Show COREAN REFORMS Tho King and tho Queen mud Thoir Fights Ovoi tho Royal lluioui The Ain Oiti Lease rnm lla II fits tfnn Sri II4nJ Auirti IIi JigS Mew Corn Minlase Lamt A Clanti ftr Hie IIUtw 7 > aftlt m te llnknmn list Quaof btaTIIt llaitor CtnianQneer Oman COol m Eggs Sold tfHe Stilt Dug Meal and lJr Din I Leak at the Nickels Cores Irons and Cerean TMQMtt iitthintiy Tile Xdturot Kt tourcti of LIe duality and lit JivhiUe ffftm Cpw4I flnrnpodw 01 tot PlOWS I tIlfthted by Frank U Carpenter IIMI I IIAVE JUST t received leller rom Seoul Iialing that lb Jpnese have Inaugura te d Ihlr refurm an I Iht the Coren cuvn mnt I ulI < lIy changlngIln ofrIoaelhave I I I t 1 hn plnned nd the credy n I birbarous officials are being de pilvedol their offices Salaries are to L I fixed by law and rank it I to a certain extent to be done away with The quccn family which embraces the worst 01 the nobility Is I being driven Into In-to the background and the king In I taking tak-ing all matters Into his own hands It is an open secret In Seoul that for years thin king has been a henpecked husband and I heard many ilorles of the queens Icalous disposition Ills majesty had a number of beautiful dancing girls who nero now and then oats I the custom called into dance before the court ThaI C king I who Is a rather lively man of about ortyodd hat now and then singled out one of these and paid her special attention much to the disgust of the qocen lie has also carried on fame intrigues of this kind unknown to her majesty and the quarrels between the two on this account have been frequent Just before I left Seoul one ol the high efficll connected with the court was caught by the inieen carrying flutes from the king to one of his hvoriteti and she at once lent him on a long mission to roulhrrn Cores lie wat connected with Important public works and all of tin ig had to slop on this account The lalelt icons Is I that the king nat cut entirely loose from his wiles apron tlrings and that he it I now going lu 11 t hill u harem In tie palace us was inc custom In Core In the pail and us r me custom still In I nearly nil i eastern tountrics lice emperor ol China his iiiintlreds ol bcautllul women and he baa the right to any of the noble Tartar I rlt I ocr twelve years of age He token Ihe pick of Ihe country between Ihe ages of twelve and eighteen and here he-re lesisiies his stock every three years f The King i of Siam ha the InoM wives perhaps of any Asiatic monarchthough Ihe queen Is his own half sister lie also hiss its right loony and all of the girl I of the kingdom though the laws I pro lde that he cannot marry lilt mother his nmotherlntaw I I 1 he Dnperor of Japan has a number of nobl ladles I Inside I In-side of his palace grounds and he bass tort ol a harem though the Japanese try to keel the mailer secret and no gossIp concerning It ever gets lino the newspapers Itt the same with other i AsUUc nml Indian rulers and the action ol the King of Core U I not urpnling especially as almost all 01 the Corcan nobles have their concubines MEW CORKAX LAWS Al TO MARPIAOK TIme kings Intended reforms Include a number ol new laws regarding marriage and this In the lavor ol the women One provision Is thai men shall not be married under tneniy and guru lld under sixteen Heretofore boys could be married at fourteen nod Iw I boys who were under Ihlt wearing the hats which I are the bad ci ol matrimony Girls are now marritdat thirteen and are alien engaged at seven The custom ol the country li mocha Hut widows cannot can-not marry again and pretty widows are careiully watched and II there ol It any thing forward or bad In their actions they are sometimes kidnaped by Ihe olhclals and held as concubines The new laws hlch arc now propoicd will take away this restriction and all marriages whether maids or widows Are to be left to the volition of the par tie concerned They also provide that there shall I be I no more buying and sellIng sell-Ing of human beings dY fathers I wilt I not be able to sell their daughters The customs I of mourning i are lobe modified I I and other changes wMch tend to Ihe leveling of ito classes tire to be enacted In the meantime there Is a decided opposition op-position to all reform and a great miny of the people think the country Is I going straight to ruin There tan woelul lack of confidence In the Japanese and the proUilnesa feeling Is I strong TIIU BAIT COAST OP coma I want to tell you something about the east coast ilc urea This I is but little known and most travelers have confined con-fined their visits to Ihe ports nearest Chlni The peninsula I Ism I the neighborhood neigh-borhood I of ama mile wide and In crossing cross-ing itt traveled northwest through the mountains and I came out at Uroughton bay or the harbor of Gtnuun Tins Is a magnificent harbor and II Is I much cove led by the UiiHlaiu because It It opened all the year round heir harbor on the Pacific Is 1 that of Vl dlvo lock on the lower edge of Siberia which I vlsiletl after leaving Cores and ol which I will write In my next letter I Vladlvostock I I Is I ha creamy I for about six monlht of Ihe yev and the Russians want a winter nutlet to the Ma Thor are watchine t Gensan ami the TransSiberian railroad will I probably have a branrh running down to it The Russian trading homei hate agents at Gensan and bath the Russian and the Japanese shins Hop there enroute t to Siberia There ft already a thrifty I IJ Japanese chip there ol several thousand people and these are encased in shipping and trlllln < < Their houses are of wood with heavy tiled rout nnl their t000 It clean and well kept The Coresn town It I perhaps twice as large1 but It Is a dirty settlement IJrg up of little I onestory thatched jiuls The people are poor and sh filets fi-lets and queer and they are like their kind all over COle ItO OLD COREA The old Cores will probably noon past away and the curious thing ol t I hair writun may become a matter ol history The whole ol the country Is I so strange that I have only been able to partla ly describe it On this trip I across tlm country I saw all I r Lln8 rI tC eU torn ol queer customt I Our egg I remember we bought by the stick and In Cares eggs are slacked l up like cordwood cord-wood or rather kindling wood Ten eggs are laid end to end and they are then wrapped about with slraw so that they stand out straight and stiff and look more like a cluh than eggs In the stores time slicks ol eggs are piled up crosswise and Ihe price It I about three cents slick or about threetenths of a cent per egg Chickens are peddled about In crates or basket made ol shring and woodand fish are often eaten raw I saw many black hog on then Hip the-n these I were usually I tied by string or ropes of the site of clothe line which ran through hole In the top of their ears The cattle we saw were very fine large animals but they are used alnioit entirely at beasts ol burden They pull nuJdry1 tf rude bullock carts and carry picks on heavy wooden saddle I thus saddle I are badly made and they rub off the skin nml ny heart was sickened again and again by a bull at stately at any worshiped In India with two great raw spots an big as your hand on each side of his back A IIIT TO 0 DOO nUTCIIKR There are dog all over Corea They are of a snowy while variety and are always snarling and barking at foreigners foreign-ers The poorer clattel sometime rat dog meat as fowl and during the hot day I was told that the flesh wss a preventive pre-ventive Against ague malaria I and other ktl ntal 5 13 rl sIcLmts I At this time thousandi ol dogs are killed so General Iak told me nIl osor Corea In ordinary times onlythe poorest of the poor eat the llesli of docs I visited a log butcher one diy In the Cocoon capital and watched him kill and dret one ol 1 bite curt for the market llecaught him at he ran through the door of the house by throwing a illpnoote about Ins neck The dog was rather n nice animal of about the site ol an Irish setter and his fur was os gray as that of the wolf lie Keemed be aware of the danger and he lugged at the rope which soon tightened on his thioat And then the lute armed butcher swung hint oil of his feet and whirled him aiiout In tha street at the end of the string till Ille was extinct lie next laid the dot down on the ground and stabbed him at we stick a pig lie then hung him on the wAil ol Ins hut nil cut him up Into dog steaks soup metis dt roasts He asked r me ki If I did not want a tenderloin I tender-loin and dished up A bawl from a pot of uoz soup h rR Iow cooking outside out-side his hut and asked me to tasle II It did not look at all appcliilng and I thanked him and left HOW CORKAX WOMaN IRON CIOTHE Among many queer Corean customs ihere Is none stranger than that of Ironing Iron-Ing There are no better dressed people peo-ple In the world thin thnCoreani They wear Immiculale gown and the prevailing pre-vailing custom Is white The common dress of the men Is I made up of a long full cotton gown full white pantaloons and wadded white stocking These are as clean as the best work of a Chinese laundry and alter they are washed In cold water and Ironed w th a cold club The women do all the smoking and Ironing 01 the land They nirsmm the grament round I a slick whicn Is laid on the floor and then one or Iwo women squat down beside it and pound on the cloth with roundsmooth wooden clubs till every fiber tut the pollih and gloss of our best laundrie rim doe not seem to hurt the cloth and the clothes have a wonderlul whiteneH It take n long time to iron a garment and the rattattat of 1I 1 thete Chubs Is to be heard all over Corea You hear It morning noon and evening and at nearly all the hours of the night and II 11 fhg may be called The National Sang of Loiea or the Corean Song of the Shir I The women tip out a tune at they play and the mutt ol their time Is I taken up in washing Ironing and sewing QUIIU CORltAN AIITICL All thing In Core are strange to foreigner Tile thimble used are ol cloth and paper beautifully embroidered embroid-ered there ore no button nor pint and the garment are tied on with tilt bon Soap Is sold In the lorm of a powder JI the only 1 matches are shavIngs shav-Ings tipped with tulphur These have to be put Into the lire to light them and tile flint It 1 used to strike alight I Ihe markttt of Corea are full of strange Ihmgt Ihere are regular market days over the country and the different towns of a dlitilct have markets rotation ro-tation and the peop for mile around come to buy and sell The mirketsol Seoul are very good and all kinds of lull I vegetables and meats are peddled I out by these I queer people Game Is plenty and both llle beef and venison are good The peop are early risers and the I best r1 market I In Seoul rji between 5 and Ii a m Two hours later Ihe stand are all cleared away and you hive tamely on the retail store or little shops scattered all over Ihe cllv The market scenes nru Interesting boo nee pompom swells I In long gowns and high 1 lo d Iftl hats poor women by hundred I with green cloaks over their heads and boys tJy wore cirrylng all kinds of vege table and ware There are smants In livery and coolies with I II hat at big at umlirelus There are bullock Carlo until porters merchants nml slave all push lug and fighting ovtr the thing they are bu > lng The market Is i near Ihe big south gate of the city and Ihere are thousands here every market morning Among the curious arllclet I which I noted found a ready tale was Corean Klnaength root of which is I good for all kinds ot diseases red pepper which was flr In paper parcels about the sue b tJl of a cigarette lor about one cent apiece I and tobacco which was dried and red died out by the leaf The grain market Was eijintly queer and tho chicken and bird markets were full ol Interest CORRAN MACIIIN1RY Here and there over the country Inw I rude machinery of one kind and another There were waters mill for the poundIng pound-Ing out of rice and the crushing of grain along many of the streams The mills were all on the principle the old seesaw or teeter board A long beam o wood was swung on a pivot and on one end ol this was a heavy hammer or mullet mul-let This I fell Into a mortar In which the rice or grain ow placed InA lIne I other end of the beam was a square box holding J perhaps a barrel I of water and I this box hung right under a 11 pipe which Wit led by the stream At loon at the I bux was lull the a alec end of hue bean sank down the water ruthed out and 1 the mallet which had been raised high In the air lell on Ihe grain This Is the patent roller proceis mill of Corea I I saw other rahli and those In Seoul were like the one of the Scripture and I were turned by hand I law tome I millstones one on the top ol another which were turned by mule which I went about like a horse In a tannery I tie most ol the millers In the capital were Chi nanten and they were by no means polite Tile brass works which made the cooking utensils for these t > oooooo Coreans are 01 the rudest nature The furnaces are lude ovens of clay and little crucibles about the site ol a tin cup are used Tho brit Is first cast and then polished by meant of a laihe which the workman manipulate tutu kin feel sitting I I In the end of a trench as he tines to The brats shines like gold and it takes on a beautiful polish I bought a dinner set and II cot mn < It consisted of about a doien brass bowls from the sue of awash a-wash basin down to that of an egg cup The silversmiths work the same way and 110II0 01 their work It very artistic In the pastlhe Coreant were In fact the greatest otthnta I of the far cast and Japanese art It said to have had its birth in Core Within the pail half dotell centuries hoer the Coreans have been going backward and him Japanese hive greatly Improved In enemy way over their Corean instructor THE rtTURU OF COREA The ndicallont now are that Circa will steadily Improve and fortunes will certainly be nude by some ol the foreigners who get In at the right time and who have the proper Influence The Asiatic market U one of ice biggest In the world and Cores has many natural I resource which will command a ready ale all over the east The matler of coal It I a most Important one The Chinese have plenty but the most of their mine are In lice Interior and they are undeveloped The temper of lime Chinese in I such that foreigner cannot can-not get at them and today Ihe chief coal merchants of Ihe Western Pacific are the Jipanc They have mine ol vast extent and In the western part ol Japan there are great mines winch hate nay mile of tunnel running right out Into and under the sea These are at Nagasaki and the mining mutt be very expensive The mine about Pinying Cores lie right on the surface and the coal can be dug out with a pick The merit I at hand for carrying the coal I to the sea and a great Industry oucht to spnng I up here The gold mine are I am told fabulously rich I was told there were great mines on the cast coin aol gold It tube found all over Cures These mine will be opened with the settlement ot this war The railroad accessions will be extremely valuable and this country will surely form the outlet for the I ran Siberian road This already begun at V adlvo stock and Is I being I built at different i paints between that point and Europe A branch line running down through I 1 Corca will bring rtU within a days sale of Japan In addition to these things there are other valuable concessions and enterprises enter-prises which will spring up The situ slion It I such that the khng has to have money and he can gel It only by borrowing bor-rowing from outsiders lie ones both China and Japan large sums of money suds foreign I loan Is an immediate and absolute necessity His majesty Ins no available asscn outside ol hit mines and concessions and Japan will insist I i upon an Immediate settlement cf lilt I Chinese obligations or that he be freed In rome way entirely from China Thin result is I that this country will be ei 1 plored and It will probably have at I i boon A most Interesting scientific expedition could now be organised togas I through II and Its geology Its flora and I Itt other natural resources will pay In < vettlgalion The king would undoubtedly undoubt-edly permit It and the explorer would have some exciting tiger liunlt and at the same time might get some valuable concession |