The Parker post., 1916-07-01
- EoUL, the old capital of Korea. al

~ EOUL, the old capital of Korea
is undergoing changes. Until re.
Gently it's wall was intact and
gave picturesqueness to the
city pleasing to western eyes. There
were eight gates-four of them, larger
than the others and facing the car
dinal points. The main street of the
city ran from the east to the west
gates and from the south to the north.
At their intersection stood the old bell,
which was struck at intervals through
the day-at in the morning, at noon,
at at night, at 9 and then at mid
night, writes Frederick Starr in the
Chicago News.
The bell, like most conspicuous OBJ
jects in Korea, had a story and it's
sound in the ears of many was a wall
of terror. They say that when the
bell was to be made it was matter
of public interest and of popular con-
tribution. Everyone gave something
to it's makeup. Mirrors, rings, orna-
ments, coins, all were given to the
melting pot. When finally the day
came for it's casting, great crowd
gathered. The metal was finally mol
ten ready to be run. The word was
given and the hot liquid was poured
into the mold. When it was some
what cooled the casting was uncov-
cred bit by bit, and, 10, it was imper-
feet! Broken to pieces, it was again
molten ON another day and again it
was fawed. A third time the mishap
occurred and the people were wellnigh
discouraged at the evil omen.
The master workman ordered final
trial. Again the crowd assembled,
again the broken fragments, submitted
to the heat, gradually melted until the
crucial moment was near. At that in
slant an unknown woman Of the COM
mon people pressed through the crowd,
her baby in her arms; coming to the
pot of molten metal, she cried, "But
you have not yet my contribution" !"
raised the baby and hurled it into the
seething mass.
The moment had come for the pour
ing and before the cry Of horror had
died away upon the lips Of the crowd,
the signal was given and the hot metal
flowed down into the mold. When it
was uncovered the bell emerged per-
feet; the sacrifice had been effec-
tive; but through the years mothers
at the stroke of the old bell have heard
in it the wailing of the child, shrek
ing, "Oh, mother, my mother!"
When Women Walk Abroad.
In the old days, and not so very long
ago, the bell gave the signal for vari-
GUS movements. Women, save the
most common and rustic, were not per-
mitted freely on the streets. From
midnight to noon and from noon to 9
at night, men and boys were free to
roam, but women and girls were ex-
pected to keep indoors. But when the
old bell struck at the hour of 9, men
and boys betook themselves to their
houses and females were privileged
to walk the streets till the midnight
bell drove them home.
Those days are past, but even today
few women are seen upon the streets,
and those Of any social standing haye
the face almost concealed. The COW
ering is curious. 1t is apparently a
garment for the upper body, with neck
space and sleeves, but it is not worn
as such, but only laid upon the head,
with sleeves dangling at the sides,
back falling capelike over the shoul-
ders and the front coming down on
both sides of the face, nearly conceal
ing it. In Seoul this garment is regu-
larly Of a dull green cloth.
To an extraordinary degree Seoul is
a city Of bridges. Not that 1t is In
tersected by rivers or important
streams; there are only small brooks
or canals within the city. Nor do these
canals make the city Venice. There
are no gondolas here. But by the
scant water in these streams women
squat H. throngs, doing laundry work.
The water often l. far from clean, but
what does that matter? The worker
uses little wooden club or paddle
and beats the clothing upon fiat stones.
Garments to be laundered are usually
ripped along the seams, the pieces
washed, and then again put together