Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-30


about two miles VI !" &\A
apart. Mr.. Power had ~ NM\
put two thousand in AM. "HNN
candescent lights in MWN Ns8NN
to these palaces, and NWW\Ss~~fM
hundreds of them are AA *A
kept blazing from >nf(EfM1f4A
O'Clock in the even lM8SNN SZg&M
ing until 6 oclock in WN& %ew
the morning. His 49,
majesty does all of
his business at night
and he never sleeps in the dark He goes
almost crazy If he doesn't have light. and
his situation Is really SO dangerous that he
can't afford to do without 1t.
The light plant which has been put in is
one OF the finest In the east. 1t came from
America. and was well put UP by Mr.
ROVER that one of the dancing girls could
nave run 1t. The Coreans, in fact had
been managing the machinery for several
weeks. and the officials thought that the
iight was complete. and those to whom the
King had handed the money for Mr. Power
held 1t back and refused to give it to him.
He protested and waited for q few days.
They showed no signs of paying his salary
until at last, one night when the king was
IN the midst of his state business with his
officials about him, the lights went out
Courlers were at once dispatched to the
plant, and the Coreans in charge were
asked what was the matter. They could
not tell. They pointed to the machinery.
1t was running beautifully, but there was
no light. Mr.. Power. was told. had mere
ly disconnected the dynamo by taking out
hidden screw. which left the wheels rum
ming as usual. but which produced no light.
The king was enraged at his officials but
not at Mr.. Power. He knew nothing about
the salary having been kept back, but he
simply told the high Corean noble who had
charge Of this department that If the light
was not at once produced his head would
be chopped off. This would also necessi-
tate the cutting Off of other heads, and
within an hour Mr.. Powers money was in
10 N LIT 40
bles on their knees about him. begging him
to use his magic and bring back the light
to the king. He held off for q time, but
was finally persuaded. and having turned
the Coreans cut of the light plant, he in
serted the screw. and. presto! the palace
blaZed with the rays of electricity. There
was no trouble after this about Mr.. Pow
er's salary. and he steadily grew in influ-
ence. He had charge of the kings armory
and repaired his Calling guns He was
about to build an electric railroad from
Seoul to the Han river when the present
rebellion broke out and everything stopped.
The Missionaries.
There is large colony Of missionaries in
Seoul, and there are missionary stations at
the leading seaports of the country. The
field is taken up almost entirely by the
PTtsbyterians and Methodists, and both
churches are doing excellent work. In ad-
dition to these the French Catholics and
the Church of England have number of
missicra aries, and the Methodists have a
Corean school or college. under the charge
of the Rev. H. G. Appenzeller. paid some
attention to mission work during the tour
which l made through Japan, China and
Corea last summer. l found the mission
are doing a vast deal Of good, though the
masses upon whom they have to work are
so many and the missionaries SO few that
there Is not as rapid progress as might be
HhArn rnfc f@y, faks
scattered throughout the Chinese empire.
and there are now 1886 missionaries at
work in that country. They claim that
they have 10000 Chinese who are regular
communicates. and the increase has been
rapid within late years. 1t Is eighty-six
years since Protestant missions were start
ed in China. and the chief work has been
done during the last thirty-fiye years, at
communicates. One of the friends of the
missions claims that If the same advance
continues during the next thirty-five years
there will be 26,OOO,GOO Protestant commu-
nicants in China and a Christian -commun-
fty of 1OO.OOO.OO people. AS for me, I very
much doubt this estimate There Is great
mission work going on in Japan, and Japan
Is the paradise Of the missionary He is
allowed to do as he pleases, and the people
are more easily converted. Some Of the
best work of the missionaries is through
their hospitals, which are very much need
ed, and which are now thoroughly appre-
ciated by the Asiatics The work in this
line has been improving every year. and
the man who tells you that the missionaries
are not doing anything in Asia has not, as
rule, been inside Of a missionaries house
nor looked at all into the real work which
they are attempting to accomplish.
Our Diplomats in Japan.
Japan is now considered quite as desira-
BILE country by our diplomatic agents
as England or the continent. The salaries
of the consuls are high and our diplomats
live much better in Japan than they do In
Europe. Nearly every one of them has
large establishment. with plenty of serv-
ants. and they are. as a rule, of higher
grade than those appointed to the big cities
of Europe. The consul general at Yoko-
hama Is one of the ablest men who has
ever been sent abroad in that capacity.
His name Is Nicholas w. McIvor, and he is
an Iowa man Of about forty years Of age.
He Is fine lawyer. and is a graduate Of
Yale College. Packed with common sense
and man of business ability, he Is max
ing a very successful consul general The
vice consul general is Mr.. George H. Scid-
more, who has been for years connected
with the service and who has considerable
diplomatic ability. At Osaka and Hiogo
the great commercial centers of western
Japan. the United States is represented
by Enoch J. Smithers who has been con-
nected with our diplomatic service for
quarter of century and who did good
work at Shanghai and Tien-Tsin. At Ma
gasaki we have w. H. Abercrombie q rich
American, who has one of the finest houses
in the far east and who is a man of cul-
ture and BRAINS
The Legation ut Tokyo.
The consuls, however, have to do only
with the business interests of the country
and with the furthering of American trade.
All matters connected with this war are
left to the legation at Tokyo, and this is
in better condition today than it has been
for years. The minister is Mr.. Edwin
Dun relative of Senator Thurman and a
man well fitted to deal with the Japanese
frcm his residence of many years in the
country. He speaks the Japanese as we'll
as he does the English, and he has an in
innate personal friendship with the great
est of the Japanese statesmen. He is
big, broad-shouldered, red-headed man of
about forty-five. He is a thorough Ameri-
can, and he has the nerve to demand and
the diplomacy necessary to secure the best
results for our people in the far east. In
the past the Germans and the English
have Systematically bulldozed Japan into
giving contracts and favors to them at