Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-11

WV ed to Regent street,
the definition of al
grette, and the answer will invariably be
that 1t is a stylish tuft of feathers placed
well up on the head and nodding most aris-
tocratically whenever the fair wearer
moves. That is all right for a non-expert'
opinion and answers all requirements, but
II that hOmcSpun American should
make 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
a bunch Of very soft and very pretty feath-
ers on the top Of Its head, and the Coreans
are credited with having first thought of
looting these feathers and affixng them to
their own head. There is reasonably good
authority for the assertion that this is the
only idea Corean ever had, the only one
at any rate. that was ever allowed to get
out in the world. The aigrette feathers are
exceedingly valuable and correspondingly
difficult to obtain.
Making purchases in Seoul is not an unin-
teresting pastime. mainly because 1t is SO
entirely different from anything We west
erners are accustomed to, the streets are
different. the shops different. the vehicles
different. the people different, 1t is a new
world, a terrestrial Mars perhaps, where no
single item is even remotely near what we
thought it was.
There is native Seoul and a foreign
Seoul. separated by a stretch of grass some
800 feet across, and extending the length Of
the town. In the native section the houses
are one story, built of clay and rooted with
grass, the streets are narrow that in
many of them people are forced to walk
spoon fashion when they pass, and as
many more are much narrower that
when two people meet going in opposite di-
rections one has TO step in a store until the
other gets out of the way. This has made
the native section fairly unpopular, and SO
most or the shopping is done in the foreign
district, where the houses are of wood and
two stories in height, and V here the streets
are so commodious that l 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 generally
large, ten to fifteen feet wide and twenty
five deep; they are furnished with counters
and tables and shelves; the stock is dis
tributed in bewildeIing confusion. but with
a sh-ewd arrangement that produces the
greatest effect from what is displayed. The
windows here are protected by glass, in def
erence TO the thieving prop ensities of the
visitors, and the CELEBRITY of the natives
who will swoop down upon an ungua rdei
hands with spoil, and get away before they
can be stopped. murderous club studded
with nails Is the protective method en-
ployed in the native section, where glass is
unknown.
The shop interiors are richly decorated
with gold and silver and paintings; there
are examples of wood and ivory carving be-
yond anything Americans have ever seen:
tiny articles delicately ornamepted or great
cumbrous articles bearing an interminable
quantity of adjournment. When visitor en-
tiers the proprietor and his clerks arc found
sitting behind the counter solemnly dis
cCssing the Japan-China war, or the in
EQUITIES OF teiephone~whioh some French
man is trying to introduce. No notice what
soever 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 Independence has been enjoyed for some
minutes the proprietor will unwind himself
from his comfortable position and come for
ward with a dignifed air, drag out of its
obscurity some precious bit that had es-
capped the rowing eye of the shopper and
hold 1t forth with the apprecia don of a con-
noisseur and the true love of a collector.
Such hectorin.s to purchase, such a per-
sistent 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 q storekeeper
of Seoul would consider methods of that de-
scription altogether unworthy of his pro-
fession.
Names of Oriental Wealth.
A singular fea ture of Corean shops Is the
reckless irrelevancy of the name to the
purpose of the establishment A store
where delicate crocl1ery is sold vii! be
known under the name of The Heavenly
Bride hair dressing place is conspicuous
by the title of Great Felicity where they
engrave your name on seal or goblet while
you wait has a prcdigious sign, reading
THE House of Delight in Scholarship
a silk merchant who sells book marks and
scarfs fiourishes as the proprietor Of The
Celestial Advantage" and a sUave gentle
man who man IfactrreS curiOS bodily CHRIS
tens his store THE House of Increasing
Profit"
The proper way to shop in Seoul, the good
form" in such expeditions, is to hire a
sedan chair, borne upon the shoulders of
four sturdy Coreans, who are mortlfyingly
economical in the matter of clothes, but
when their wages of one cent hour is
taken into consideration the marvel is that
they manage to exc out as complete ward
robe as they do. The chair is lined with
crimson or blue velvet, and protected from
the brilliant sun by a snow-white awning
trimmed in tasteful manner. The carriers
watch their passenger with the keenest in
terest, and If he chances to notice a shop
window with more than an Indifferent
glance they at once set down their burden
and go into the most eXtravagant raptures
as to the merits of that particular store
praying their fare to step forth and eX-
anime for himself the marvellous wares dis
prayed. FOR all this attention the four
rie-s receive a reasonable commission on
whatever the tourist buys.
Anything In Trade.
A convenience that has arisen out of the
limited amount Of money in circula ton is
the readiness of tradesmen to accept any
thing for their wares, to trade their stock
for whatever the customer may have loose
about him. A silver spoon, an old watch,
a chain, hat, his entire suit OF clothes If
he SO desires, will be taken in full payment
for any object in the shop, from a tigers
cub to a jeweled tiara. So accustomed ere
the people to this description of barter and
exchange that they can tell at a glance the
value of a pair of secondhand gold spe-
tacles, or the worn seal from the fob OF a
luxurious customer, If these objects are
offered in payment of a new golden scent
bottle or pair of filagrea candelabra The
qualified Corean merchant can generally es-
innate the value Of gold or silver in an
article by merely looking at it, but, to guard
against the possibility OF mistakes, each
store is provided with a pair of delicate
scales made of ivory and silk threads, and
upon this the weight of an object, to the
fraction of a grain, is readily ascertained.
The most attractive shops are those for
the sale of flowers. These Northumberland