The Portland daily press., 1894-08-24
CONCERNING CORFA.
Interesting Information About the Land
That Has Caused War.
reform.

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. It's population is
estimated at $500, 600, or in the neigh
borhood of 1900, eco more than the pop
ulation of this State.
Corea is peninsula stretching out
from the continent of Asia in a south
easterly 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 1875 miles,
and the whole length is about 600 miles.
The native name for the country is
Tsyosieu, or Chosen. The Chinese call
it Kao Lee. The japanese know it as
korai, from which comes the English
name.
The climate is cold, and in the sum
mer rain is frequent. The mountain
range running through it lengthwise
is precipitous on the eastern side, but
the gentle slope of the west side, we'll
wateIed by rivers is exceed lgly fertile.
There are eight provinces, each with
governor. The kings revenues, which
are considerable. are obtained chiefly by
the letting out of lands and from a 1.-THE
ly all the landed property. The people
are great sufferers through this system
of land-grabbing and tax farming.
Grinding poverty holds them in relent
less grasp.
Chemulpo, where the hostile troops
are glaring at one another, and where
the United States cruiser Baltimore and
British warship have landed marines
the American and English legations, is
the port for the capital. Seoul, a walled
town of 100000 inhabitants, about
twenty-five miles inland, and joined to
its seaport by badly made road.
The harbor of Chemulpo is picturesque,
bur the water is very shallow. and the
trade of Corea is SO small that only
steamer of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha
(Japanse company be seen in the bay.
Corea is rich in minerals; gold, silver,
copper and coal are common. The
government shows itself thoroughly
alive to this fact-gold mining is strictly
prohibited. the permission two work
silver mines has been revoked, the cop
coal IS confined to few districts.
There are good many cattle, horses,
dogs. pigs, goats, and sheep. The
sheep and goats are royal monopoly,
and are only used for sacrifice. The
people eat the dogs.
The principal ministers are the sengei-
tsieng Cor admirable counsellor,a very
uHCIut OllCldi W nave dU j. Uu6 GSOd-
ei-tsieng and the cu-ei-tsieng. There
are also judges whose main function is
the free use. as an incentive toward
veracity of dislocations 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 information
that the usual form of execution is de-
capitation.
All officials are paid very high sala-
ries. But rs it is in the first social law
OF Corea that when in Office a man has
to support all his relatives. the system
seems to work pretty even all round.
The nature of the language can hardly
ease the perplexities that will BIS seen
to beset the average Corean in discharg-
ing the duties of citizenship. True, here
are only fourteen consonants, but the
vowels muster eleven, and tile diph-
thongs thirteen. Learning, as in China.
is held i'll high respect, but nobody
learns particularly.
Still there are competitive examina-
| itions for the premiership and such pub
| lie posts, and a man takes his degree bv
having his face sprinkled with -four and
| wiped with ink, to the sound of music.
The religion is Confucian, relieved by
| a firm trust in devils and great venera-
| tion for snakes.
Women hold a low position in Corean
eSClmatlOn, ana count IOr little In the
sight of the law. As, however, they
are not held personally responls BILE for
any of their actions, they presumably
miss the favoring eye of the law less
| than most men.
10 the Chinese and Corean minds
even approximate truth is absolutely
| useless and superfiuous.
The telegraph has penetrated to Corea,
and wire runs from Wan-San, sea-
| port town on the east coast, of the cap
1tal, and to Chemulpo, on the west
coast, but the railway has not been in
| troduced.
| The many streams in Corea are used
to work water mills for grinding corn
| These mills are of a very primitive con-
struction. A tree trunk is followed out
| to trough at one end, and is SO bal
anced on a pair of trunnions set in a
frame that when the trough is filled
with water led to it from the neighbor-
ing stream, the trough end sinks, the
water is discharged and the log resumes
| it's place: the other end being fitted
with wooden peg acts as pestle on
the grain, placed in a mortar sunk in
the ground. This takes place six to
| inn ti1loQ inn