The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-24
SUES AND SEWS"
Song Kim Fights Legal Battle
at Long Range.
Widow of Man Killed in Service
of Santa Fe.
She is LIVING IN KOREA
Had Not Seen Her Absent HuS.
band in Is Years.
She Is Asking for $4,000 for
His Loss.

| Little Song kim is in mourning
somewhere in far-away Korea, but in
spirit she is in a Shawnee county
courtroom today directing the trial of
an action brought by her to secure
damages from the Santa Fe railway
| for the death of her husband, Chang
Kim.
Song Kim is suing for $4,000 and
according to her own deposition, if
she gets one-half of it, she will be able
to roll in luxury the remainder of her
| life. Her deposition shows that an
ordinary Korean couple can live COM
fortably on from SIS to 500 a year.
| Chang Kim, the deceased husband,
was killed at the Santa Fe round
house April 4, 1913. At that time he
had been away from his wife for Is
years and the deposition shows that
during that time he had sent her less
than 500. Yet she had supported his
aged father and mother and had not
starved herself. Now the father is
dead and Song Kim sews for a living.
She says she gets her board and the
equivalent of 25 cents month and
lives comfortably.
Korean customs are explained in
the numerous dispositions taken in the
case. Song Kim tells how she and
Chang Kim were married three years
before he started for the United
States.
The Marriage Ceremony.
The bride and bridegroom bowed
! to each other in the presence of wit
nesses and sat down to a feast. That,
with marriage contract that looks
like Chinese laundry ticket, filled the
bill. The contract, interpreted. merely
gives the ages and dates of birth of
the principals. 1t is in evidence in the
trial.
When the deposition of Song Kim
was taken she was asked what per-
jury meart and she replied that it
meant Ito make two sorts of speech"
| When she was asked about her re-
hs-on she declared she did not be-
lievc in Christ and his resurrection
! that she believed only in ancestral
worship. Half a dozen others whose
dispositions were taken acknowledged
the same religion. One man, a rela-
tive of Song Kim, declared he believed
in God and that to lie or to perjure
ones self was to sin. To tell the
truth, he explained in answer to a
question, was ito speak with clear
mind"
Frank Drenning's Ad.
There is one Korean connected with
the case, an interpreter, who I'M
doubleday has a high regard for Frank
G. Dreaming, attorney for Song Kim,
the widow. When the Santa Fe at
torneys sent for the dispositions the
QueSIlOnS were dITedQy WIlltSn- 1ney
wsnted to be certain the interpreter
used was real Interpreter. The one
secured said he could speak and write
in three languages besides the Eng
lish-Korean, Japanese and Chinese.
In order to prove it he was require
t. write this sentence in the three
Languages:
Frank Dreaming, attorney for the
plaintiff. is an able lawyer and pro-
found student
1t was necessary to read that to
terpreter's deposition and it was, as
calculated. slightly embarrassing for
Song Kim's attorney.
Never Received a Line.
During all the time Chang Kim
was in the United States he wrote
not a line to little Song Kim. Yet
she harbored no i'll feeling on that ac-
count. She did not expect letter
The Korean custom forbids it. The
wife does not count for much in
Korea. apparently. The custom is for
the absent one to write to his father
or mother or both, and they tell the
wife as much as she ought to know.
During all the fifteen years Song
Kim never saw a picture of Chang
Kim. After he was dead a friend
sent a photograph to her. In one
letter to his parents Chang stated
that he was looking forward eagerly to
the time when he would have as much
gold as he came to America after:
that when he secured it he would
make haste to return to the matched
cottage in Korea, where the family
| lived.
r. Kim died in the Santa Fe hospital
here soon after he was injured.