Show invented japanese taxi thousands of 0 coolies trot between tile the shafts 0 of on the streets ot of japan china and singapore to earn a few cents a day yet strange as it may seem these two wheeled taxis are the invention of 0 a U S marine according to a release by postmaster wells P starley arley Sl it came about in this fashion private jonathan goble coble was a member ot of the U S marine detachment on the U S S susquehanna on one ot of the ships with commodore perrys fleet which visited japan in 1854 A native of new york state goble had followed the occupation of 0 farmer before he entered the madlne corps in 1851 at the age of twenty tour four remaining in the service about tour four years perhaps goble coble conceived his idea of the when lie ho was abroad with perry but it was some years later after lie had returned to japan as a missionary that lie he suggested to the japanese its his idea of making these enlarged go carts a means of conveyance goblo goble was deeply religious anahis and his return to nippon was prompted by a desire to instruct the japanese in christian beliefs the first made its appearance in japan about 1867 and subsequently its use spread rapidly to other oriental countries igazo a japanese historian credited the ex marine with the invention of the an opinion which has been confirmed by other historians ills IHs thought wrote nl NI tobe resulted in the so called manpower carriage regardless ot of this odd vehicles comparative convenience and comfort the lot of 0 a puller is not a happy one several thousand coolies earn a precarious livelihood in shanghai alone their incomes sometimes averaging less than a month while the death rate among them Is high |