The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-31

country from now on will be the WEDGE
between Japan, China and Russo. and onr
Minister there will be an important char
acter. There is a large American COLONY
now in Seoul. The Americans are DOING
most of the mission work of the country
and there are a number of American Off
Gals connected with the Government. The
climate is good one, and the place is nv
no means SO black as it has been painted.
You remember what General Haldeman
the late American Minister to Siam. said
about it. He was asked whether he wished
a reappointment to Siam, or whether he
would not prefer to go to Korea. He re-
Piled:
eff were told that must go to Siam or
to hades l would, suppose, answer that
l wouldg to Siam; but if the command
was that | must go to hades or Korea.
certainly would not choose Korea"
General Haldeman had evidently not
been TO Korea. The Minister there has a
much better position than our Minister at
bangkok. he has better quarters, and
Korea is one OF the few countries in which
Uncle Sam owns his own house. The
King, l think, donated the land, and the
home of the American Minister is COM
modious, one-story building, covering con-
siderable ground, and decidedly comfort
able, though | was told that it was slightly
unhealthy, and that the secretary of the
legation who had last lived in it had nearly
died of fever in consequence. This is moth
ing, however, for Consul or diplomat.
as to which witness the number of consuls
who die every administration at Vera Cruz
from yellow fever, and the others VINO are
taken off by miasma in other coun-
tries of the world. A few repairs
would make the legation buildings in
IT.
has something like five acres inside the
brick walls which surround his home He
has another one-story building which forms
his office The King has given him guard
of soldiers, and he has five times as MANY
servants as he ever had in America When
he goes about the city he is ''toted" along
in a sedan chair by four men, and his Off
Gals stand at the gate and are ready to
open IL whenever he comes into his yard.
The place pays $500 year, and this on a
silver basis is equal to $4,000. There is a
reading-room, which is kept up by the mis-
sionaries and other foreigners, within a
stones throw of the legation, where Amer
lean and English periodicals and neyspa-
pers come every month, and a little fur
ther up the same street there is clubhouse
where one can, if he will, get Yarmouth
or Manhattan cocktail, and can amuse him
self with billiards in company with players
from a dozen different parts of the world.
| think our Minister spends the greater
part OF his time III the reading-room The
fact is, | never saw him in the club, and |
don't know that he frequents it. He is
more of a student than a clubman, and his
life has been spent in teaching school. He
is now So, and lie was born near Buffalo
His father died when he was II, and he had
to look out for himself. He got an educa-
ton, and in some way drifted to Michigan
He was for time the Superintendent of
the Detroit schools and then for ten
years was the head of a female seminary
For some years he was connected with the
University of Michigan, and he went fresh
from schoolwork to Korea.
During his youth he had distinguished
himself as a farmer, being the champion
raker and binder of the neighborhood in
which he lived, and when he was an
pointed as Minister to Korea he concluded
that he would benefit the country by i'm
proving its stock. He bought bull and
several cows in California and took them
over with him on the steamer. | don't
know whether he expected them to go
along as part of his personal effects, but |
was told in Yokohama, Japan, that when
he arrived there the steamship company
charged him $500 for extra baggage. At
any rate he took his cattle to Korea and
was surprised to find there better grade
of beef than that which he had carried
however, by having good milk and butter,
though in case he remains in the
country not more than three years
the extra baggage bill will make
his coffee cost from this item
| alone about a dollar a day. | was in Seoul
at the time Mr.. Sill arrived, and ! called
at the legation only few hours afterward.
An absolutely naked Corean boy was
swinging on the gate, and | found the
house turned upside down with the Minis
| ters effects. During my stay the Minister
was presented to the King, his Majesty
giving me the honor OF an audience the
same day Mr.. Sill made very good i'm
PRESTON and his Majesty told him that he
was glad the President had sent such a
distinguished scholar to represent him in
Korea. The King spoke at this time in the
| highest term of DR.. Ii. n. Allen, the sec
| rotary of the legation, who had acted as
| Minister during the interim, and who. by
| the way, has done more for America and
American interests in Korea than any other
| foreigner.
| Dr. Allen is to-day the most powerful
retiring young man of about 40 years OF
| age, who was sent out to Asia as a mis-
sionary doctor, and who, after spending a
short time in China, went to Korea. AT
this time the missionaries were held in low
esteem by the Koreans, and they were
NOThlnS udTu W Stb IOODnOlQ. ABOUT
twelve or thirteen years ago a great re-
bellion occurred, in which Kim Ok Kun
and others seized the King, and in which
the conspirators nearly killed one of the
Kings family, Prince Min Yong TX. He
was almost cut to pieces with swords, and
his life was despaired of when Dr. Allen
was called in. He appreciated the situation.
He knew that he would be charged with
killing the Prince if he failed to cure him.
and that the Princes chances of life and
death hung upon hair. DR.. Allen how
ever, concluded to risk it on his own skill
and Prince Min Yong ks vitality He
sewed up his wounds and nursed him for
days. Inch by inch and atom by atom he
drew the Prince away from the grave and
finally made him well man.
This gave DIR. Allen a great reputation
throughout the whole land He was
called in to prescribe for the Korean
mobiles, and during the years of his mission
in Korea he actually turned into the mis-
sion funds over $4,000 year which he got
from his outside practice. The King and
Queen took his advice on many matters of
foreign policy, and when they sent their
embassy TO Washington he went along as
their confidential foreign adviser. He
stayed with them for some time in Wash
ington, winning friends everywhere and
afterward went back to Korea as our sec
m i