Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-10

ornamented brass. One conspicuous fea-
ture the cash chest to accommodate
the Corean money, of which the foreigner
| frequently pays 400 cash for a sedan shop
ping excursion, and LOO for days board.
Starched Skirts.
The Corean women wear sort of Turk
ish trousers and several stiff1y starched
skirts. Over all this is a very full skirt
gathered to band that reaches the al m
pits, the last garment being tiny bole.o.
The band of the peasant women is much
| narrower, and the jacket so small that the
baby, which she carries low on the back
sticks its head under its mothers arm and
| feeds itself without disturbing her CONVEX
sation.
! The woman of position never goes abroad
except In a closed palaHquin. Then she is
Sally painted and adorned with Jewels
! hairpins being her favorite ornament The
middle class woman goes out but wears
| over her head a green silk coat, which she
| grabs tightly with one hand, SO that her
| face cannot be seen. This coat has sleeves
| so small that child could not get into
| them. This is custom from time i'm
! memorial. the origin of these useless sleeves
! being lost.
At home the Corean wife looks after the
| household, her chief duty being to see that
her-or their-huSband S white gauze coats
/ are smooth and shining Ironing is. indeed,
| a fine art in Corea. This Is done with two
| rounded sticks which the little ladies deity
| handle.
A Curt Language.
When Coreans talk it always seems as IL
| the arr were full of brickbats, so harsh
| and curt is the tongue. But a group of
| Corean gentlemen on the street, in their
| long white shining coats, with their pipes
| and reticules. always suggests a company
| of spick and span old ladies going to a tea
party. Nothing is ever seen like their head
| covering This is tall cylindrical hat with
| wings woven of horsehair. and so thin that
! the top-knot can be plainly seen. This it is
etiquette not to remove. Even at Minister
Aliens last Fourth of July reception the
| Coreans kept on their hats
Nhen boy marries he puts up his hair
| and assumes this hat. II he does not
| marry. he must wear his hair braided down
! to mis- back In a pigtail. and has only
! pet name and must submit to being tootsie-
wootsied until he is toothless and DIES All
| Corean boys look like girls The girls are
never seen.
| does not lack for entertainment He is de-
voted to nature, picnics, feasts and the
| Corean ge!sha, or gesang-that is to say.
singing girl These girls are the neces-
| Sary accompaniment of a civilization that
shuts up its wives and sisters. Hence a
| class of women trained for this purpose
| They do not fall into it as do their proto-
types in the Occident Their parents perhar Ia
assist the Corean geisha to 1t as the best
means Of earning a livelihood. AS they de-
pend on their attractiveness. they are
taught ~ De SoOu always pleasing
| to be accomplished. witty. to sing and to
/ dance. This necessity gives the gesang in
| centive to study and time for devoting her
self to refined occupations. She dresses
1 modeStiy, even when wearing the brilliant
4 silks and GAUGES of her calling and wb,t
| seems the greatest of her privileges. sh,.
can go freely abroad.
Last Great Function.
| After the feast, death is the greatest or
| Corean functions. Four days after diving
the departed is given a send-off I'm the
! fashion Of a great feast. HIS coffin is then
! provided with money and pieces of rich
| stuffs tor the journey. If he is a person Of
| determine the time of his burial This ma
| not be for three months
| The family Sraveyards, which occunv a,
| inordinate space of Corean territory arc
| the occasion of what are known as vr.va.
| yard fights, in which the contendinp nartie,
| toss out the sacred ancestors bones with
out ceremony.
| Corea Is the least religious of all IN.
! nations of the east. A mild form of Con-
| fucianism serves for philosophy. and an.
| cestor worship is the only thing that re-
| sembles religion. There Is not a temnIe in
| Seoul. In the country there are monas.
| teries. but to the monastelies the Coreon
gentlemen repair for their high reyels.
Scare Spirits Away.
| On the roofs of the Corean houses SQUAT
! grotesque images. intended to scare away
! evil spirits. and before the doors of novels
are seen wisps Of plated straw and strips
of garments for the same purpose. There
| are devil trees also. on which these strips
hang. The Corean devil is so stupid that