Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-14

the woman Is laid face downward on the
ground and whipped upon the back Of the
thighs. l do not mean to say that such
punishment is general. but l was told 1t Is
according 10 law. and where a master or
a magistrate IL cruelty inclined you can
see what a terrible weapon this might be
in his hands. The slavery of Corea Is by
no means as bad as certain kinds of slavery
In other parts of the globe, and the sons
of slaves are free. The daughters of slaves
are still the property of their master, but
the law provides that they can pay the
amount which was paid for Them and thus
secure their freedom. Slaves here bring
different prices. according to age, muscle
and beauty. Young girls of from fourteen
to eighteen are worth, according to their
good looks, from $50 to SGD apiece, and you
can get a good, hardy woman of thirty or
forty for one-third of this sum- The num-
Der of slaves diminishes from year to year.
but fathers can sell their children, and per-
sons can sell themselves. The slavery
which exists is a sort of serfdom. and many
of the slaves belorg to the old families of
the past. The worst form of slavery Is
that which Is meted out to the families of
rebels. by which the females are taken into
the employ of the officials and condemned
TO work for their husbands, sons or faith
ers' crimes. Such slaves are treated little
better than beasts. and they become the
concubines or drudges of the officials, ac-
coriing to the within of the latter
Speaking of the seclusion of Corean ladies'
saw lady go forth to make a call one
afternoon during my stay in Seoul; at least.
/ suppose she was going to make a call. /
also suppose 1 saw her go forth. AS far as
getting an actual glimpse of her, / did
nothing of the kind. The house in which
she lived was surrounded by a wall of small
houses devoted to servants quarters. These
were ranged on each side of the gate, or
stable-like door, which formed the entrance
to the yard, and there was another gate in
side of this, SO that there was no chance to
see into the yard. She went forth in a
chair of about the size and shape of a small
dry goods box. swung between two long
poles. The men who bore these poles upon
their shoulders took the chair and poked 1t
into the gate, which IT entirely filled. The
front of the chair was then inside the yard.
crawled In and pulled down the curtain. The
men then dragged out the chair and carried
her away. l have looked into one or two
OF these chairs when they were not In use.
They are just big enough for a woman
weighing about 100 pounds to sit cross
legged within. and there Is no support for
the back, nor well for the feet 1t Is in
calling, and all that they ever see of the
big Corean capital Is through the cracks in
the chair or the little glass peep holes, as
big around as a red cent, which they are
now introducing into the closed paper win
dows OF their houses. 1t is only in this way
that they see men other than their hus-
bands and the man who would dare to
enter another Corean house without an in
vitation could be severely punished, and a
man OF the lower classes who dares to look
over the wall Of a gentleman's house to
take a peep at his wife can be caught and
whipped by the man or sent to prison. II
he breaks In and takes hold Of the women
he can be banished. And If he commits a
worse crime than this Of similar nature
he can be killed.