davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

II he did not give up a share of his goods
upon demand had him whipped or tor
tured In some way or other until he did
so. TIL most common persuader was a
flexible paddle about as wide as the palm
Of your hand and ten or twelve feet in
length. The man to be squeezed was
stripped to the skin and laid face down
ward on the ground and held there by
men, or he was tied to a bench so that It
was impossible for him to move. Then
the paddlers would strike him so many
blows on the thighs. The second or third
always brought blood, ana an hundred
was supposed to mean death. Burning
and bone crushing were other methods Of
torture, and men were kept for years in
prison on false charges as means Of ex-
tortion. Under such conditions the man
who showed he had money was sure Of
persecution and all loans were secretly
made. The japanese nave done away with
this squeezing, and the thousands of Of
ficials who lived upon 1t have now gone to
the wall.
The money Is changed. During that
trip across country to Seoul I had to have
an extra man to carry the money to pay
the coolies at the end of the trip. and for
my expenses In the capital l got an order
upon a merchant in Seoul. The coins
were of copper with a square hole in the
center, and 1t took one thousand of them
to equal the value of an American dollar.
They were strung upon strings of one
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

there a wilderness for thousands Of years.
1t had seen the wall built more than 500
years ago. and had watched the generations
rise and fail from then until now. 1t re-
manned for the japanese to make It a
beautiful park. They have cut roads
through the pines and have built many
pavilions. until now it is one Of natures
most beautiful gardens.
I had the good fortune to be invited to a
garden party given there by the resident
general the other day, More than 1000 Of
the high class Koreans and japanese Off
clals were present. His excellency received
us out in the open, and there were lunch
rooms and tea houses throughout the
grounds whose walters were beautiful
japanese maidens. At the close we had
dinner in a great tent, covering tables suf-
ficient to seat the 2,Oc0 guests, and the
japanese military band sang a song COM
posed by Viscount Some in honor OF the
occasion.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Gossip and Stories About Noted People

friends and acquaintance; tall, straight.
formed in perfect physical proportion, he
was extremely handsome; and in addition
he had a brain which could grasp giant
tasks with ~ease-tasks which for the rest
of us were either impossible or only at
tainable after months or years Of effort.
He had a special facility for acquiring
languages, writes George p. Brett in Out
ing, and he is the only man that I have
ever known who has been taken for a
Frenchman in France, for a native of Italy
by the Italians and for a German in Berlin.
/ remember that he was on one occas on
thinking OF spending a winter in one OF the
countries of central Europe whose language
was unknown TO him in order to obtain
local color and atmosphere for one of his
novels, and that in the short space Of
eight weeks he had acquired by constant
study a mastery Of the language, so that
he was easily able to make himself under
stood when he afterward went there.
The same facility which he had for ac-
curing languages also extended to other
things. He mastered, l remember, the
difficult art OF navigation in the course
Of a short winter season in New York, in
spite of the calls of his regular literary
work and his many social engagements,
so hat he was not only enabled TO navi-
gate his own y~acht-an old New York
pilot boat. partially rebuilt under his di-
rection-across the pecan himself, but he
worked out a voyage that I made with him
afterward the sights day by day independ-
emily Of the officers and afterward COM
pared them with the ships records, and
the Officers came TO talk over with him
matters Of navigation as with one Of them
selves, so impressed were they by his
mastery Of their craft.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

structure covered with stucco. II is built
on an elevation, overlooking the palace in
which the retired emperor lives, so that
the clerks can see all that goes on inside
the palace grounds. This Is very offensive
to his majesty, who has always objected
to anyone looking over his walls, and has
bought several foreign structures because
they commanded such a view. Ho paid
$4,000 for the French legation for this
very reason, and he has, l am told, several
times tried to buy the American consulate
which is on a hill. lower down. Some men
have even bought lots and started buildings
in order to make his majesty buy them at
high prices.
Another fine government building is that
Of the supreme court. This is somewhat
similar to the structure Of the finance de-
partment. It is situated on the main street,
which runs between the east and west
gates. and not far from a big two-story
brick which is being built for a native
Korean AMI
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
High Interest.

l am surprised at the enormous Interest
which the Koreans are paying. Loans on
good security arc made at from 2 to 8 per
cent a month, and the INSCRIPTIONS Japa-
nese money lenders are getting much more
II is only fair to say that the natives 40
likewise. A common way OF loaH.nS on
property is to hand over the deed 10 the
house or lot In case the loan ID not pad
and as. until now, there have been no
means Of registration, this means the
transfer OF the property. The Japanese
should protect the Koreans as to such
transactions. II they do not, all the lands
and houses Of the country will soon 60
into the hands of the former, The Koreans
are great borrowers ahd they cannot re-
sist the money temptation. They do not
think OF pay day until 1t comes, and as =
result are not able to meet their oOll-
cations.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
A Modern nnnI.ing system.

Mr.. Aral has organized a banking sys-
tenn for Korea. The central treasury IS
now the Dai Ichi Bank, and there are In
addition. Industrial banks which are loan
ing money against land to the farmers.
They make long loans at Il and 10 per
cent a year, which are considered cspec-
tally low rates for Korea. These indus
trial banks have savings departments con-
nected with them, and there are also post
office savings banks. wA!ch have lIoie
than 10000 yen on deIos.t. Many
Koreans are putting their None. no
these banks. although the interest is COM
paratively low.
In addition to this the government Is
now organizing a system OF small capital
associations. These will have a central
head, with about one hundred branches,
and will issue small loans to petty
farmers. The loans will be as low as $25,
and may be secured by crops and chattel
mortgages. All these things will tend to
create thrift among the Koreans, which
heretofore has been impossible on account
OF the squeezing and insecurity Of all
money.
Indeed, one Of the common Korean banks
of the past has been old Mother Earth, and
this espc so during the winter, When
a farmer sold his crops and wanted 10
keep the money over until spring he would
dig a pit six feet deep and four or more
feet square; and at the first frost he
would put down a layer Of cash and
sprinkle earth and water over 1t. BY
morning it would be frozen stiff. The
next night he would put down another
layer of coins with mud on top. This
would freeze and so he would go until he
had a block of frozen earth as hard as
ice, filled with these coins at a thousand
to the dollar. The work was done secretly
and the result was such that it would take
days to recover the coins,
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Electric Water Heater.

Germany has produced the first effective
water heater for the bath room. 1t is six
inches in diameter and two feet high.
Water is admitted at the bottom. Turning
the electric switch permits enough water
to enter to fill the system OF pipes, thus
insuring them against burning out, and
this is heated to 40 degrees Fahrenheit in
about forty seconds. The stopcock below
the switch is then opened, when a steady
stream rises over a series of water tight
surfaces inclosing the heating coils and
energies at the overflow quite hot enough
for the bath. The current can be either
that OF twelve sixteen-candle power in
candescent lamps of the ordinary kind or
half as much, the latter giving correspond
ingly slower heating. The cost of the cur
rent necessarily varies, but even at the
high rate of 10 cents an hour the expense
for a hot bath would be small,
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

hundred each, and whenever I went out
shopping l had to take a servant along to
carry my purse. Such cash were in uso
here when / crossed Korea in 1894, and
they continued for some time after the
Chinese war. Then the Korean
nickel was made; but this was counter
felted both here and in japan II such an
extent that II fell to half Its original
value. The Japanese have now introduced
their own coinage, accepting the Korean
nickel at the market rate; and from now
on the country will be on a gold basis.
Japanese bank notes are everywhere TAX
en- and Japanese silver, nickel and copper
coins are in common use. This reorgan-
ization of the finances has been one Of the
great problems that the japanese have
had to deal with, but the vice minister OF
finance, Mr.. Arai, tells me that IT is now
practically solved and that he anticipated
no further trouble. He says the govern
ment has lost money I'm taking the Korean
nickels at half rate and that the counter
feits they have had to accept have
amounted to millions. They have already
exchanged about seven million yen Of
them, the average nickel being worth
something like three-ficteths Of It's value
instead of the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. at
which II is AIKEN.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

- len GtntIdl LS" NolloSC was
VAY appointed minister to Turkey in
WV 1851, relates the Indianapolis
--- News, he was fortunate enough
IETSEt1S to make a good impression on
49, Abdul Hamid and to win his
personal friendship. The latter was no
great honor, but as a mere matter of bust
ness 1t was good diplomacy on General
Wallace's part. AT his first interview with
the sultan. when he presented his creden-
tails as minister, General Wallace sur
prised his imperial majesty and other Of
ficials present by shaking hands with him,
The proposition was unheard OF and almost
i-neonceivable. The Turks do not shake
hands even with one another, and for a
Christian. even though an accredited min
lister, to propose taking his majesty's sa-
cred hand in his own was a startling In
cident. But the interpreter (Mr. Gargiulo,
who is still attached to the American en-
bassy in Constantinople) conveyed the wish
and it was granted, putting Wallace on an
unusual footing with the sultan.
Later on the sultan gave several evil
dences OF his liking for General Wallace,
In December, 1851, he conferred on the
general the first-class Of the order of I'm
perial Medjiedie. The general was Obliged
10 ucEllIlt III OlhNlb phN III 80 ~"
the sultan a handsomely bound copy OF
Ben Hur," with a laudatory inscription.
When the sultan found, after the cleo
ton OF Mr.. Cleveland, in 1884, that there
would probably be a change Of minister's
he offered to write 10 the president-elect
asking that General Wallace be retained.
but the latter gave him TO understand that
would not do. He then invited Wallace
to remain in Turkey and take service IN
der that government, adding; Il will make
you ambassador to Paris or London" This
offer also the general declined with thanks.
After General Wallace received his recall
as minister the sultan again offered him
the imperial decoration Of the MedJiedie,
and, being no longer in office, the general
accepted Il. He also gave the general a
costly souvenir of gold and diamonds.
Finally, after his return to the United
States, the general, in 1880, received
through the Turkish minister at Wash
ington, an offer from the sultan Of a high
salaried position In the palace or in the
arsenal. at his option. This offer also was
declined, on the ground that the general
was growing old ana intended devoting the
rest Of his life to literary work.
-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

Champ Clark, democratic leader in the
house, came nearer 10 being a multi-mil-
lionaire than anybody now in sight, Instead
he went 10 Missouri and became a politi-
clan; later he became a congressman, and
finally he has become a statesman.
When he was 2S years old, relates the
Washington Times, Clark was president Of
a West Virginia college, and he was a
good one, too. At the end of two or three
years he had saved $500, and a friend con-
fided to him that 1t was enough to make a
fortune.
Let meg take that money you've got II
the bank" said his friend, and buy you
some OF this coal land around here. Il
can be had for 30 cents an acre, and it'll
be worth thousands in a few years"
Clark thought about Il. but he had long
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

been of the opinion that the bounding west
was the place where fortune smiled most
amiably. He wanted to go there.
IT guess not" he decided. 'I1l go to
Missouri"
He did. The 1000 acres OF land that his
$500 would have bought Is now worth mil
lions; If he had bought it and stayed in
West Virginia he would have been one OF
the first of the long row Of men who have
made tens OF millions in the development
Of the natural resources of that newer
Pennsylvania.
But anyhow" sighed Mr., Clark, as he
turned TO his desk and signed a contract
for a summer lecture course at 500 a night.
Il did never care much about money"
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Mud. vs., Brick.

Twenty-Five years ago there was not a
brick in Korea. The houses were all made
OF mud, of wood or of stones piled up one
on top Of the other and covered with roofs
Of heavy black tiles. or straw thatch, held
down with straw ropes. When 1 visited
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

motive goes to the shop only two or three
times a year, where the steam locomotive
must be overhauled constantly. Moreover,
the cost of repairs OF the electric machine
is insignificant compared to the cost of
maintenance OF the steam locomotive.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
A TrackIess Trolley.

At Eberswalde, Germany, In 1901, there
was IN experimental trackless trolley sys.
tenn installed by a Berlin engineer, but
after being in operation a little more than
five months 1t was withdrawn. There is
a trackless trolley line in operation be-
tween Plotzleinsdorf and Salmannsdorf
suburbs Of Vienna, about l.S7 miles in
length. 1t passes through an unusually
small and narrow street with many sharp
turns, broken by steep grades and sudden
declines. 1t is necessary for the omnl-
buses along the route to climb many
long stretches having a grade of ! to 10.
This is a double line, arranged so that
the cars going back and forth can pass
each other without interruption. From sta
tistics furnished by the director of the
street car system of Vienna, the total
cost of the construction of the plant, ex-
elusive of alteration Of roads which may
be rendered necessary and which the road
officials would be obliged to provide for,
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

and New Mexico Is. The largest gain In
the half-year is in New York, with II.
which compares with the IA in Pennsyl-
vania, and would indicate that to the new
conner, public service commissions may not
be so terrible after all. AS a matter of
fact, the gains are distributed all over the
country, few states being without some
new enterprise of this kind reported.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Electricity on Railroads.


The railroads claim that substitution of
electricity for steam out on main lines
would involve prohibitive losses by making
junk of millions of dollars worth Of steam
locomotives. This, however, is misleading
and far from true, says Popular Mechan
les, for during the several years neces-
sarily consumed in changing over, say, 1000
miles of trunk line, the future would be
taken into consideration AS fast as the
steam locomotives on one division were re-
leased they would be transferred to other
divisions to take the place Of WORKOUTS
there. and at last there would be branch
lines Of their own, and smaller roads which
would absorb a great part OF what motive
power remained at the finish. There
would be some direct loss and some indi-
rect, such as placing on branch lines heav-
Ter and faster locomotives than the busi-
ness required; but the loss from this item
would be only a fraction of the whole.
There would be other millions Of dollars,
now invested in locomotive repair shops,
thrown out of use, but this would bring it's
own compensation, for the electric loco
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

amounts to $44. 253. The same authority
estimates the annual running expenses
of the line at 1888, and the receipts from
passengers at 1894, a loss of $3.50. The
particular system of motor used is known
as the Stoll or Mercedes system.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
The New Government Buildings.

Among the large buildings are many
which are going up for the government.
These are nominally Korean, but are really
Japanese. The cabinet ministers act as
the nominal advisers to the emperor. but
under them are Japanese vice ministers
who really control and whose clerks are
almost all japanese.
Not far from where I am living in the
foreign section of Seoul is the new finance
department. This is a fine two-story brick
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

dry bones into action. They are establish
ing courts, abollshing SOU eezing and reor-
ganizing the finances. They propose to
build roads, to reforest the mountains to
open the mines and to turn this half-barren
country into a garden. All these things
are in their beginnings, but a start has
been made and signs of progress are every
where to be seen.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
housekeeping by Electricity.

the time-honored methods
Of sweeping and busting have
been vapquished and banished
by electricity and in a few years
m9re, so they predict, the house
wife, clad in apron and dust
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
How the Officials RAISED Money.

That bank. by the way, marks one Of
the most wonderful changes which is go
ing on here. Until lately no Korean was
supposed to have any right to money that
the king was bound to respect. Every
official squeezed the man below him, and
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Developments in the Ever Widening Field of Electrical Experiment
Electric Lighting Industry.

as trunks, linen closets, desks, files, pigeon
holes, radiators and registers.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

How many parts do you know well
enough TO play tonight If need be2" some
body asked Coquelin. He took a sheet of
paper and wrote down the names OF fifty
three plays of his repertory. His friends
laughed.
You are boasting." said the Viscomte de
Lovenjoul.
You have every one OF these plays in
your library" said Coquelin quietly. Get
them all out and put them on the table. -
The Viscomte did so. Now said Coque-
lin, 'let anybody select a cue from any
one OF these plays at h~aphazard and give
it to me-"
They tried him with sixteen plays out of
the fifty-three and he did not make one
mistake.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

The japanese have covered some of these
bitches and they are now putting in drains.
AS to the buildings, a new class of struc-
ture is rapidly rising and the people stand
and gaze at them in open-mouthed wonder.
The Young Mems Christian association has
just completed a brick homs of two stories,
which is heated by steam. 1t is a wonder
Of wonder to the average Korean. who
cannot tell whence comes the heat.
The bricks for that building are being
made outside the city. Yards have been
there constructed, which are now turning
out bricks BY the millions. The clay is
excellent and a large part Of the new Seoul
will be built Of these bricks. There are
other brickyards at Yong San the military
city on the edge of Seoul, and there is no
lack of fine building material.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Tslents OF Marion Crawford.

Mr. Crawford as a young man was the
envy Of most Of his circle or Intimate
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
Looking for His Fifteenth wife.

TOT MS r1ttSentn WIFE,
The careless failure OF an Emporia, Kan,
woman to get a legal separation from her
husband has just cheated Owen Reeves, n
years old, also Of that city and for years a
resident Of Duquoin, H., OF his fifteenth
wife. Although several OF his fourteen
unions have ended ingloriously, Reeves still
. regards marriage as a blissful success. He
is now In the field for another wife.
when a man decides he likes a woman
he should pop the question right away
said Reeves recently. Never once did I
spark a woman more than five times, and
as 10 the sparkling It should never be done
in the dark and IN secrecy, but straight
forward and open, I have proposed several
times right In company.
Every man needs the companionship OF
a good woman, and I am going to have an
other one as soon as I can get her. /
welded for the first time in Calhoun
county. Illinois, when / was Il years old.
Preachers have married me the most times
but I have been married a few times by
squires and justices Of the peace"
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

HEN General Lew Wallace was
appointed minister to Turkey in
1851, relates the Indianapolis
News, he was fortunate enough
to make a good impression on
Abdul H'amid and to win his
Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23

, 1903, by FRANK G.. Carpenter.I
1OUL, Korea, 1eO9.-(Special Cor
respondent Of The Bee.)- l want
to tell you what the Japanese
are doing in Korea. They have
taken the hermit kingdom by
the neck. and are shaking its
Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-03-10

cent. Exemptions are: Single per
son. 5000; husband and wife. $500;
children under IS years, 5000
Madison, Feb. 26.-In the senate the
bill appropriating s2,837.75 to AT
torney T. C. Richmond of Madison in
full for service claimed to have been
rendered by :, y. Jackman, his law
partner. In the Inheritance tax cases
was indefinitely postponed This
firm regularly derives a rich sum for
such work.
I Another judicial circuit is fast in
the forming It will be the 18th, and
its maintenance, so Mr.. Mortensen
/ declares, will entail an expense on
the people of about $4,000 year.
The circuit will embrace the counties
of Chippewa and relieve Judge Wine,
Eau Claire and relieve Judge oNeil1,
and Sawyer and Rusk and relieve
Judge Parish. Juneau also is shifted
being taken from Judge Fruits cir
cult and added to Judge O'Neilrs Mr..
Mortensen objected to the whole
business. He said it was needless
but the bill passed, Sc to %. The In
gram joint resolution for a constitu.
tional amendment increas' ing 1egislat-
ors' pay from $500 to 81 900 a session
was adopted by the assembly. Ga to 23.
The judiciar committee reported ia
yorabIy the Kay bill forbidding
judges salaries to be paid in advance.
Faborable reports were made by the
agricultural committee on the bills
making an appropriation to the toba-
co growers association and to the live
stock sanitary board Mr.. v. Fl. Cady
secured the reference Of all veterin-
airy bills, a total of FIVE, to the COM
mittee on agriculture and withdrew
entirely bill for the encouragement
of deer breeding. Free lunches and
treating in saloons are not tabooed in
Wisconsin. So says the state af-
fairs committee of the assembly, which
reported bills prohibiting those prac.
tices for killing. On both measures.
however, George E. Scott, of Barron
~ and F. ]. KimbaIl of Briggs.
vile dissented.
Senator Lehr's amendment to sec
ton 1854, relating to the location of
cemeteries, was passed in the senate.
1t prohibits the establishing Of burying
grounds within Is rods of any habit
able dwelling, public building, water
Ing place or schoolhouse. Bills MAX
ing Iincoln's birthday legal holiday
and relating to injury to the credits Of
corporation were killed.