The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-04-27

LED BY THE JAPANESE.
On the Fast Express From TOkio to
SeOul-The Road to the Ialu,
Which Has American Locomotives
and Rolling StOck-Engineering
and Its Two Thousand GraNes-A
New Track to Mukden and One
Across Country to GenSan-Queer
Features of Travelling in Japan and
korea-Raiiroad Fares at a Half
a Cent a Mile and Station Lunches
at Seven Cents-SOmething About
the Understanding Cars Which
Offer Free Slippers to Passengers
At the Korean StatiOn-Human
Muscle VS.. Steam
Copyright, 1909, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
SEOUL, 1909.
When / first visited Korea it took me
seven days by steamer to come from
Yokohama to Chemulpo and a day
more by chair to make my way over
land from the seaport to the capital.
] have Just arrived in Seoul. having
covered the same distance in less than
two days. Japan has a railroad line
which practically reaches from her
capital to the capital of Korea. Her
imperial railroads now take one in a
day from Toxic to S~humoneseki,
tIiSi 10 = ~ ~ 49,
Strait of Korea to Fusan. There the
new Korean railroad begins and in
about ten hours one is carried IN
comfortable cars thy to Seoul.
The whole railroad distance is just
about as far as from New York to
Chicago, and it is now covered by fast
express trains.
Korea's New Railroads.
In this letter l write Of the new
railways of Japan and Korea. The
trunk lines of both countries are now
under the control of the MikadO. They
have Japanese officials, commuters
and t~rain,nen. and are practically
Japanese. All the railroads of
Korea belong to the japanese. The
one first built was under a concession
granted by the former emperor to an
American syndicate headed by James
r. Morse, but before it was completed
it was turned over to the Japanese,
and they have owned it for the past
ten years. This is the short line from
Seoul to Chenulpo.
The road from Fusan to Seou! was
built by a private company, but the
government guaranteed it's bonds and
controls it. During the war with
Russia this line was extended three
hundred miles nOrthward to the Galu
river, and it now has a branch which
connects that terminus with Mukden
anu the lId1ISSl Dci1d1 SS SttIli.
Another road has been begun from
Seoul to Gensan on the eastern side of
the peninsula. This Will go light
across Korea, connecting the west II
east coasts. The construction was
started some time ago at each enc Of
the line. About three miles have
been built out from Seoul. and also a
short strip west from Gensan. Just
now, on account of the hard times, this
work has temporarily stopped, but AS
the commercial prospects brighter 1t
Will be taken up again and pushed to
its completion. 1t is expected that the
other roads Will be relaid with new
ties and rails, and that the whole sys-
tenn as far as Mukden viii be made
first-claSS in every respect. AS it is
now, the section north of the Galu is
a dinky narrow gauge with cars little.
better tina OmnibuSes. The track is
so poor that the trains do not go at
night, and it is currently reported that
the trains stop two hours at noon to
allo the employees and passengers
time for a Siesta.
Railroad building in Korea is far
different from the same class of en-
sineering in the United States. In
the first place the rights of way offer
strange complications. All the way
from Fusan to Seoul we passed grave
mounds, and the road here and there
went through g~raNeyardS. The road
from ChemulpO to the capital necesSi-
tated the remove of more than 2,OOO
graves. and the city lots of the dead
cost more than our city lots of the
living. The average grave did not
cover more than a square yard, but
the railroad COMPANY had to pay from
81 to 81 each for the cost of removal,
and got at the same time the i'll Will
Of the families of the deceased. The
Koreans have a queer way of planting
their graves anywhere. They have
few fixed cemeteries, and they select
such spots on the sides of the hills as
the necrOmancerS tell them are lucky,
and there lay away their loved ones.
Many families take are of their
graves from generation to generation.