Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-05-19
No. 20
a cEsspool OF FILTH.
fine Terrible state of Public
Thnrnurhfnre- In Seoul.

me IrrrtoiC state OF PUDtE0
rhoroushfares in Seoul.
l shrink from describing intramural
Seoul. | thought 1t the foulest city on
earth till l saw Peking, and It's smells
the most odious till ] encountered those
Of Smashing! For a great city and
capital iis meanneSs IS indescribable.
Etiquette forbids the erection OF two
stCried houses, consequently an es-
timated quarter OF a million people are
living OF the ground" chiefly in laby-
riuthine alleys, many Of them not wide
enough Tor two loaded bulls TO pass
indeed, barely wide enough for one
man to pass loaded bull, and further
narrowed by series OF vile holes or
green, Shiny bitches, which receive the
solid and liquid refuse of the houses,
THEN foul and fetid margins being The
favorite resort of half-naked children,
begrimed with dirt, NANCY, blear-eyed
dogs, which wallow In the slime or
blink In the sun. There, too. the itin-
Grant vender OF small wares" and can
dies dyed faring colors with aniline
dyes, establishes himself, puts a few
planks across the ditch and his goods,
worth perhaps dollar, thereon But
even Seoul has its spring cleaning"
and l encountered on the sand plain Of
the Han, on the ferry and on the road
from Mapu TO Seoul innumerable bulls
carrying panniers laden with the con-
tents of the city bitches.
The houses abutting on these bitches
are generally novels, with deep caves
and thatch roofs, presenting nothing
TO the street, but a mud wal1, with oc-
casionally q small paper window, just
under the roof, indicating the mems
quarters, and invariably at height
varying from two feet to three feet
above the ditch, q blackened smoke
hole, the vent for the smoke and heat
ed air, which have done their duty In
warming the floor of the house. All
day long bulls laden with brushwood to
a great height are entering the city,
and at six o'clock this pine brush, pre-
pairing to do the cooking and warming
for the population, fills every lane in
Seoul with aromatic smoke, which
hangs over 1t with remarkable pune
tuafity Even the superior houses,
which have curved and tiled roofes,
present nothing better TO the street
than this debased appearance.
The shops partake of the general
meanness. Shops with stock in trade
which may be worth six dollars abound.
II is easy TO walk IN Seoul without
molestation. but anyone standing
10 look at anything attracts 0
great crowd, so that II Is as well
that there is nothing to look at.
The shops have literally not note
worthy feature. Their one character
istS is that they have none. The best
shops are near the Great Bell, beside
which formerly stood a stone inscrip-
tion calling on all Coreans to put
intruding foreigners to death.
Corean women are rigidly secluded.
perhaps more absolutely so than the
women OF any other nation. In the
capital very curious arrangement
prevailed. At eight o'clock the great
bell tolled q signal for men to retire
into their houses and for women to
come out and amuse themselves and
visit their friends. The rule which clears
the streets of men occasionally lapses,
and then some incident occurs which
causes II to be vigorously enforced. So
II was at the time of my arrival, and the
ptieh-dark streets presented the singu-
lar spectacle of being tenanted solely
srr ax b@adiaT @ atr Mi its
were exempted blind men, officials, for
eigners' servants and persons carry
Ing prescriptions to the druggists.
These were often forged for the pur-
pose of escape from durance vile and
few people got long STATS and per
sonated blind men. At 10 the bell again
doomed. Women retired, and men were
at liberty to so abroad.-Mrs. Bishops
Korea