The morning call., 1895-01-20

paper 1t is all made by hand and it
brings about five cents a sheet, each sheet
containing about as much paper, judge
as eight pages of this newspaper. [ went
through paper factory, which is just out
] side of Seoul, along the banks of a stream.
Some paper is made of bark reduced to
pulp and all the old paper is worked over.
1t is ground up into a sort of mdsh and
when it is all in bits bamboo frame is
| thrust into the mush and that which
sticks to the frame makes sheet of paper.
1t is bleached in the sun and is as
strong as cloth. Now, the King gets his
percentage out of the first sale and he
makes big lot of money out of his ex-
animation papers. All Offices are supposed
| to be awarded by civil service examina-
TONS and at certain times of the year the
! students by the thousand come from all
parts of the country, each carrying two or
three of these sheets of paper. They are
admitted into one part OF the palace
! grounds and there squat down under UNI
brellas which they bring with them and
write essays in poetry. They have to wear
a certain kind of cap known as scholar S
cap at this time, and each essay covers
/ sheet of this paper. 1t must have just so
many verses and just so many lines to each
verse, and the students don't know what
they are going to write about until they get
inside the grounds. The subject is hoisted
up on pole just outside of pen in which
the King and the judges sit. After the
writing is through each student folds
up his essay in peculiar way and throws
it over the fence of the pen. 1t is carried
up to the King and is spread out on top of
pile of papers which grows to large pro-
portions before the examination is through.
Only few pass at these examinations, and
the rejected papers are all sold by the King
or by his officials, and there are hundreds
of houses in Seoul which are carpeted with
these old examination papers. | wore a
raincoat MADE of oiled paper which had
been originally used by a Korean student
for one of these essays, and [ trotted about
through the streets with a lot of Confucian
doggerel on my back. The paper-stores
are found in different parts of the capital
and they do big business. This paper
takes the place of glass and it forms the
window coverings of Korea.
One of the largest of the guild halls about
the great bell is devoted to the selling of
shoes. These are of many varieties and
some are quite expensive. Those for the
ladies are made of pink, blue and red
leather, while the men usually wear black
slippers with soles of white wood about an
inch thick. The common people wear
straw shoes, and these are made by the
bushel, and are carried by porters all over
the country. took picture OF one with
about 500 pairs on pack on his back, and
l saw peddlers squatting down on the road
here and there with these shoes before
them. They cost about 1 cent per pair,
and are the cheapest article of clothing to
Korea. Most things are extravagantly
dear. General PAX showed me hats which
cost SIS apiece, and he bought new gown
in order that he might go about with me in
| style which cost him $40.
| Think of free lunch counters in Korea !
| Well, they have them in all parts of the
country, and there is many dirty little
den in Seoul outside of which clay oven
is continually cooking free soup, and where
you can get a bit of dried fish or raw
turnip without charge between drinks
The Koreans are less temperate than the
Chinese, and l think, also, than the Japa-
nese. They like intoxicating liquors. and
I met many Keeling through the streets,
and now and then saw one asleep by the
roadside, dressed in his long white gown
and looking for all the world like a corpse