The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-15
,-rtrh,ed br chas. .. collyer. 1913.
UsEs or STRAW.

 Straw is put to manifold uses in Ko- rea- Throughout the country it is WSed at thatch for roofing It is used for making rope; straw rope Is used 'br all binding purposes as well as Tor Harness The laIhs in a plaster wall Ire tied to their support rts with straw And with it the rafters are held in DO @tfou on ridEe-pole and s1Il5 in short, sh house building straw takes the place " xaEls. Tn no manufacture is 1t more AxeensG~ely used and appreciated than ~ making shoes
 TH STRAW RMAKER.
 The hero of this story was by pro 4esEsuu a maker of straw shoes While NIay1n% hA5 trade, sitting upon the bone floor of his little room, he would zAasS e big loop of straw rope, end cut UT fne loose ends with the kitchen ku3Ha1 This loop of straw is passed &nrc4gh his gEd1e, and by holding the kndS cRthis loop on each great toe he fn1s has four parallel strands leading pp tD h1s g2rdle; these are the warp q Che straw soaes he is about to nGEa. gAen from a bundle by his A9e A9 -draws three or four Straws at @ ERme end by deftiy pressing them Between the warp produces the wool; hs snds of alternate strands are on tnar eSde twisted into loops which Srse &SteEwaxds gathered together by %oEd being passed through thens they ar0 then bent upwards and 90 form H he upper 0f one shoe
 Now Ko, for such was the name of 51r heros Hved nor very far from a rfvsr that was too deep to ford con- seQnsntly he had to -patronaze the fiat lbOeeoEn ferry es he went to and from lfhs market just across the water. It was a hard enough life; work, work, work for four days then each, nth day had to be sent in the market selling
 
 lErad learnt how toSbe frugal and was l4 master in Che art Of bringing up barge family on a minimum of expend1- |ture-
 Though vvan-kun, his oldest son, was almost sersuxeen years old he was not yet married. for the simple reason Ko .3ad never had loose cash enough to iigte3y necessity expenses entailed by Sa wedding Wan-lEun was big and muscular; he was able to carry a mamks load and was as good g. hand with the plough as need be; conse- G1entky he had no difficulty in finding employment at twenty cents a day, in i@ddition to his food
 There was Sok-hung, a 1nstrous- eyed willing boy of twelve, who went out l&wIce day to gather wood and grass TFhlch heH eHcarried home on the gfggy Ca carrying frane) hung from his
 
 sGamfHy expenses obviated the necessity tof purchasing fuel.
 Now to speak of the younger c2ai1- Tren there was Pok-sun CsfPeach'') who though che was but fifteen years old rTas ehe- family drudge. She had to do the toughest part of the cooking, the cleaning and the washing, in addition to having to. carry about on her back a baby who was too young to toddle. She caused her father much anxiety, for try as he would. he was quite un- able to get her married off Many a time he signed, "Ah, if had but non- syF'
 In speaking Of revenue we must moi fail Co mention Mrs KO, for she would occasionally turn a penny by mending .earthenware vessels with red clay. Tn ,season she made castor and bean oils; great vessels full of which she would carry poised on her head to neighbor- Ang villages for sale
 So the Ko family struggled on; Ii not merr1fy, they were, at any rate inst able to kaep the wolf from the door. ~ThIngs might have been worse but Ko could not help wishing they were better. On the whole he was igood-ra tured man His great failing lszae he gould be easily talked into l4hing' Thass failing had several time. manifested itself on market days b1 i71ts bringing home something or sothei .that was notssaa absolute necessit! and that he certainly could not af .i<ord-
 KOS FAILING
 One day as Ko was sitting in tn, market with many pains of Astrav