The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-16
Seeing China and Korea From the Car Window

On Oct. 80. and after our tour of ia
pan. we landed on the Asiatic main
land at Fuson. Korea. It seems al
most ike dream when one stops to
think that now we are actually on this
great and far-off continent that we
have learned to think of in connection
with the strange and very ancient civ
1nZations. and dense centers of popula-
uon-the continent that has in its east
ern and southeastern portion about one
halr or the human race-the continent
that was also in it's western part the
cradle of the religious line of devel-
opment that is dear to us, and that has.
more than any other movement, af
fected the life of the most highly civ
i1ized nations of the world.
As there are several important rail-
way lines in operation, we were enabled
TO select a route that took in a large
scope of the country, viz, across the
length OF Korea, thence through Man
churia to Mukden, thence to Takhu,
Tientsin and Pekin. and thence to
Hankow. From Hankow we had to pro-
coed by river steamer TO Shanghai, and
from Shanghai to HOngkong by sea.
On landing in Korea, we had not pro-
ceeded many steps until we were led
TO realize very forcibly that we were no
longer in Japan. The costumes of the
Japanese may have seemed strange to
us at first, but the Koreans costume
was far stranger. We could hardly be-
lieve that il was a matter-Of-fact. every
day costume, II looked so much like some
theatrical or circus makeup. While
the little Japs impressed us at first like
lot of boys playing at civilization.
these Koreans, who filled the streets at
our landing, impressed us like lot of
grown-up men playing the clown.
Though l personally have very strong
aversion to ridiculing any person or
class of persons on account of the dress
they wear, had to stop AMI laugh, un-
civil as II was, at the first sight of
these Koreans. They were enough to
make a stole laugh.
First, being clothed in white made
them very striking figures. The enor-
nous white trousers were roomy enough
10 enclose several full grown men in
one pair. These were gathered close
around the ankles. The white coat or
shirt extended, either scarcely below the
waist, or almost to the ground. To top
it all, they had cooked on the backs of
their heads black fiytraD, stiff gauze
hat that might well be viewed as an
effective parody on the European silk
hat. The picture would hardly be COM
plete without two-foot long straight
stemmed pipe, of small bowl, carried
pipe seems as essential a feature in the
Korean gentleman's full dress" as is
the walking stick in the Europeans.
There was no installing the fact that
these costumes were the mems regular
wearing apparen, for every one wore
the same style cut-the wealthy gen
tlemen with silks and satins, the bus
mess men In shops with fine linen, and
the farmers in the fields and the little
ss1r 11taC IN. H.
same white goods. If their clothing
were not always spotless white. the sug-
gestiOn at least showed through the
CRIME and dirt that they were at one
time white. Occasionally 1 find one of
the men almost lost under large con-
ical bamboo hat, about thirty inches in
diameter. 1t was explained to us that
these hats are their emblem of mourn
ing. The women dressed equally
strangely though very different from
the men.
Immediately on landing we were al
most swamped by pack of dirty white
trousered boys begging TO carry our
baggage. They pulled and tugged at it
so that it became difficult to wade
through the mob Each had strapped to
his back two upright sticks with a pro-
jecting bracket upon which to set the
load. This means of carrying loads we
Korea, and we found men CARRYING in
this way all conceivable kinds of loads
from grain bags. baskets of vegeta bIes,
and loads of fish. to bundles of BRUSH
wood and sawlogs. Farther north In
Korea, the Japanese were grading a
new road bed and there the Korean la
bOrers used the same kind of racks for
carrying baskets of soil to the grade.
Such things as horse scrapers or steam
shovels were not to be seen. The huts
In which these native Koreans live are
hardly less odd than their attire The
straw-thatched roofs, crowded together
promiscuously in the villages, are eIon-
gated and smoothly rounded off so as to
make the villages look like groups of
huge turtles basking in the sun The
low walls are usually very rudely
blocked up with stones and mud. not
much unlike what have seen among
the Indians OF New Mexico and Arizo-
ma; in fact, hardly as good as these
Indian huts.
The railroad was built by the jap
anese, and is now operated by them.
The railroad buildings are of modern
construction. being in striking contrast
10 the primitive native huts It may