Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-08
During my audience il 1894 thIs !,

! y u37
During my audience In 1884 this yo,ng
man, who was then 81. was sunaoss5
to be too holy to stand silone, and Ia
had a eunuch on each side OF him. VIA
held him up by placing their hands uns
der his arms While he talked His faith.
er, who was then king Of Korea, hai,
the same sort OF support when / ;lt3.
tpeared before him, and at that time no
prince or noble of high rank walker
without having servants on. each s;da -
help him along. II, he went pom horse
back there was a mnng on each side az
the pony to hold his legs4in place ami
Keep him from fal ling, These, elrif,I.te
were almost us gorgeously dressed A.
the crown prince. They wore hats ana
gowns and big boots and had great gold
embroidered SQUARES on their chests
and backs. The highest of them had
golden buttons behind their right ears
attached to their headgear and thew
mad long wings on each side or their
caps, which stood out like ears denot.
ing that their owners were ALWAYS lis.
itening for the commands OF the king
There was nothing OF the kind in oI.
Interview today, and the audience ali
told, was not different from that Of the
principal courts OF Europe, and thn
dress of the officials and OF his n,;Itestw
was about the same.
The EMPEROR AND THE Arrr.
LETES.
It seeuns to me that the emperor, Ia
much brighter today, than when I r. s,M ~
him as crown prince. The Japanesn
officials tell me he appears to be val
ing up, and that he shows more and
more ability from day to day. The
Japanese are ruling the emperor
through his cabinet. but there are. many
papers he has to sign and some docu
n1ents which require his official sane
ton. He has been taken out OF tho
palace and llns visited one or two Of the
nearby towns. He does some thinas
which show the existence OF humor in
{ his ake-up. and he Is anxious to know
what Isl going on in the country, The
other day, for instance, there was an
In which all the schoolboys took part.
These were foot races and other con-
tests. with appropriate prizes. and tho
5pec3le in general scnlne out to see.
About ten thousand were present. Tho
contests created a great sensation and
the emperor, hearing OF them, ordered
the prize winners to be brought to the
palace to run before him. AS they did
SO, he was delighted and laughed and
iapplauded. At the close of the races he
ordered his highest court officials to
come out and run a race among them
elves. Many of$these men are old fell
lows, accustomed to being held up by
the arms. as I have described
Some had never done a stroke of work
in their lives and none had ever run
before. They tried to beg off. and one
or twoEntteinpted to hide. They were
all dragged out, however and made
I to run. while his majesty uproariously
laughed,
After leaving his majesty I met the
Vlcesminister Of the household depart
Elrent, who has charge of all the palaces
of Seoul, and is practically the business
manager and advisor of the emperor
hall which is now being repaired and
afterward visited the museum which
the Japanese have established in one of
the old palace buildings, and the ZOO
logical garden, where his majesty has a
tiger, camel, and the beginning OF a
collection Of the Korean fauna. The a.-
dience hail Is several hundred Years
old. q it is one of the finest buildings
of Korea, but it was going to ruin
when the Japanese took hold. They
are, now rebuilding 1t and adding many
improvements. Eas
Imagine q great temple with a double
roof OF heavy tiles, rising more than
it have a ridge roof, curving after the
old style of Korean architecture. and
decorate its many rafters with carvings
painted blue and red Let wide stone
steps. beautifully carved. lead up to the
stone platform and on into a hall, and
you have the back of this structure.
At the front and on the sides are long
halls surrounding a court which covers
perhaps a quarter of an acre. These
halls are being reconstructed, and they,
are to be used for the imperial recep-
lions and dinners. The court Is to
have a fine garden. In which fountains
will play. The interior Of the audience
hail. which has a floor about one hun
bred feet square. is being laid with
mosaic flooring. It has a ceiling, Won
derfully carved which rises about rs
feet above the floor, being upheld by
many red pillars, each as big around as
n -four barrel, but in one log as cut
from the tree. The carvings and dec
orations We're made by tho Koreans
OF two hundred years ago, but the
floors are being put in by Japanese
carpenters. When completed this
structure will be one of tho finest audi
once halls of the world.
FRANK G. CARPENTER