Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-19
General Greathouse-rather too delightedly.


/ thought-once said to me:
why, these people are just like our peo-
pie at home. They drink and they fight
and they go upon sprees. They have many
other things in common with US, and they
are decidedly human"
There are many saloons. and the sign
OF these Is basket which Is hung on
pole above the door and which is of the
liquors are strained when they are made.
This basket Is usually about eighteen
inches long and eight inches in diameter,
and you see them all over Corea.
The Drug Stores.
The drug stores do not sell liquors, and
they have very few fluids of any kind
Their medicines consist of powders and
herbs, and patent medicines are as yet un-
known in Corea. 1 believe great big bust
ness could be done in both Corea and China
by taking patent medicines out there and
advertising them as wonderful cure-ails,
using the before and after taking signs.
especially. The field is a virgin one, and it
ought to be worked. 1 went into one drug
store bl Seoul, which was walled with cabi-
nets containing drawers about six inches
square filed with all kinds of nauSeOuS
herbs. There were bags of medicine hang
ing from the roof, and the druggist was
squatting on the floor with his hat on, max
ing more medicine. Both the Chinese and
the CoreanS believe in big doses. They
don't think powder is worth anything
unless 1t is big enough for a horse, and
their great cure-all is ginseng. This We
consider a weed in America, but it is
of the most valuable products of Corea.
and the king has the monopoly of it. lie
has great farms which are watched at night
by men who sit on platforms which have
been built up in them to keep the people
from stealing the crop The roots are
shipped off to China, where the king has
his own officials to watch the sale and see
ttat he gets his share OF the profit. 1t is,
in chnr \, tt IN, Il
Some Of this herb is shipped from America
to China. but is not considered good
the Corean ginseng The weed is used as
a tonic, and it is believed to have wonder
fully Strengthening properties.
The Cabinet Shops.
The CoreanS do some Very good cabinet
work, and about the only things you can
buy in the country which are worth carry
ing away are brass cooking utensils and
bureaus. The brass is wonderfully fine. IT
shines like gold, and is made in little foun-
dries, which look more like blacksmith
shops than brassworks. Everything is
done by hand. The bureaus are all trim
med with brass, and the funniest article of
household furniture IS the Corean cash box.
Every man has his own bank of this kind.
1t is often bound with brass, and it is made
of oak wood about two inches thick, ana
the lock to it weighs several pounds. The
money is kept in this box. and is carried
about on the backs of coolies or by ser
wants, when man goes shopping, and in
the winter it is taken and put into the
Corean safe deposits.
The COrcmn Safe Deposit.
The Coreans have perhaps the best safe,
deposit system III the world, but it is one
that works only during the winter. All
their money is in the shape of Corean cash,
which is made in coins of copper and brass
about as big as an old-fashioned red cont.
with a square hole in the center. 1t takes
GOO coins, or 5000 cash, to make Amer
lean dollar, and about $50 is good load for
a man, and $40 would break down Il bullock.
During the summer the Corean capitalist
lends out his money for ) per cent and up
ward month, very judciously placing 1T.
In the winter, however. there is liable to be
cold and famine, and it might be stolen, or
his debtor might not be able to pay, SO, as
the cold weather approaches, he draws in
his cash and puts it into his safe deposit
vault until spring. Every Cocean has his
own vault. 1t is usually his front yard,
which is walled off from the street. He has
his servant dig up this to a depth of about
eight feet and then the first cold, frosty
night he spreads out q layer OF this cash
in the hole and covers ii with q coating OF
earth. He has water thrown upon this, so
that the cash is embedded in mud. and it
is watched until Jack Frost freezes it tight.
The next night there is another layer of
cash and second coating of mud. This is
frozen. and so it goes until there is Il
solid frozen mass of cash and mud lying
two or three feet below the surface of the
ground On the top of this the ground is
also frozen. and the winter is such that
the merchant can sleep without fear until
spring. -