The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-04

closely followed by hides and ginseng.
There are some gold mines, and the
export Of this ore amounted to nearly
$50, 900 last year, but the country has
been so Isolated that its mineral wealth
has not been ezhaustively explored.
The population Of Korea Is VGriously
estimated at from 100000 to 1900, 900.
The men are larger than the japanese
and somewhat lighter IN color, but not
SO alert. Like the japanese they have
rather. a Scanty heard, but II seems 10
be more fashionable for the older men
to allow their chin whiskers to grow.
In dress the Korean man is unique. He
wears a long white coat Of thin cotton
reaching to the knees, with trousers,
generally of white, very full IN the seat
and tied around the ankles. The vest is
of red, blue or green If he is not IN
mourning but mourning seems to be
permanent occupation in Korea 1t was
explained to US that white is the color
used for mourning, and that the mourn
ing period lasts three years When one
Of the royal family dies, all Of the peo-
pie wear mourning for the full period.
and as they have sometimes had three
royal funerals within a decade, white
came into general use as matter Of
ceremony.
The hat ordinarily worn is made Of
wire gauze, and, being only about a
-
the top of the head without covering it.
They have a narrow brim Of the same
material and are tied on with strings
under the chin. These hats are gener-
ally black, although different colOrs
may be seen upon the street; some
times an enormous straw hat is used
for mourning.
The unmarried men wear the hair IN
one long braid like the Chinese pigtail,
but when one marries he combs his hair
to the top of his head and ties it in a
stiff topknOt, which is visible through
the gauZe hat. The foot is encaSed in a
sock, padded with cotton, and a canoe
shaped shoe Of grass, cloth, leather or
wood
The women, except those of the coolie
class, are seldom seen on the street in
the daytime, and the men are not al
lowed on the street at night, or were
not until western ways began to invade
the island. Even when going out the
women wear over their heads a green
cape with scarlet sleeves and draw it
across the face in such a way that
little more than the eyes can be seen.
The streets of Seoul and of the towns
through which we passed were full OF
men, many Of them walking about In a
IeiSurely way or standing in groups
smoking long pipes. Mingled with
them were coolies carrying immense
packs on their backs or leading ponies,
oxen or COWS laden with hay, wood OF
faggOtS. We saw more idle men in two
days in Korea than we saw in Japan n
a month. While the coolies seem TO be
quite industrious and carry astonishing
weights, there seems to be q deep
rooted contempt for labor even among
the middle classes, and a contractor
told us that in the employing of the
coolies it was necessary to pay them
every day because a weeks cOmpensa-
ton would have to be spent before they
would return to work. An incident will
serve to illustrate the feeling in regard
TO labor OF any kind. In making a pur-
chase we wanted two things tied to-
gether with a string. We called the
guides attention TO it; he handed the
things to his attendant and the at
tendant handed them to the shopkeep-
er, who did the tying. We were also
informed that the Koreans lack the
power of organized cooperation. Each
one works by HIMSELF and carries his