Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-16

hurt the cloth, and the clothes have a
wonderful wilderness. 1t takes long time
to iron q garment, and the rat-tat-tat of
these clubs is to be heard all over Corea.
You hear it morning, noon and evening,
and at nearly all the hours of the night,
and it may be called The National Song
of Corea" or the "Corean Song of the
Shirt" The women tap out a tune as they
play. and the most OTHER time is taken up
in washing, ironing and sewing.
All things in Corea are strange to foreign
ers The thimbles used are of cloth and
paper beautifully embroidered. There are
no buttons nor pins, and the garments are
tied on with ribbons. Soap is sold in the
form of a powder, and the only matches
are shavings tipped with sulphur. These
have to be put into the fire to light them,
and the flint is used to strike light. The
markets of Corea are full of strange
things. There are regular market days
over the country, and the different towns
of a district have markets In rotation, and
the people for miles around come to buy
and sell. The markets of Seoul are very
good and all kinds of fish, vegetables and
meats are peddled out by these queer peo-
pie Game is plenty, and both the beef
and the veniscn are good. The people
are early riserS, and the best time to mar
ket in Seoul is between 5 and g am. Two
hours later the stands are all cleared away,
and YOU have to rely on the retail stores
or little shops scattered all over the city.
The market scenes are interesting. You
see pompous swells in long gowns and high
hats poor women by hundreds with green
cloaks over their heads and boys by scores
carrying all kinds of vegetables and wares.
There ere servants in livery and coolies
with hats as big umbrellas. There are
bullock carts and porters, merchants and
slaves all pushing and fighting over the
things they are buying. The market is
near the big south gate of the city, and
there are thousands here every market
morning. Among the curious articles which
/ noted found q ready sale was Corean
~ ~ yxyhi Th q
kinds of diseases; red pepper. which was
sold in paper parcels about the size or a
cigarette for about enc cent apiece, and
which was dried and peddled out
by the leaf. The grain market was equally
queer, and the chicken and bird markets
were full of interest.
Corean Machinery.
Here and there over the country I saw
rude machinery of one kind and another.
There were water mills for the pounding
out of rice and the crushing of grain along
many of the streams. The mills were all
on the principle of the old seesaw or teeter
board A long beam of wood swung
on pivot and on one end of this was a
heavy hammer or mallet. This fell into
mortar, in which the rice or grain was
placed At the other end Of the beam was
a square box, holding, perhaps, barrel OF
water and this box hung right under
pipe, which was fed by the stream. AS
soon as the box was run the water emu Ol
the beam sank down. the water rushed out
and the mallet. which had been raised high
in the air, fell on the grain. This is the
"patent roller process" mill of Corea. l
saw other mills, and those in Seoul were
like the ones of the Scripture, and We're
turned by hand. I saw some millstones,
one on the top of another. which were
turned by mules. which went about like a
horse in a tannery. The most of the millers
in the capital were Cinnamon. and they
were by no means polite. The brass works
which make the cooking utensils for these
H. 900 900 Coreans are of the rudest nature.
The furnaces are rude ovens of clay, and
little crucibles, about the size of a tin cup,
are used The brass is first cast and then
polished by means of a lathe, which the
workman manipulates with his feet. sit
ting in the end of trench as he does so.
The brass shines like gold. and 1t takes on
a beautiful polish. 1 bought dinner set.
and il cost me SIS. 1t consisted of about a
dozen brass bowls. from the size Of a wash
basin down to that of an egg cup. The
work the same way. and some
OF their work is very artistic. In the past
the Coreans were, in fact, the greatest
artists of the far east. and Japanese art is
said to have had Its birth In Corea. Within