The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-09-16


tie Minister to walk through the main
entrance. He then went through one
of the side gates. and our Interpreters fol-
lowed him. Dr. Allen and myself were
walking with the Minister. Said the doc
tor. ''He seems to intend that l shall go
through the main gate, too" "Well. doe
tor" said /, 81 think / will stick to the
party, and though l have no official rank
I'll see how it feels to walk the path that
has only been troddeu by the feet of
kings" L had n OF forgotten that | was an
American prince. And so we three repre-
sentatives of the royalty of the United
States marched through this temple-like
entrance. The act in itself seems little in
America, but it was a great thing in
Korea, and everywhere l went after that
1t was mentioned in connection with my
introductions to other Koreans.
In our march through the city of the
King this gorgeous Prime Minister stllked
along in front of US, leading us through
great courts till we came to another gate,
through tie center arch of which we
passed. Then we went on through other
courts walled with palaces, past servants
clad in brown and red, and by officials
wearing all sorts of hats and gowns.
There were soldiers everywhere, and Cat
ling guns stood near some of the entrances.
We passed through street after street
walled with the buildings in which live
this King and his servants, until we came
to great gate, the side door OF which
alone was open. The central door was
closed. The Secretary of the Home Office
stepped through the side gate and ex-
pected US to follow. We had gotten used,
however, to the arch of honor, and we
stopped and waited for the NJ ain gate to be
opened. The Secretary tbereupon changed
his mind. He came back and was prac-
tically lifted by his servants to the top of a
hill where there was new gate, and he led
US through this. This brought us into the
vestibuIe built for the foreigners. 1t was
magnificent corridor. so long that you could
not see the end as you stood at the top and
looked down it. 1t was lighted It the top
and on both sides by beautiful latices of
white paper. The woodwork was papered
with this wonderful Korean paper. which
Is as smooth as ivory and as strong as
leather. The floor was covered with mat
ting as fine as the web OF a Panama hat,
and so thick that our feet sunk as softly
ito it as they would have done had it been
Brussels carpet. This corridor had many
landings. We descended from one t.
another by easy steps, and alter a walk OF
perhaps quarter of mile, we came out
of it into an open hall which locked out
upon the gardens of the King, and gave
viaw of the new palace in the distance.
This room was furnished IN foreign style,
and the highest officials of the King and a
number of great mobiles of the court were
gathered within it, Each noble had his
servant with him. Tall. broad-shouldered
men. clad in brown gowns and gorgeous
hats, stood about as guards.
These are known as the brown-cOated
kpsos. They are the bodyguard OF tbs
King. and. like the famed soldiers of Peter
the Great, have been licked out for their
height and strength. Nearly every one Of
them is over six feet, and their long gowns
make them like giants. In addition to
these there were servants In red caps, ser
wants in caps of purple and servants with
gorgeous head-dressings of blue. The Off
Gals were clad in their court dresses, and
the head of each showed topknot shining
through its fine Korean cap of horsebair.
which. with its great wings Tapping out at
The sides, forms the official headdress.
These wings are oval in shape and they
stand out like ears, denoting that their
owners are ever listening for the COM
mands of the King The gowns of these
officials were of the finest silk, made very
full. They fell from their necks to their
feet and nearly covered the great official
cloth boots, which made each man look as
though he had the govt and was nursing
his feet for the occasion. The gowns were
of dark green, embroidered with gold on
nd hao
storks or tigers. according as the man be-
lODged TO the civil or the military rank.
Each man had stiff. hooplike belt about
him, which was fastened in some way to
his dress. and surrounded his BODY
just below the armpits. These hoops
were so large that they stood
about six inches out from the dress. They
are emblems Of rank, and you can tell the
position Of the man by the character of the
gold, jewels or precious stones win which
these hoops are decorated. Some of them
are made of great number of small
squares fastened together by Joints, and
not few OF these squares were OF the
purest gold. Others were of silver, and
others were OF green jade, amber and other
precious stones. Each of these officials
wore a ribbon of woven horsehair about
four inches wide about his head, and this
ribbon was fastened on by a little round
button about the size of the back of col
lar-button. which rested just behind the
ear. These buttons also denote rank.
Some were Of gold, some amber and others
of some other precious materials.
These men were all very dignifed. We
were introduced all around by the Cabinet
Minister who conducted us into the roum,
and we then sat down to long ia BILE upon
which were plates filed with assorted
cookies about the size of macarOons. AT
each mans seat there were champagne
glasses, and the servants opened a half
dozen or so of cold bottles while we chatted
and waited. The American Minister had
his presentation first. He spent about half
an hour with his Majesty, and then one of
the Englsh-s peaking ufficisls came into this
room and told me that the King was ready
to see me. Taking off my hat and my eye
glasses L walked with this man through
Iang passagsways walled with stone. by
red-capped, red-gowned servants, and past
soldiers in gorgeous uniforms. to the gate
of a large courtyard. As we Deared this
my interpreter, who was a high official
noble, bent hi, head over, and his face
looked like that Of man in pain at
funeral. As we entered the court he bent
half double, and as L looked across it /
saw that there was a large open hall fac