Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-04-06
sEOutS QUEEREST.
xhe One Eyed Woman In the Grass
Green Cloak.

yhe One Eyed Woman In tne "
Green Cloak.
"From my point of view the primer
nal and almost the only charn thal
Seoul has for the newcomer Hes IN the
novelty Of the costumes that IL pre-
sents." says George KEENAN, wrltihe
about the capital Of Korea in the out
look at Is not interesting archltec-
t,,rslly. and 1t is detestably ana dls-
gustngly unclean, but It's street scenes,
particularly in the unmodifled parts Oh
the old town are unlike anything to be
found elsewhere IN the east. nave
already referred to the strange I'M
preston made by population clothed
wholly In white, to the grotesquely alb
s,1rd headpear of the mournerS, to the
partly naked women and to the eHelnl-
nate, girlish appearance OF the boys.
but in Seoul there is another fgure
which is quite as striking as any or
these. and that is the one eyed woman
In the grass green cloak.
"Just as YOU are beginning to get ac-
customed to the woman in white, with
her handbreadh shoulder jacket. her
bunchy skirts and her semlnude ap-
pearance, you run Up against the WON
an in green. whose costume IS bizarre
enough to give you fresh shock OF
st1rIjrtSe Her outer garment, WhlchslS
ali that can be seen, may be roughly
described as Il green silk waterproof,
with white neck yoke and sleeve cuffs,
held together in front by means OF
four long ribbon tie strings. Two of
these strings 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 and purple ribbons would
be striking enough even if it We're
worn in the American way, but II Is
not 50 worn On the contrary, the
neck yoke, or collar, IS thrown over
the head, and the cloak is drawn around
the face SO as to conceal all except one
eve, while the sleeves, which are mere
shams, without openings for the arms,
hang down from the Wearers ears.
Anything more extraordinary than this
grass green burnoose, with its scarlet
and purple strings and its dangling
white margined ear sleeves. would be
hard to magne, and when IN a crowd
ed street or market place you See
dozen of these polychromatic appar1-
tions and an equal number Of basket
headed moNrnerS gliding noiselessly to
and fro in d throng OF white rObed
ghosts who are tanning themselves or
smokill-. long stemIned pipes You feel
like rubbing your eyes to make sure
that y0N are awake.
"TheSe women in green are the wives
Of meu who belong to what may be
called the Korean middle class. and
their costume is additionally said to
have had its origin III Il ruse de guerre
praeticed 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 vomaned) the walls, and
there they fought SO brayely, or made
such brave show Of fighting, that the
attacking force, taking them for men
abandoned the assault and withdrew
I'm commemoration 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 wallis This explanation
Of the green cloak sounds like a story
Invented to lit an observed fact, bu1
tue persistence of color in this partic
ular garment while all other clothin-
remains white and the transformation
of useful sleeves into conventional
sAa:as Which now hang down from thu
ems sertu to Indicate a survival o1
s0a.e ancient and significant custom