Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-18

TALLY thrust INTO the iron DOX rested on
the ground. Ths Corean gatekeeper's face
became ashy. He grabbed the lock from
me, and as he did so could see the reason
for his fear The rod on which the lock
locking It, and had pushed down upon It
the spring would have caught. He would
have been unable to lock the gate
that night without going to the palace to
get the key and might have lost his head
for his carelessness. My interpreter showed
me the trouble and he told me that the
king would surely punish the man II he
knew that the lock had been out of his
possession. / then went on to the gate and
looked at the clumsy fastening into which
this lock went. The bar which I have
spoken OF was as big as an old-fashioned
poker and the lock Joined chains made of
links of wrought iron which were as big
around as tie biceps of a blacksmith. the
rings being as thick your thumb.
Closing the Gates.
1t was just after this that the hour for
closing the gates Of the city approached.
waited and watched. First two men came
from the gate house and sang out in Corean
the words that the gates were closing and
the time was short. Their voices were as
shrill as those of an imam of a Moham-
medan mosque when he calls out the hour
of prayer from the minarets, and they held
on to their final tones for the space of
twelve seconds by my watch. As they
cried there was grand rush for the gates.
Hundreds of men In black hats and white
gowns ran shost:like through the darkness.
Bare-headed coolies dragged great bullocks
with packs on their backs through the
doors, and porters by the scores, loaded
down with all sorts of wares, came Stun
bling along. There were coolies bearing
closed boxes in which We're their mistresses.
There were officials on horseback and
mobiles on foot, all pushing and scrambling
to get in before the gates closed. As I
watched the big bell pealed out its knell.
and the two men grasped the great doors
and pulled them together with a bang. 1t
took the strength of both to move each one
of them, and the gates locked with spring.
The key. which remains with the king over
night, Is not brought back from TIE palace
till the morning. II Is a massive bar of
iron, and 1t takes a sledge hammer to drive
II into the lock. Similar locks are on the
gates to the wall which incloses the palace
of the king. and on each OF the eight gates
of the city.
Like Vast Hay Field.
Inside this great wall. within this setting
of mountains, lies the city Of Seoul 1t is q
town bigger than Cincinnati. Cleveland,
Louisville Washington, Buffalo, or Detroit
1t contains more than three hundred thous-
and people. and II has scarcely house that
is more than one story high. 1t is a city Of
wide streets and narrow, winding alleys. 1t
is a city Of matched huts and tiled one
story buildings. On one side OF IL are the
palaces of the king. They cover an area as
large as that of a thousand-acre farm, and
Trey are massive one-story buildings sur
rounded by great walls and laid out with all
the regularity Of a city. AS you stand on
ihe walls of Seoul and look over this medley
OF buildings. your first Impression is that
you are I'm the midst of vast hay field, in |
terspersed. here and there, with tiled barns
AMI the three oigges. straats that cut |
through these myriad haycocks look like
read through the fields. OIL note the shape
of the tina tched houses They are all form
h.a had .af f1,ac
resting on the street. TN, ropfs are tied on |
with strings. and the tha.ci has grown old |
anu urdar tue soft light of tn setting sun |
1t assumes the rich color of brown plush
and there is a veivety softness to the whole !
AS you look closer. you see that the city is |
divided up into streets, and that these mar
row and widen and twist and turn. without |
regularity or order. One part of the city is |
made almost entirely of tiled buildings |
These are the homes OF the swells, and |
over there not far from the gate above ore |
such building you see on the top of q staff |
the American flag. That is the establish |
ment OF our legation to Corea, and the COY
little compounds about it are the residences !
of the missionaries and of the other foreign |
ers who reside in Seoul.
In the Streets.
Come down now and take a walk with |
me through the city. There are no pave
ments on the streets and you look in vain |
for gas lamps or the signs of an electric
people is entirely without sanitary arrange
ments. There is not a water closet in If /
and the sewage flows along in open drains
through the streets and you have 20 be
careful of your steps. There are no water
works, except the COrean water carrier
who. with pole across his back, takes
up the whole sidewalk he carries two
buckets of water along with him through |
the streets. The clouds are left to do the
sFrinkiing of the highways, save where
here ana there y householder takes q din
per and ladies' out the sewer fluid to hay |
the dust. All the Stops OF eaca house run
into the bitches along the sidewalk and the
smell comes up in solid chunks SO thick that
1t could be almost cut into slices and pack
eI away aI W., Tor use as patent fertilizer.
comes out of chimneyS about two feet above
the ground, which jut out from the walls
Of the houses into the streets. Fit a stove
pipe into your house at right angles with
The floor of the porch and You have the
average Corean chimney. At certain hours
Of the morning and evening each of these
chimneys vomits forth the smoke of the
straw which the people use for the fires
of their cooking and the air becomes blue
The doors to the houses along the street |
are more like those of a stable or barn than
the entrances to residences They are very
rude and in the bottom of each Is cut a |
hole for the dog. Such doors as are open
give no Insight to the homes of the people. |
and was in SEOUL for some time before i |
hhS" thdt tHtSt toofS facing the street |
were merely the entrance gates to large
compounds or yards n which were very
comfortable buildings. I thought that the |
mobiles lived in these matched huts. They |
are in reality only the quarters of the sery-
ants, and the homes of the better classes |
contain many rooms and are In some cases /
almost as well fitted for comfort as those |
of our own. These houses along the streets |
have no windows to speak Of. There are |
under the roof little openings about a foot |
square. These are filled with lattice and |
backed With paper. They permit the light |
to come in, but you cannot see through |
them. Here and there l noted little eye |
hole of glass as big around as a red cent
pasted onto the paper and as go through |
the streets l find now and then a LIQUID |
black ball surrounded by the cream coIored |
buttonhole which forms the eyeiids of a |
Corean maiden looking out.
COrcan Maidens.
] am human enough to want to study the |
women of every country I visit. 1 found |
this very hard in Seoul. The girls on the
streets wear shawls wrapped around their
heads. and only an eye peeps out through |
the folds. In India and Egypt the women
are secluded, but when they go on the
street, If their faces are covered, they think