OPENING OF THE FIRST RAILROAD IN JAPAN.

Evening Star, Issue 3104, 30 January 1873, Page 3

OPENING OF THE FIRST RAILROAD IN JAPAN.

A Yokohama letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer gives the following interesting account of the opening of the first railroad in Japan : —he Japanese have indeed opened tin ir eyes in astonishment upon beholding for the first t me the long-looked for railway (so-called), really moving, going, whistling and steaming along like • n-; of our steam ploughs at home, with three street cars attached. However, there is room for improvement, and probably it is better for them that the glory, comfort, and accommodation of a fiist-class railroad should not be thrust upon them at once. On the 12th of this month a number of high Japanese offi ials, headed by the Prime Minister Sanjito, Okuraa, Sanghi and Ito, inspected the railway, and were so satisfied with its arrangements that it was decided to open the line to the public the next day. Trains run from Yokohama to Sbinagawa, four miles this side of Yedo, the line to Yedo not being finished yet. Those who wish to go to Yedo have to leave the train at Shinagawa, and take to their heels or to a shinrickisha to finish their journey. The Japanese have no idea of the value of time ; nothing hurries them. To see a meosmie (girl) walk on two little wooden footstools which are tied on to her big toes, you have to look twice before you are aware in which direction she is walking. She shuffles along, taking her tiny steps at great ease, looking around at everything, and asking the passer-oy in a graceful, bewitching way, “ Doko-maro ?,” (where are you going), and to the American ladies she says, “Tarsau kire” (very pretty), and will stand still and examine the lady’s shoes, dress. &c The railway is very punctual, and if the Japs don’t get faster iu their movements they will suffer the same disappointment as the Prime Minister of Japan did on the 13th inst who, being one minute too late, was left standing on the platform to see the train and his friends go off. It must have been humiliating to .Sanjito Baiji", as he had given instructions that he would go with the train, but the chief commissioner of railways showed him that the train waits for nobody. There were but very few Japanese who went by the first train. Many of them believed it was a scheme to kill the Japanese people ; some had a vague idea of a train, and they believed it was a large steamer that would rim in all directions, and no one would know where it would come to next, and thus the Japs would not be able to get out of the way in time to save their lives. All the movements of the railway have been kept so secret that I do not wonder the Japanese believe it to be a bete noir , and besides, the opening of the line had been announced so many tiroes, that when the wolf really appeared no one would believe he was there. The rates are very expensive on this wonderful result of labor, brains, and ability, which cost the Government over eight million Mexican dollars to finish.