Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-01

InterestinG Inforaation AbOat the
land Which Has Cnas~d War.

The kingdom of corea. which China and
japan are Quarreling over, is not quite
twice as large as the state of New York.
says the World. Its population is estimated
at S.eoo.ooo. or in the neighborhood Of 2.OO0-
Go Irore than the population of this state.
Corea is a peo:nsula stretching out from
the continent of Asia in a southeasterly
direction. between Japan and China proper,
with the Yellow sea on one side and the
Sea of japan on the other. The average
width is l35 miles. and the whole length is
about COO miles. The native name for the
country is Tsyosi.a. or Chosen. The Chi
nese call il kao Lee. The=Japanese know
it as Korai. from which comes the English
name.
The climate is cold, and in the summer
rain is frequent The mountain range run
ming through il lensthwise is precipitous
on the eastern side. hut the gentle slope Of
the west side. well watered by rivers. is ex-
ceedingly fertile.
There are eight provinces each with a
governor. The kings revenues, which are
considerable. are obtained chiefly by the
letting out f lands and from a titne of all
the produce. The king owns nearly all the
landed property. The people are great suf-
ferers through this system Of land-grabbing
and tax-farming. Grinding poverty holds
them in a relentless grasp.
SCOUTS foft.
Chemulpo, where the hostile troops are
glazing at one another, and where the
United States cruiser Baltimore and a
British warship have landed marines to
protect the American and English lega-
lions. is the port for the capital, Seoul. a
walled town of $4,000 Inhabitants, about
twenty-five miles inland. and joined to its
seaport by a badly made road. The harbor
of Chcmulpo Is picturesque, but the water
Is very shallow, and the trade of Corea is
SO SHALL that only about once a month can
the small steamer of the Nippon Yusen
kaisha Japanese company be seen In the
bay.
CCrea Is rich in minerals: gold. silver, cop
per and coal are all common. The govern
ment shows itself thoroughly alive to this
fact-gold mining is strictly prohibited, the
permission to work silver mines has been
revoked. the copper mines are neglected
and the use Of coal is confined to a few dis
tricts. There Gre a good many cattle.
horses. dogs, pigs, goats and sheep. The
sheep and goats are q royal monopoly, and
are only used for sacrifice. The people eat
the dogs.
Omcials.
The principal ministers are the sensei-
tsieng Tor admirable counsellor. q very use
full official to have at hand). the tsoa-ei-
tsieng and the cu-e-tsieng. There are also
judges, whose main function Is the free use
ton Of legs. carding Of calves with batons.
cutting OF thighs by continual friction with
cord or suspension by the arms. After
this one Is but family moved by the in
formation that the usual form Of execution
Is decapitation.
All officials are paid very high salaries
But as ii is In the first social Law OF Corea
that when i'm office a man has to support
all his relatives. the system seems to work
out pretty even all round.
The nature of the language can hardly
ease the perplexities that will be seen to be-
set the average Corean In discharging the
duties Of citizenship. True. there are only
fourteen consonants. but the vowels muster
iEg. as in China. is held In high respect
but nobody learns particularly. Still there
are competitive examinations for the pre-
miership and such public posts, and a man
takes his degree by having his face sprin-
kle1 with -four and wiped with ink, to the
sound Of music
The religion is Confucian, relieved by a
firm trust in devils and great veneration
for snakes.
The People.
Women hold q low position In Corean es-
timation. and count for little in the sight
OF the law. As. however. they are not held
personally responsible for any of their &C
tons. they presumably miss the favoring
eye OF the law less than most men
To the Chinese and Corean mind even
approximate truth is absolutely useless and
sIperiuous.
The telegraph has penetrated to Corea
and wire runs from wan-San, a seaport
town en- the east coast to the capital. and
to Chemnlpo. on the west coast but the
railway has not been introduced
The many streams in Corea are used to
work water-mills for grinding corn These
mills are of a very primitive construction
A tree trunk is followed out TO a trough
al one end. and is SO balanced on a pair of
trrnnions set In a frame that when the
trough is filled with water, led to IL from
the ncishboring stream, the trough end
sinks, the water is discharged and the
log resumes its place: the other end being
fitted with a wooden peg acts as a pestle
on the grain, placed In a mortar sunk in the
ground. This takes place six to nine times
Q minute.