The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-11-27
COCKPIT OF TEE EAST.
Korea as it Appears to the Trav-


When two dogs fight over a bone. it is
somewhat distressing for the bone. Poor,
long suffering Korea seems for the second
time IN ten years cast for the part of
bone says the Boston Transcript AND
such a bone. Scraped and gnawed by in
Vading armies and rebels. robbed BY a
recklessly dishonest government. all spir-
lt and selt-respect taken from the people
Dy a vicious caste system, mentally i'm
polenI and physically degenerate. Here
IS Mrs Bishops description of its prin-
cipal city and capital i shrink from
describing intramural Seoul j thought
10 the fOulest city on earth till 7 saw Pc
king and its smells the most OdiOus TIL
! encountered those of ShOa-shing. For
great city and capital its meanness
rs lndescrtbable. Etiquette fOrbids the
construction of twO-story houses, conse-
quenuy an estimated quarter of a mill
lion people are living on the ground.
chletly in labyrinthine alleys. many Of
them not wide enough for two loaded bull
locks 10 pass, indeed barely wide enough
Tor man 10 pass a loaded bull. and fur
ther narrowed by q series of vile holes
or green, Shiny bitches, which receive the
solid and liquid refuse of the houses.
their foul and fetid margins being the
IaVorltc resort of half-naked children,
begrimed with dirt, and of big. NANCY.
plear-eyed dogs, which WallOw in the
slime or blink in the sun"
Lethargy Of Koreans.
As to the people, here is Mr. W. H.
LdWSOns account of their spiritless leth-
argy; The Koreans have resigned them
selves to their fate. A Korean never
runs unless he be driven by the lash. ne
harqly walks. he craWls along the streets
OF MS city or the paths of his village
circuit II he be struck he falls down
ana lies there, waiting to be picked up.
IN Seoul / constantly rode in rickshaWs
Drawn by Japanese coolies. These bows
took a positive delight in cannoning the
natives in their walks abroad and would
run shaft into any back that presented
itself. In one alley of the city. close TO
the British legation there, several times
ola the coolies knock over an old Korean
the main street. Every time he got in
the way, every time he was knocked
down. He said nothing and did nothing
puF ne was always in the same place and
always met with the same treatment. A
korean will Saunter along before an cleo
trlc car (tor Seoul now boasts. an electric
tramWay, running out three miles to the
iaIe empress tomb in exactly the same
iiSlleSS fashion. The conductor rings his
bell loud and often. but only at the last
moment does ne slowly walk "A pace or
TWO TO one side or the other. To see the
Korean WOrkmen digging up the ground
Is q lesson as to how things should be
done An enormous spade is sunk into
the SOIL BY two or three coolies with an
immense expenditure Of ErOans. and then
Two or three gradually pull it up with
ropes. at which they hcave like d crew Of
sailors heaving up an anchor. 1t nat
urally follows that each spadeful of earth
takes as long to extract as if it were a
load of gold reef"
As for the government. a Japanese
statesman who has spent years in the
country, describes 1t thus:
Lax Tax Collections.
There are no tax laws. There are
eight districts in Korea presided over by
appointed governors When the central
government i'm Seoul wants money it
draws upon the various districts for the
HaGnA