Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-10-05
THE CAPITAL OF KOREA.
DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER
CITY ON THE GLOBE.
by Lofty Mountains and is Called
Seoul-The Massive Wall.

Seoul-The Massive Wall.
7 DESPAIR of giving you an accu-
rate idea of the Korean capital, 1t
Is so different from any other city
on the face of the globe, writes
Frank G. Carpenter in the Washing
ton Star. 1t is such a mass oil the
beautiful and the ugly, Of civilization
and barbarism, of the old and the new
that don't know how TO describe 1t.
Take its situation. 1t lies IN great
basin surrounded by mountains, when
in some places are as rugged as the
widest peaks OF the Rockies, and
which in others have all the beautiful
verdure Of the Alleghenies or the Cat
skills. The tops of these mountains
Oft re7t in the clouds and the masses
of vapor hang in their recesses above
the green plain upon which the city is
built. They change IN their hues
with every change of the heavens, and
they give Seoul setting more gor-
geous than jewels.
The basin below is just about large
enough to contain the town, and n
great gray wall from thirty to forty
| feet high runs along the sides of these
hills, bounding the basin and mount
ing here and there almost to the tops
of the lower mountains. 1t scales one
hill OF at least one thousand feet in
height, and this wall incloses the whole
city. 1t was built in nine months by
an army of two hundred thousand
workmen, about five hundred years
ago, and it is piece of solid masonry,
consisting of two thick walls of gran
tie packed down in the middle with
earth and stones. Its top is SO wide
that two carriages could easily be
driven about it, and it has, on the side
facing the country, crenellated bat.
Element, with holes large enough
for its defenders to shoot
through with arrows. There are no
cannon upon it, and it will be no
means of defense against the batteries
of the Chinese or the Japs in the pres
ent struggle. Its only use in late
years has been to keep out the tigers
and leopards. This wall is more than
six miles in length. 1t is pierced by
eight gates, the arches of which are rs
beautifully laid and cut as those of
any stone work you will find in the
United States Each Of these arches
has curve l roof of black tiles This
rests upon carved wooden pillars,
which rise above the tops OF the walls
and which form watch towers for the
soldiers. Over the great south gate,
the main entrance to the capital, there
are two such roofs. one above the
other, which are guarded at their cor
ners by miniature demons Of porce-
lain, which seem to be crawling along
the edges of the structure. It would
not take much more than a Calling
gun to batter down the heavy doors
by which these arches are closed
These doors are bigger than those Of
any barn in our country. They are
swung up on pivots made by pins fit
ting into the masonry at the top and
the bottom. They are sheathed with
plates OF iron riveted on with big
bolts, and up until now the common
Koreans have believed them defense
against the enemy. They have as much
ceremony connected with them as
other nations have with their forts,
and there are officers in charge of
them who would lose their heads if
they failed in their duty. Every night
just at shutdown these gates are closed,
and they are not opened again until
about in the morning.
The signal OF their closing and
opening is the ringing of a massive
bell in the exact center OF the city.
After this those who ire in cannot get
out, and those who are outside cannot
get in.
1t was just after this that the hour
for closing the gates OF the city APP
preached. 1 waited and watched
First two men came from the gate
house and sang out in Korean the
words that the gates were closing and
the time was short. Their voices
were as shrill as those of an imam of a
Mohammedan 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 ghost-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 oil sorts ofwares, came stumbling
along. There were coolies bearing
closed boxes, in which were their mis-
tresses There were officials on horse
back and mobiles on foot, oil pushing
and sorambling to get in before the
gates closed. As l watched the big
bell pealed out its knell, and the two
men grasped the great doors and
pulled them together with bang.
1t took the strength of both to move
each one Of them, and the gates locked
with spring. The key, which re-
mains with the King overnight, is not
brought back from the palace till the
morning 1t Is q massive bar of iron,
and it takes sledge hammer to drive
1t into the look. Similar locks are or
the gates to the wall which inclosel
the palace of the King, and on each o.
the eight gates of the city.
Inside this great wall, within this
setting of mountains, lies the city o.
Seoul. 1t is town bigger than Gin
cinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, Wash
ington, Buffalo, or Detroit. 1t con
tains more than three hundred thou
sand people, and it has scarcely {
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