The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-08

after us. I beg to be excused from any more typhoons. Even the tail end of one
 is an experience not to be coveted
 What I had read and heard of Fuson did not lead me to expect much, and ! was not disappointed. But 1t is capable of being made a picturesque town. The towering hills behind are pleasant to the eye Were they covered with trees they would be grand. That they might be Is evident from what has actually been ac- complished on the premises of the Pres byterian mission, where the plain but solidly built residences are surrounded by a vigorous young forest. Without speaking positively I should say that at least one-half of the people of Fuson
 which had been a trading place for cen turies are now Japanese They are to the front in everything, and are going ahead in an energetic sort of way. Near ly all of the business is in their hands
 Already they have builded a fine new railroad station, and are now building modern docks and piers. I hope the next thing will be a new hotel. The only place where I could see any chance for something to eat was a forbidding look ing restaurant kept by a Japanese wo- man, not far from the station. After in finite attempts to make myselft under stood, I succeeded in getting a meal of three courses; tea, dry toast and fried eggs. If I could have got them all at once should have been better pleased
 As 1t was had to take them singly and make no complaints. Later I learned of raore decent accommodations, but knowl- edge after the event is of little value.
 The distance from Fuson to Seoul, the capital, Is about 25o miles. I had hoped to make the trip during the day, but 1t on at y1iU a train started about 10 and carried no sleeper. That was provoking. But I managed to get a whole seat in one of the first-class compartments. My over coat, which I had lugged about all sum mer, when 1t was not needed, had now
 by an -inexcusable oversight, left behind
 at Kobe. But my steamer rug served for covering and my travelling bag made a
 pretty good pillow. In the same com
 partment with me was Dr. W. M White of the New York Bible school. His
 plight was worse than mine. for he had
 on thin pongee clothes, and could not
 get at his baggage. I lent him my bath robe, which I fear did not keep him at
 all comfortable. By a. m. had occu- pied every possible position on the seat and was compelled ot get up and stretch
 myself. Finding a dim light in the lava tory l concluded to pass away the time
 by shaving myself. process which can honestly commend as refresher to all early risers. When I was through with that task, and daylight had begun to break the train stopped at a station where provision is made for bathing. A great stream of water, fresh from ad-
 jacent springs. Is turned through a long zinc trough elevated about two feet above the platform Everybody that vas nadQ a rt1a oIo rx,itl !, the rest. O. but 1t was good to dash the
 cool fluid over my head and face, and neck and it really set me up for the day,
 though there was to be no breakfast until about Il o'clock.
 From that time on I eagerly watched the country. Nearly all of the books that have ever read concerning 1t speak of 1t as desolate and barren in appearance, but 1t Is no such thing. True, many of the mountains, especially those in the neighborhood of Seoul. have been de- forested and washed away down to the bare rocks; but many of them are cov- cred with as fine a sod as one could de- sire, and are rapidly producing a heavy growth of young trees. The valleys are fair and beautiful, well-watered and fer
 tile. Rice, beans. millet, wheat, potatoes and squashes grow to perfection. Cab-
 bages and red-peppers are everywhere
 All the housesteps are covered with the
 pode in September drying for domestic
 use. They constitute a part of the kim chi, a sort of sourkraut, which is the commonest article of diet To my sur
 prise I saw a great many little fields of cotton. thin and spindling in the stalk
 and small in the boil. Fruits are scarce, simply because no systematic effort is
 made to cultivate them. Better grapes a ft,ov I toe tad ;,, did not wish. Apples and pears are poor. Persimmons are glorious, as Dig almost as ordinary oranges and fit for king They have just enough of the persimmon flavor to show their kindship, but it has been toned down till they are positively delicious. Most of the farming and car rying is done with the help of bulls and
 cows. They are fine looking animals, and well kept. The cows are never
 milked, and milk and butter are not used
 among the natives. a strange thing, espe- cially as the country offers every facility for dairying. The horses are all little ponies, closely built and capable of great endurance. Small as they are they
 can carry a heavy man or pack day after day without seeming wearness. It is a ludicrous sight when they are fairly loaded for journey. Scarcely any part of them is visible except their feet and heads. As general thing they have vicious temper, and no wonder for they
 are treated in the most brutal fashion ina aginable. A Corean wagon is a world S wonder. The huge wheels, without spokes or tires, are carved out of hard timbers, and the rest of the vehicle is of the same sort. I never saw anything more awkward or cumbersome The houses of the people are, almost without exception, poor and squalid. They all follow common pattern, the walls being built up a few feet with loose stones.
 and on top of these frail structure of wattle and mud. The roof is simple straw thatch. put on in so primitive a manner that it has to be renewed every
 year. The floors are of stones. Under | meath each house there is fue running from end to end. This fue consumes in l the winter a great amount of fuel-wood, weeds. grass, anything that will burn
 but 1t keeps the house warm and gives 2 comfort of which Japanese and Chinese homes know nothing whatever.
 What Worried the Puritan