The Republican journal., 1915-05-06
Korea and Japan.

| A Personal Letter.
The Chosen Hotel Keijyo (Seoul), Chosen
formerly Korea).
Under the management of the Chosen Railways.
Is. Inohara. Manager).
KEIJYo, March q, 1915.
DEAR A.: To you alone am I confiding our
whereabouts; for until we are safe aboard the
steamer again, and on our way home, l shall
continue to have grave doubts as to our wis.,
dom IN coming to this country on the eve of
what looks to me here now like serious war.
Everywhere we see preparations being made in
quiet but most business-like way. In my
hasty lines to you have never mentioned the
tremendous changes which have taken place in
Japan during the ten years since 1 was last
here-changes which fill one with admiration
for the Japanese people, but which, at the
same time, in no way mar the charm of the
country, Their ~cleverness has taught them
that this very charn0 is one of their greatest
assets. They guard it in every way. 1t is
hard to define it, but it certainly consists in a
| large part in their exquisite politeness. their
cleanliness, and attention to all the minor de-
tails which make the conditions of life hygienic
and in their desire to make Nature even more
beautiful than she is in her natural wild state
This, one sees particularly in their charming
little miniature gardens. with bridges, cliffs,
trees, pagodas ETC., which reproduce in the
space of few square yards all the finer and
more picturesque points of landscape which
in Nature itself might extend over many miles
of territory. In these little gardens Nature
may be said to be corrected and arranged, SO
to speak, and made to appear as she should ap-
pear when on her best behaviour. When you
add to these things, hotels of the very first
class, well cooked food of every variety, motor
cars, and perfect service wherever you go, you
can picture to yourself the delightful combi-
nation from tourists point of view. All of
this has been brought about since was last
here, and l judge from the conversations I
have had with one or two educated Japanese
that it is the direct result of serious study
on their part of the best they could find in
both Europe and America. Do you wonder
that to travel in Japan is now privilege and a
pleasure, and that decided to stay here rather
than to push on for New Zealand and Austria
liza, as was my intention when 1 left you last
fall?
Another thing which attracts my attention
constantly is the fact that English is spoken
everywhere, and that everyone meet, includ-
ing the servants, takes advantage of the OPP
portunity of practicing it with me. This GER
tainly is cause for pride, for what is more
oil in bo cfA ot{o OF
Then it shows that Japan is looking to US for
its models in the future. 1t strikes me that
all we have to do is to be friendly with them,
and take all they nave to offer, but, at the
same time, remain constantly on the alert in
order that we, and not they, shall remain a
little in the lead. Nothing else save us
from the yellow Peril"
On the steamer were Mrs. and Miss Shedd
from Lowell, neighbors of Mrs Jane Preston's.
AS they were alone and had formed no plans,
l was delighted when they consented to join
our party, for the trip had planned proved
to be more than it would have been safe for
Mrs. Edridge and myself to have taken alone;
but with the addition of the Shields we have
been able to engage the services of a first class
courier, and servants, who are travelling with
US. Even with this escort the trip has not
been without adventures, however.
On the first day we were all arrested and
kept in the Police Court for several hours;
this simply because Mrs. Shedds maid was
caught taking a photograph Shimonosiki.
Fortunately the general in command was
most kind when he learned that the maid was
an English woman, and that I was the wife of
an American naval officer 1t appears that
the subordinate officer who made the arrest
took all for German spies. You would
have laughed to see how Mrs. E. tried to jolly
the Japanese general shaking the feathers of
her nat at him as she eXpostuated in English
French and German. Finally the general told
her, through an Interpreter, that she could do
one of two things. either go home with
policeman escort and remain there until he
sent for her, or else shut up. After using up
days time the affair finished happily, but
our cameras are now in the bottoms of our
trunks, with the solemn promise that they
W i'll remain there until we leave japanese soil.
We crossed to Fusan Chot en-, the new name
the Japanese have given to Korea, in a beaut-
full large steamer, just finished. This is an all
night run which gave US eleven hours of travel
by daylight, and we reached here last evening
through a country much like our Nevada, very
mountainous, but bare for the most part of any
trees. Such trees as there are seem to be SIM
liar to smallest scrub pines The many lit
tie valleys between the barren hills are filled
with rice and barley fields and every square
foot of the bottom land is under cultivation,
and every square inch is carefully tended by
the native. Although these mountains are so
bare and forbidding, am told they contain
great wealth in minerals, and for that reason
Korea is a rich prize for Japan. Eleven hours
of such scenery, as you can imagine. grew very
monotonous, and but for the strange and pictur-
esque costumes of the natives should have
found it very firing The entire country is
strewn with graves, little mounds covered with
grass. few of tn. Sc graves are marked with
white stones, but very few, and everywhere
have been on foot today have been walking
over graves. It is appalling to think of the
number of people under ground about us here.
1t is in these graves that the wonderful old pot
terry is found, and have procured few speci-
mems for Cousin Desmond's collection Of Ko-
rean pottery which he has in his museum at