Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-08-06
KOREANS ARE QUEER
CHARACTERISTIC AND CUSTOMS
OF PEAcE-LovING PEOPLE.
Country Has Never Recovered from
~Invasion of Japanese-occupies
Unique Position in the Dip
lomatic World.

AN (OLA0 - - - 10E~-
csc, and they are not Chinese, say ].
Sloat Fassett in the Review Of Reviews.
They are Monaghan, and have a polly
syllable language with a phonetic al
phabet. They have a recorded history,
of disputed authenticity, which claims
for them, a continuous existence as a
Korean people of about 5000 years, the
earlier part OF which of course Is shroud-
ed in the mists of tradition and fable.
AS early as three centuries ago, the
| Koreans had made great progress in the
| arts. They built ships 200 feet long and
| covered them with plates of iron, the
/ iron being hammered into small plates
| and fastened by small spikes driven into
the wood. They made woven fabrics and
were very skillful in metal work, in the
fashionipg of jewels and in the manu-
| facture of pottery. They were far in adj
vance of their Japanese %neighbors, to
whom they have taught the arts Of metal
working. potterymaking and silk weay-
ing. Three centuries ago, Japan overran
the country and devastated it, rams
ferred whole colonies of artisans to
Japan, and broke down forever the mil
itary power Of Korea. Korea has pro-
| duced but little literature. Korean stu
dents have been largely devoted to Chi
nese authors. The native literature con-
| sists largely OF descriptions of scenery
and folklore.
The people Of Korea may be described
| generally as robust, amiable. indus
trious, pleasure-loying and given rather
to the arts Of peace than the ardors OF
war. They are agricultural rather than
commercial. They are kindly and gem
crous. They have no national religion
and never nave had. Confucianism, so
far as regards the worship of ancestors,
the reverence for parents and the dignity
of family, has a stronger hold than any
other form of religion. Buddhism has
always had a languishing existence
among them. There is u widespread be-
lief among the people in witches, in spir-
It's and in devils. There are relics Of
fetichism.
The costumes of the men and the
women do not differ widely from those
in use thousands of years ago. The uni
versal costume is cotton cloth, bleached
and unbleaced. In winter this is padded
with short staple cotton which grows
In Korea and is carded into pad for the
purpose of quilting the clothing of the
people. Their headgear is remarkably
varied in form. They have a different
form or n different kind of hat for al
most every station In life. All the I'M
married men in Korea are called boys
and wear their hair in braids down their
backs. Marriage may take place at any
age from IL upward and when a boy
Is married he Is a man. The women of
Korea have no legal status. A man may
have one wife and her children are his
legitimate heirs, but a Korean may have
as many concubines as he may have the
ability or the disposition to support.
The position of Korea is unique. She
Is the youngest of the nations to come
into diplomatic relations with the west
ern world. Her treaties with the Unit
cd States and England were made in
1882; with German in 1888: with Russia
/ and Italy In 1884: in France in 1886; with
Austria-Hungary in 1892. She has no
we~ll-established postal facilities or
means of transportation and communica-
| lions. She has only one short railroad,
while others are projected. and only a
| few miles of telegraph lines, and these
| mostly controlled by foreigners. The
means of transportation of men and
goods Is man back, pony back. COW back,
by means of sedan chairs and by two
wheeled, clumsy bull carts. She manu-
features freely an insufficient supply
of textile fabrics. Of pottery and of metal
| wares. She exports rice, ginseng and
fish.
Korea has never recovered from the
| blighting ravages of the Japanese con-
| quest of three centuries ago. At no time
| since then has she had an army worth
the anne. She has no military class, no
military aspirations. no military apti-
tude. no military instruction. Her present
| army. nominally of 1000 men, Is de-
~servedly a laughing stock and an object
| of proper ridicule when 1t is not an OBJ
feet Of dread. Her soldiers, poorly
| equipped and badly paid. instead of be-
ing q body for protection, become a band
Of d~esperadoes. of which the emperor.
the court and the people are desperately
afraid. The Koreans are not towards,
but they are spirit-broken, resembling
In this respect the fellaheen Of Egypt.
Corruption and intrigue have dwarfed
even such tardy growth as has come to
her since the western powers opened q
way into her ports and interior. Her
salvation for the future depends upon
the institution of wise government at
home and the neutralizing of ambitious
projects of other nations abroad. She is
designed by 1ature to be a buffer state.
Structural Steel.
The reports oftests of structural steel
At the Boston insurance experiment sta