The copper era., 1904-02-25
LIFE IN KOREA.
4 Recent Visitor Tells of What He Saw
 In Seoul.
rom the Lnnlan chrnnlcle.

Tn Se0ul.
 From the London Chronicle.
 Although months ago. it seems only yesterday that whenever had bali an hour Co spare in Seoul used to sit in a shop and watch the crowd O. pass er--by. II wa5 situated in the main street, just inside the gate. 4 few small purchases had brought me the eternal friendship of the proprietor who aIway- had long pipe ready for me. longer than my arm, SO that be aIway had to light it The people. a. seen in everyday life, interest me more in strange country than palaces or show places. It l had to choose, l would prefer to ,c -lum tO Baedcker sight in a new city Ny frient was d yenderof brass pots Of al. sizes, but of only three shapes. that -hOne like buru.-hel gold on the shelves around, and Here arranged outside the open front. There wa7 no fu-. or hustle about his business, Or importuuing for custom; he would cit calmly with his legs tucked under kim on the platform, about two feet of the ground. -mok- ing innumertD.e pipes. and wrapped in oriental calm and his voluminous white garmp u'-. The laundering of his other suit, or suits, appeared to be pcrpc .ually in progress, a. could be heard by the whack- whack Of the stick. bcatiug on roller, which came constantly from the back o' the prem i,es telling that his wife was at work al the Korean method of ironing, by which the indispensable satin-like gloss is given 10 the surface.
 l. was quaint and Interesting pro- ccssion that passed outside. The KO- rcans are distinctly handsome race. They are not in the least like either of their ueighbor-. the Chinese or the Japanese. J Although they have the oblique eyes of the Mongolian, their noses are, a- a rule straight. or slightly aquilinc. their forchcad- high, and their oval faces clea-cut aud iudi- vidual The majority of a Chinese crowd look to me aIway7 a. if their heads had been cast in bullct-moulds, while it is quite othcrwis. with the Korcaus. BF the way, | remember d young Chinamau telling me that when he went to Europe for the first time all Europeans looked alike to him, he could never distinguish one from the other
 The most striking thing about the Korean i- the way he walks. He car ric5 himself better than the man of any place | know. There is practi ally nothing to indicate to a stranger diff ference o1 raus, but as you watch man coming along the street there is a slight swing, cdOlcut of immense dignity, that points out the patrician tD the most ca-ua' onlooker. some of them look as fl they were g9~ays walking up the center Of palace chamber to the dai-. amid admiring eyes. It i7 not 7wagger, but a very quiet, supcrlative sclf-con~ciousncss of their own worth or position. The young Naug-bau," or noble is de- liciou5 study. No London, Paris, or Nov York swell, Haucur. or dude is in it with him. His white suit is spot less there i- not hair straying from his "Maug- -Kuu," crownless skull cap of hor-ehair gnaza coming well down over his forehead and fastened so tightly d. 10 produce 8 permanent groove in his skin and frequent head achcs. Co be borne for the sake Of fashion On this his hat also of horse by black ribbons. If he has brown hair. it has been darkcncd with lamp black to the fashionable shade. He is invariably attended by servant, he carries nothing for himself, not even his pipe; even going Co school their books are carried for them. When he travels he Is attended by a- many scrv- ant as he can possibly muster. When he rides, he does not even hold the reius O his diminutive horse. It i, led, and servants attend him on either side of the high saddle on which he i, pcrchcd. Seoul simply swarms with these young tofTS, who come up from all parts of the country to this center of that political intrigue in which the Nang-ban lives, moves and has his be ing. He never all his life does any work himself; this would be the wors, o' bad form and altogether mira dig, but ne is not above being supported by his relatives, and will even wink a the fact of his wi'c at home surre ptt tiously taking in washing to earn q little toward the household expenses of perhaps a big pretentious yamen, covering a lot of ground and in q chronic state of dilapidatiOn and de- cay. These Nang-baus are the curse ot Korea. The common people are wocfully oppressed by them. IT a peasant is known 10 have accumulated little money it is not long before the local Yaug-ban comes down on him perhaps uominallv, for loan. which is never repaid, or perhaps for levy pure and simple. II the blind objects.
 Tendency of the Times.
 The tendency of medical science i; toward preventative measures. The hest thought Of the world is being