Show written for thi ghis paper THE KING OF COREA 00 copyrighted by frauk frank Q G Ca carpenter menter 1894 1891 NE of the most i interesting n t e r men in the world today d a y i is s t the it e king of corea the war between J ja a is now being fought 0 over v e r him and the future of asia 4 1 A 0 is involved in 7 the struggle the king is the absolute ruler ot of 12 people the land of corea belongs practically to him and the development oi of its im immense natural resources in gold and coal which is sure to occur after the war is is over may make him one ot of the richest kings in the world I 1 had an audience with him six years ago and I 1 met him in one of his palaces in in seoul just before the outbreak of the present rebellion he received me with the highest of honors and I 1 am I 1 bei lieve the only strictly private american who has ever gone through the imperial door of the great gate which leads into his palace city the kings palaces cover nearly one thousand acres they lie at the foot of a ragged gray mountain and a thick wall ot of stone as high as a two story house bouse runs around them this wall is entered by a half dozen great gates at which day and night sol soldiers aers are stationed to see that only the proper people go in each gate has its own rank and mere S ere are special entrances for servants and low nobles the great central gate is reserved for the highest it has three doors and the middle one of them is kept for royalty alone and only kings and princes princes are supposed to go through it I 1 see that the papers state that gen clarence greathouse the kings foreign adviser is the only american who ever entered the palace city through this door this is not true the same honor was accorded last may to minister sill dr H N allen alien and also to me this is how it happened the corean officials who put on great airs have been trying to lessen the rank of f foreigners in the eyes of the people they have made a back entrance to the palace lor for them and they proposed to inaugurate this by thus letting in our new minister mr mr sill who had arrived iv in corea during my stay minister sill however refused to accept their proposition he said he represented tile the president of df the united states arl thai our president was as big as any any king on the globe glebe if there was a gate for kings he thought he ought to go through it and he sent word to the department that he would come at the time appointed to this big gate and if he was not admitted there he would return to his legation this message made the faces of the kings officials ciss t to 0 turn from the color of jersey cream to skimmed milk they saw that there would be trouble and they referred the matter to the king now his majesty has more brains than all of his ministers he iss is packed lull full of common sense and he at once became very angry he not only said that the minister should go through the chief gate but he sent his own chair and servants in order that he might ride therein there in state I 1 dont know what he remembered me from my past inte interview arview i but he was told I 1 wanted to meet him and he said that he would give me a s special audience after that of the minister minter is ter was over I 1 wish I 1 could show you how we marched through the city on our way t king one procession of soldiers and servants was at least one hundred feet long and we rode in chairs borne by big coolies the kings chair shone like gold in its brass trim trimmings a and nd it had mahogany panels my chair was covered with navy blue silk and dr allen alien rode in a gorgeous sedan of green we had a couple of Core coreah ati nobles to go with us as interpreters and these were gorgeously dressed thi the minister dr allen alien and myself had on plug hats boiled shirts and swallowtail swallow tail coats the servants who came from the palace were dressed in white gowns belted in at the waist with sashes of green the soldiers wore blue coats and plum colored pants and out of the back of their black fur hats were tassels cassels of the brightest vermilion each of which was as big as a fly brush oh it was wan gayl gay I 1 this way we went down the pennsylvania avenue of seoul our ran in front and howled out to the common moon people to get out of the way for the great men who came men and women were crowded up to the walls bullock carts were driven down the side streets with a rush the people who smoked took their pipes out of their mouths and held them behind them women with ith green coats over their heads scampered into their houses and the eyes of all were so stretched out at the sight that they lost their almond shape and became circular in wonder it was so tin till we reached the gate of the palace here our soldiers put down the chairs and accompanied by our pompous corean interpreters we walked toward the gate midway on the platform we were met by one of the high officials of the king clad in a gorgeous green gown with a stork of white silk embroidered on a background of gold a foot square his breast he had a similar square of embroidery his back and as I 1 looked at him it struck me that with a good revolver a man could kill both of these embroidered birds at the same time he had about his waist a hoop of what seemed to be shell shelf or horn horm studded with precious stones and he be was accompanied by servants who held u up his arms and sort of lifted bun along the he way this was wair not because kle fae could norwalk not walk but it better showed his rank and style he bowed low we bowed and after a short interval of diplomatic taffy giving he led the way up to the central gate of the palace and motioned the minister to walk through the main entrance he then went through one of the side gates and our interpreters followed him dr allen alien and myself were walking with the minister said the doctor he seems to intend that I 1 shall go through the main main gate too well doctor said I 1 1 I think I 1 will stick to the party and though I 1 have no official rank ill see how it feels to walk the path that has only been trodden by the feet of kings I 1 had not forgotten that I 1 was an american prince and so we three representatives of the royalty of the united states marched through this temple like entrance the act in itself seems little in america but it was a great thing in corea and everywhere I 1 went after that it was mentioned in connection with my introduction to other comeans Co reans a in our march through the city of the king this gorgeous prime minister stalked along in front of of us leading us through great courts till we came to another gate through the center arch of which we passed then we went on through other courts walled with palaces past servants clad in brown and red and by officials wearing all sorts of hats bats and gowns there were soldiers everywhere and gatling guns stood near some of the entrances we passed through street after street walled with the buildings in which live the king and his servants until we came to a great gate the side door of which alone was open the central door was closed the rhe secretary ot of the home office stepped through the side gate and expected us to follow we had gotten used however to the arch of honor and we stopped and waited for the main gate to be opened the secretary thereupon changed his mind he came back and was practically lifted by his servants to the toti top ot of a hill where there was a new gate and he led us through this this brought us into the vestibule built for the foreigners it was a magnificent corridor so long that you could not see the ena end as you stood at the th top and looked down it it was lighted at the top and on both sides by beautiful lattices ot of white paper the woodwork was papered wit with gaper this wonderful corean paper which is as smooth as ivory and as strong as Lp leather ather the floor boor was covered with matting as fine as the web of a panama hat and so thick that our feet sunk as softly into it as they would have done had it been brussels carpets this corridor had many landings we descended from one to another by easy steps and after a walk of perhaps a quarter of a mile we came out ot of it into an open hall which looked out the gardens of the king and gave a view of the new palace in the distance this room was furnished in foreign style and the highest officials of the king and a number of great nobles of the court were gathered within it each noble had his servant with him tall broad shouldered men clad in brown gowns and gorgeous lats hats stood about as guards ards T these e are known as the brown coated T they fire are the bodyguard of the king and tike like the ive famed soldiers of peter ake the great have been picked out for their height and st strength renith nearly every one of them is is aver over six feet and their long gowns make them look like giants in addition to these there were servants in red caps servants in caps of purple and servants with georgeous head dressings of blue the officials were clad in their court dresses and the head of each showed a topknot shining through its fine corean cp cap of horst horsa hair which with its great areat wings napping flapping out at the sides forms the official headdress these wings are oval in shape and they stand out like ears denoting that their owners are ever listening for the he commands of the king the gowns of these officials were of the finest silk made very full they fell from their necks to their feet and nearly covered the great official cloth boots which made each man look as though he had bad the gout and was nursing his feet for the occasion the gowns of dark green embroidered with gold on the breast and back and containing white storks or tigers according as the man belonged to the civil or the military rank fach each man had a stiff roop like belt about him which was fastened in some way to his dress and surrounded the body just below the armpits these hoops were so large that they stood about six inches out from the dress they are emblems of rank and you can tell the position of the men by the character of the gold jewels or precious stones with which these hoops are decorated some ot of toem were made of a great number of small squares fastened together by joints and not a lew few of these squares were of the purest gold others were of silver and others were of green jade amber and other precious stones each of these officials wore a ribbon of woven horse hair about four inches wide about his head and this ribbon was fastened on by a little round button about the size of the back of a collor button which rested just behind the ear these buttons also denote rank some were of gold some amber and others of other precious materials these men were all very dignified we were introduced all around by the cabinet minister who conducted us into the room and we then sat down to a ion lone table upon which were plates filled wig with assorted cookies about the size of macaroons macar at each mans seat there were champagne glasses and the servants opened a half dozen or so of cold bottles while we chatted and waited the american minister had his presentation first he spent about half an hour with his majesty and then one of the english speaking officials came into this room and told me that the king was ready to asee me taking off my hat and my eyeglasses eye glasses I 1 walked with this man through long passageways eways walled with stone by red capped red gowned servants and past soldiers in gorgeous uniforms to the gate of a large courtyard AS we neared this my interpreter who was a high official noble bent his head ovar and his face looked like that of a man in in pain at a funeral As we entered the court he bent half double and as I 1 looked across it I 1 noticed that there was a large open hall facing us this hall ball had a massive roof of heavy tiles and at the front of it there were a number of big round pillars painted red there were three entrances to it reached edby by granite steps guarded by stone dogs and the floor wak was I 1 judge about six feet from the ground within the hall in front of a corean screen stood the king with two eunuchs on each side of him holding up his arms and about him were a number of officials who bent over half double and dared not look at him for reverence all of these officials had these gorgeous storks or tigers on their breasts and they looked at me out of the tail of their eyes as I 1 came up my interpreter got down on his knees as he got ot to the steps he crawled along the floor floor to the front of king and bumped his head on the carpet he then bent himself over half double and remained in this position during the whole of the interview whispering in tones of awe his maje sentences to me and my questions to him the king was dressed in a gown of crimson silk cut high at the neck and embroidered with gold medallions as big around as a tea plate there was one of these medallions on each of his shoulders and one covered each side af pf of the gown at about where the fifth rib is supposed to be located this gown reaches to his feet it was gorgeous beyond description and it harmonized with his cream colored complexion the sleeves of the gown were very full and out of them a pair of delicate shapely shapel hands came from time to time a and clasped each other nervously on one of his fingers I 1 noted a magnificent diamond ring and it seemed to me as though the great solitaire must cut his fingers as he clasped and unclasped his hands now holding them together and now pulling one finger after the other as though he awauld crack the joints about his waist he had a bellyband belly band embroidered broi dered with jewels and his feet were clad in heavy official boots his head was covered with a navy blue cap of horse hair net as high as a silk hat this came well down upon his forehead it had no brim and there were no wings at the back as on the caps of the officials fici als he shook his own hands at me in chinese fashion as I 1 came up p I 1 bowed and I 1 looked him straight in the eye while we talked together I 1 was not more than five feet away irom from him and there was a little table between us above us shone the incandescent globes of the edison electric light and there was an european carpet on the floor the audience was largely ave given up to the passing of compliments and d it lasted I 1 judge about twenty minutes during in it I 1 had a good opportunity to study the atje king and I 1 photographed as it were his form and features on my brain he is about five feet six inches in height he is rather well built but not heavy he has beautiful bright black almond eyes a complexion the color of rich jersey cream and teeth as white as the tusks of an african elephant his face is full and it shines with intelligence he has a thin mustache and a few hairs of black whiskers he smiled frequently and now and then he laughed melodiously diou sly he seemed to have a stone of about the size of a boys lucky stone in his mouth while he talked and this from time to time he got between his teeth while he listened when he spoke it sunk back into his mouth taking the place of in an old maids plumper lumper or the of tobacco quid of one ot our congressmen I 1 dont know why he uses this stone and I 1 am not altogether sure that it at was a stone it seemed too hard for wax andin and medical edical chewing zum gum has not yet t teen been introduced into corea the aking ei n of corea is now forty two years old d and he is in good physical tondi condi xion lie he is one of the ablest rulers corea orea has ever had and there is ib no harder worked monarch on the face of the athe globe his troubles today come from his officials he had been so bound round ay them that he did not know the condition of his people and he has been hedged edged in as was the mikado of japan a Zene generation ration ago you cannot imagine the he |