corresponding sadness to
present paper manufacturers, who may
see a possible reduction of profits if
the plan referred to by Mr. Dudley
proves to be practical.
The chief point in this communica
tion is that the availability of the sup
ply of wood pulp may bo largely in
creased by the utilization of sawdust
and sawmill waste for paper manufac
turing purposes.
It has long been known that there
are vast economic possibilities In any
plan that will utilize the waste product
of lumber mills. As it follows that
the plan to make use of waste products
is of great importance. Consul Dudley
has written to his department that a
company with $1,000,000 capital has
been organized at Vancouver. B. C, for
the purpose of turning sawdust and
other lumber mill waste Into paper.
With the present tremendous demand
for paper for manufacturing and other
purposes, and the strong Indication that
the demand will continue to increase,
it Is not expected that the proposed
plan will do more than relieve the- yit
uation to an extent, for it is thor
oughly recognized that unless scien
tists or others discover some substitute
for wood pulp, as at present obtained,
from the forests of the United States
and Canada, it can only be a few years
before the timber uppiy from which
wood pulp Is oblained will be entirely
exhausted, only certain kinds of wood
being adapted to the manufacture of
wood pulp.
Mr. Dudley says that the company
Just organized at first contemplated the
establishment of its plant at Aberdeen,
Wash., but was compelled to abandon
that location because it was discovered
that the supply of fresh water was in
sufficient. After a thorough investiga
tion it finally arranged for the pur
chase of 80 acres opposite Gambier
Island, on Howe Sound. 20 miles from
Vancouver, and at the mouth of Rainy
River where there Is an abundant
supply of water at all seasons.
By utilizing the water power of the
Rainy Klver, the company expects to de
velop sufficient water power for mechan
ical and domestic use, and for a series
of mechanical grinders for t lie manu
facture of ground wood, which is uned
to supplement chemical liber in the
manufacture of paper.
The plan is to convey Hip refuse of
the local sawmills, of which there Is
said to be 30it.0) tons in this vicinity,
in specially prepared scows to the plant,
where the entire mass is to he dis
integrated Into suitable fineness for con
version into wood pulp. This, it is ex
pected, will eliminate the expense In
cident to the use of uniform cut wood,
which is tald to,, hs the only method
now in general use by the paper mills
throughout Eastern Canada and tho
United States.
One of the Innovations of. the new
company Is a patented process whereby
it can use Douglas fir and other resin
ous woods In the manufacture of wood
pulp. Papermakers in the past havo
never been able to use wdods contain
ing pitch and resin for paper purposes,
owing to the difficulty In separating the
cellulose from the pitch, resin, and es
sential oils, but by the new process. It
is claimed, all those parts pass off In
vapor and -the fiber is recovered by sub
jecting tho mass to a system of pres
sure: ,
The company now has in operation in
Vancouver a small but complete plant
for the manufacture of pulp and paper,
which fully demonstrates the process,
and which is both simple and ingenious.
The wood is first placed in what is
known as a chipping machine and re
duced to small shavings. The shavings
pass up a flume anil enter a digester,
which consists of a large, perpendicular,
copper-lined circular reservoir that or
dinarily ranges from eight to ten feet lu.
diameter and 24 to 48 feet in height. T'r
digester is filled with a solution of
caustic soda, and the entire mass of
shavings, ranging from eight to ten tons,
is thoroughly cooked under high steam
pressure for several hours until the cel
lulose is thoroughly released.
The plant, as at present outlined, will
have a capacity of SfiO tons of finished
material per week, consisting of 200
tons of news and 160 tons of manila.
Consul Dudley says that after having
witnessed tho workings of the exhibi
tion machinery of the forthcoming mill
the thought occurred to him that
through its means many additional uses
for cellulose will be possible. The new
apparatus, he believes, seems to have
demonstrated the practicability of con
verting the waste of fir and cedar, into
cellulose at an expense which may en
able other possessors of this material
to follow the process described. Kansas
City Journal.