The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-27

come better known, and deservedly so.
tban the country creating it. Ask any
ordinary homespun American whose shop
ming has been confined to Broadway, or
areD extended to Regent street, the def
nition Of aigrette, and the answer will in
,ariably be that it is a stylish tuft of
feathers placed well up on the
head and nodding most aristocrati-
caDv whenever the fair wearer
moves. That is all right for non-expert
oninion and answers all requirements. but
fthat hOmeSpun American should make
a shopping tour of Grand avenue, Seoul.
and ask questions en- route, he would soon
discover that an aigrette is the name of
bird Of the heron family, having bunch
of very soft and very pretty feathers on
the top of its head, and the Coreans are
credited with having first thought of
looting these feathers and affixing them
10 their own head. There is reasonably
good authority for the assertion that this
Is the only idea a COrean ever had the
onlv one, at any rate, that was ever al
lowed TO get out in the world The
aigrette feathers are exceedingly val
liable, and correspondingly difficult to
obtain. .-.-.
Making purchases in Seoul is not an
undressing pastime, mainly because it
is so entirely different from anything we
westeruers are accustomed to, the streets
are different, the shops different the We
hicles different, the people different, it is
anew world, a terrestrial Mars perhaps,
where no single item is even remotely
near what we thought it was.
There is a native Seoul and a foreign
Seoul, separated by stretch of grass
some 500 feet across, and extending the
length of the town. In the native section
the houses are one-story, quilt of clay and
rooted with grass, the streets are so mar
row that in many of them people are
forced to walk spoon fashion" when
they pass and as many more are so much
narrower that when two people meet go
ing in the opposite directions one has TO
step in a store until the other gets out of
the way. This has made the native sec
ton fairly unpopular, and so most of
the shopping is done IN the foreign dis
trct. where the houses are of wood and
twostories in night, and where the
streets are so commodiOus that | have
frequently seen two sedan chairs pass
with fully six inches to spare on both
SIDES.
PROTECTION FROM THIEVES.
Shops in the foreign districts are gen
orally large, ten to fifteen feet wide and
twenty-five deep; they are furnished
with counters and tables and shelves &;
the stock is distributed in bewildering
confusion, but with a shrewd arrange
ment that produces the greatest effect
from what is displayed. The windows
here are protected by glass. in Difference
to thethieving prOpensities of the visitors,
and the celebrity OF the natives, who will
sweop down upon an ungarded display of
iewelry, I'LL their mouth and hands with
spoil, and get away before they can be
stopped. A numerous club studied with
mails is the protective method employed
an the native section, where glass is I'M
known
The shop Interiors are richly decorated
with gold and silver and paintings: there
are examples of wood and ivory carving
beyond anything Americans nave ever
seen; tiny articles delicately ornamented
or great cumbrous articles bearing an in
terminable quantity of adornment. When
visitor enters the proprietor and his
clerks are found sitting behind the cOun-
ter solemnly discussing the Japan-China
war, or the iniQulties of a telephone
which some Frenchman is trying to in
troduce. No notice whatsoever will be
taken of the intruder, and he can wander
around the store at liberty to look and
handle all he feels disposed. After this in
dependence has been enjoyed for some min
uteS, the proprietor will unwind himself
from his comfortable position and come
forward with dignifed air, drag out of
It's obscurity some precious bit that had
escaped the rowing eye of the shopper
and hold 1T forth with the appreciation
of a cornoisseur and the true love of a
collector. Such hectoring to purchase,
such persistent attempt to force upon
the buyer what the buyer does not want,
as IS met in every shop in London and
Paris, is not tolerated in savage Corea,
and storekeeper of Seoul would con
Slder methods of that description alto
together unworthy of his profession.
NAMES OF ORIENTAL WEALTH.
singular feature of Corean shops is
the reckless irrelevancy of the name to
the purpose of the establishment. A store
where delicate crockery is sold will be
known under the name of The Heavenly
Bride" a hair dressing place is CON
splcuOus by the title of Great Felicity"
where they engrave your name on seal
or goblet while you wait, has prodigiOus
sign, reading, 1.-THE House of Delight in
Scholarship" silk merchant who sells
book marks and scarfs flourishes as the
proprietor of THE Celestial Advantage"
and suaye gentleman who manufactures
cqrlos boldly christens his store THE
House of Increasing Profit
The proper way to shop in Seoul, the
good FORM in such expeditions, is to
hlrc sedan chair, borne upon the Shout
ders Of four sturdy Coreans, who are
mortlfyingly economical in the matter of
clOJhes, but when their wages of ! cent
an hour is taken into consideration the
marvel is that they manage to exc out as
complete a wardrobe as they do. The
chalr is lined with crimson or blue velvet,
and protected from the brilliant sun by a
snow white awning trimmed in a tasteful
manner. The carriers watch their pas
Senger with the keenest interest, and if
ne chances TO notice shop window with
more than an Indifferent glance they at
once set down their burden and go into
Ihe most eXtravagaut raptures as to the
merits of that particular store, praying
thelr fare to step forth and examine
Ior himself the marvellous wares dis
prayed. For all this attention the four
carriers receive a reasonable commission
on whatever the tourist buys.
ANYTHING IN TRADE.
=, A convenience that has arisen out of
.he limited amount of money in circula-
Won IS the readiness of tradesmen to ac-
,,ept ANYTHING for their wares, to trade
Ihelr stock for whatever the customer
may have loose about him, A silver
spoon, an old watch a chain, a hat. his
ehure suit of Clothes If he so desires,
WIZ De taken in full payment for any OBJ
lecl IN the shop, from tigers cub to q
!eNeled tiara. So accustomed are the
PEOPLE to this description of barter and
,,Acuange that they can tell at a glance