The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1905-02-22
Scouts CutEREsT-
The ons Eysd woman In the GrAs.
Grscn 'i.nl.

The One tJ'd " oman IN the 6rasr
Grecn 'i.nL.
From MY ro.rt uf ,.ev the prime.
%. aud ric' ut ,.t charm th.t
seoul las f,- tlo r,v..r CO. lies in tie
novelty u' i.c ua-i.r,- that % rr,
>e't> say 'r.. ii'luau. writ.u.
about o., .r.'.I e. k.r.a .u the Ou
look "l' .s un, .a.r. r.ur arcliic..
turul!y arc It is Gct,~tauly ana dis
gustIry mclean. lut iis street scene.
particularly .r tie rl'Bpcifed parts o.
tho old tpvu..lre ruliAe anything 10 ho
found ei-ov here To- ;h' east. hav,
already -'fciTod 60 a., strange In.
precision made ly population clothed
wholly In wf.te tu tie gru'esuuely al-
surd hrudgpar of tie mpurners 10 the
partly naked women aud 90 the ereml.
nate. giriIsh AppelrLnop - the hovs
but in Seoul there = another hgur,
which = quite as striking as any OF
these, and that j. tie one eyed woman
in the grass green cloak
"Just a. you are leg.nu.ug 10 get ac.
customed O. tie Woman .u white. with
her haudhrcauth shoal,tr in.kct. ler
bunchy skirts aud Lcr semnude .r.
pearanrc. You ran up against the WON.
al IN greer. whose costume is bizarre
enough to give yoH fresh shock ~
surprise. Her outer garment. which j.
all tlst can he seen. may le roughly
described. ~ % green sir waterproof
with white neck yoie and sleeve cuffs.
held together boo front 10y means of
four long ribbon te Strings. Two Of
these string, are bright scarlet and two
dull. reddish purple. and they hang
down IN front nearly To- the ground
a grass green waterproof trimmed
with scarlet aud purple ribbons would
be- striking enough even II II were
worn ia the American wuy but Il Is
not - worn. on the contrary. the
neck yoke. OF cullur. Is thrown over
the head nnd the cloak Is drawn around
the face 80 Hs to conceal all except one
eye. while the sleeves. which are mere
shams without openings for the arms
hang down from the wearer's ears.
Anything more extraordinary than this
grass green burnoose, with its scarlet
and purple strings and It's dangling
white mnrgined ear. sleeves. would be
hard TO imagine. and when in a crowd.
ed street or market place you see
dozen Of these polychromatic appari-
tions and an equal number OF basket
headed m0uruers gliding nolselessly 60
and fro in a throng OF white robed
ghosts who are flaming themselves or
smoking long stemmed pipes you feel
Ike rubbing your eyes to make sure
that you are awake.
These women In green are the wives
OF men who belong 10 what may he
called the Korean middle class, and
their costume IL tradltionally said 10
have had It's origin in a ruse de guerre
practiced by the women OF Seoul when
the city was attacked by the enemy at
night In the absence OF all its male
defenders. The wives OF the latter. It
Is said. caught up weapons. threw their
husbands jackets over their heads and
manned Tor womanedD the walls, and
there they fought so bravely. or made
such n brave show Of fighting, that the
attacking force taking them for men,
abandoned the assault and withdrew.
I'm cOmmemoratlon OF this achieve
ment the women and their descendants
were permitted TO wear as badges OF
honor the Jackets that they had
thrown over their heads when they
rushed to the walls. This explanation
OF the green cloak sounds like a story
invented to At an observed fact, but
the persistence OF color In this partic-
ular garment while all other clothing
remains white and the transformation
OF useful sleeves into conventional
shams which now hang down from the
ears seem 10 indicate survival of
some ancient aud significant custom"