The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-19

terpreter showed me the trouble, and he
told me that the King would surely punish
the man if he knew that the lock had been
out of his possession. | then went on to
the gate ana looked at the clumsy fasten-
ing into which this lock went The bar
which 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 the biceps of
blacksmith, the rings being as thick as
yOnr thumb.
1t was just after this that the hour for
closing the gates of the city approached.
l waited and watched. First two men
came from the gatehOuse and sang out in
Korean the words that the gates were clos
ing and the time was short. Their voices
were as shrill as that of an imam of a Mo-
hammedan 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. BaTe-headed coolies dragged
great bulOcks with packs on their backs
through the doors, and pOrters by the
score, loaded down with all sorts of wares.
came stumbling along. There we're coolies
bearing closed boxes, in which were their
mistresseS. There were officials on horse
back ana mobiles on foot, all pushing and
scrambling TO get in before the gates
closed. AS watched. the big bell toIled
out its knell, and the two men grasped the
great doors and pulled them together with
a bang. 1t took the strength of both 10
move each one of them. and the gates
closed with a spring. The key, which re-
mains with the King overnight, is not
brought back from the palace till the
morning. Il is a massive bar of iron and
it takes sledge- hammer TO drive ii into
the lock. Similar locks are on the gates of
the wall which inclOses the palace OF the
King, and on each Of The eight gates of the
city.
Inside this great wall, within this setting
of mountains, lies the city of Seoul 1t is
town bigger than Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Louisville, Washington, Buffalo, or De-
troit. 1t contains more than 100000 peo-
pie, and it has scarcely a house that is
more than one story high. 1t is city of
wide streets and narrow, winding alleys.
1t is city of thatched huts and tiled one
story buildings. On one side of it are the
palaces ot the King. They cover an area
as large as that oil 1O0O-acre farm, and thew
are massive One-story buildings surrounded
by great walls and laid out with all the
regularity of city. AS you stand on the
walls of Seoul ana look over this medley
of buildings. your first impression is that
you are in the midst of vast hay field.
| interspersed. here and there, with tiled
/ barns. aud the three biggest streets that cut
/ > l.
| road through the fields. You note the shape
of the matched houses. They are all
formed like horseshoes. with the heel of
/ the shoes resting on the street The roofs
are tied on with strings, and the thatch
/ has grown old. and under the soft light of
the setting sun it assumes the rich color
OF brown plush. and there is velvety
/ sOftness TO the whole. AS you look closer
you see that the city is divided up into
/ streets, aud that these narrow and widen
and twist and turn without regularity
or order. Que 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 one such
building you see on the top of a staff the
American flag. That Is the establishment
of our legation to Korea, and the cozy
dences of missionaries and of other for
elgners who reside in Seoul.
Come down now and lake a walk with
me through the city. There are no pave
ments on the streets and you look in vain
Tor gaslamps or the signs Of an electric
! light This city of 30O 900 people is en-
urely without sanitary arrangements.
There Is not wateTcloset In il and the
sewage flows along in open drains through
! the streets, and you have to be careful
/ OF your STEPS. There are no water works.
except the Korean water-carrier, who.
with pole across his back, takes up the
] whole sidewalk as he carries two buckets
| OF water along with him through the
| streets The clouds are left to do the
sprinkling of the highways, save where
here and there householder takes din
per and ladies' out the sewer fluid to Law
the dust All the Stops Of each 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
packed away for use as a patent fertilizer.
Mixed with thessmell is the smoke. This
comes out of the chimneys about two feet
above the ground, which jut out from the
walls of the houses into the streets. Fit a
stovepipe into your house at right angles
with the floor of the porch and you have the
average Korean chimney. AT certain hours
OF the morning aud 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 stable or barn
than the entrances to residences. They