Evening Star Newspaper, March 31, 1894, Page 20

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1894-TWENTY PAGES. SS SS —<=*. " THE EN D OF THE LARAN REBELLION. THE GREAT LARAN REBELLION —_s—___—_ WRITTEN FOR THE EVENING STAR BY NYM CRINKLE. Seen eee we (Copyrighted, 1804.) CHAPTER XXII. NE NIGHT NOT) png after this Call- Jaot woke Lieut.Stock- jag up about twelve welock rather ur- gently. “Listen,” he valid. His friend sat up on his cot and re- marked that Calicot looked very white in the dim light. The harsh hum of many voices reached him in a confused and disa- greeable way, intermingled with occasional shouts of command and the tread of feet and accompanied by the loud drone of the machinery. “What is it?" he asked. “Hendricks is sending up all his forces. It has been going on now for two hours. Get up and dress yourself; the women are frightened. I think a battle is going on overhead or is impending.” Stocking then got up and the two men ‘Went into the adjacent quarters, where they found Miss Endicott with a shawl around ber head and Miss Laport rubbing her hands. Both of the women were very much alarmed, as indeed they well might be with all that hideous din going on in the arena. Calicot then explained to them as calmly as he could that the armed forces were being sent up as fast as the lift could carry them. “There is,” he said, “a struggle about to take place. Let us preserve our wits so that We can use to the best advantage the only Means we have of obtaining information.” Miss Endicott, in spite of her trepidation, appeared to understand the situation, and when Calicot asked her if she could put herself en rapport with Mrs. Hendricks she answered promptly: “Yes. It requires no effort whatever now.” She merely closed her cyes a moment as if collecting herself and then said: “She is packing her trunk— she is attired in a riding habit; there are four men with her; they look as if they had been traveling; now she goes to the instru- ment; she is reading its message to the meh. I cannot hear what she says. They are all listening to her eagerly. They are disputing; the man who was with her be- fore writes something and reads it to them; the woman shakes her head; she does not e@pprove of it. Yes, I can read it. ‘We start at 3 o'clock. Miss Franklin must come back with Mrs. H.””” Here Miss Laport made an ejaculation. “I am lost,” she said. “They are coming to take me.” Lieut. Stocking ground his teeth in an tmpulse of helpless indignation. Calicot held his hand up deprecatingly; Miss Endicott went on: “She has gone to the telegraph; the man is waiting for her with a paper and pencil in his hand.” “The man,” Calicot explained to Stock- ing, “is Fenning. He will write down the dispatch that comes from Hendricks. Lis- ten.” “She is speaking,” said Miss Endicott. “He is writing; they are all listening.” “Yes, yes,” said Calicot; “you must read the writing.” “Don't move until you get orders from me. Bloody work here before morning.” “What does that mean?” asked Stocking. “It fs Hendricks’ dispatch. He does not want them to start for the Laran until he has driven off the forces that are here. It is plain enough. We at-least have gained on by the arrangement and must profit “How are we to profit by it?” asked Btocking. Calicot held up his hand as a warning not to interrupt Miss Endicott. a " said the you woman; “it is = “They have gone,” said Calicot, “to the bare Snag pp seme “But, oh, dear,” exclaimed Miss Zay “how is all this to our advantage?" at “Yes,” said Stocking. “That's what we ‘Want you to tell us.” Calicot addressed himself to Miss Laport. “Hendricks,” he said, “will be flushed with victory, self-confidence, and more likely to grant any request you make of him. If your father were to ask him now to let him take you away pending these dreadful scenes he would probably consent. I be-! Neve he would let the lieutenant go with him if he gave his word to return.” <7 hich I never would do,” said S ocking. ‘Yes, you would,” said Caiicot, “if Miss Franklin and I insisted upon it, and it were to our advantage. He has an idea that your interest in Miss Franklin will close your mouth; that you cannot betray him without betraying her tather—besides, I will remain as a hostage for you. When’ we have got the women out the rest is easy, and I will disclose it to you when you come back. The moment the tssue of the fight {s decided you must take the women vut at the bayou entrance and get them across the Mississippi or to Memphis. Bear in mind that Hendricks is making ready to abandon this place and take the field openly. He ares less for exposure now that his plans @re completed. and you are incumbrances.” ! Neither Stocking nor Miss Laport evince | any enthusiasm at this project, but they | yielded to Calicot’s urgency, and, for want of any other plan, finally agreed to do as he bade them. It was nearly morning before the noise of Preparation and departure subsided, Calicot felt sure that, whatever the Issue overhead, Hendricks would be at his tele-| graph wire. and that was the only hope of obtaining definite information. What is now known as the battle of Laran began just before daybreak. Lieut. Saxton, the two companies of United States infantry, hill, where there were Ge omb's r guns of bat- . With a hastily two companies hundred and covering a but | rise out of the ground in the dark under his very nose, and Hendricks succeeded in get- ting that force through the portal quietly, and disposing them in solid order under the protection of the trees and ruins of the san- itarlum before the Heutenant’s scouts dis- covered them. He had also sent out five hundred men at the bayou exit, and they were in the rear of the intrenched party be- fore dawn. One hundred men had been left in the cave as a reserve to protect the entrances. The force at the portal was divided into two commands of two hundred men each, Hendricks leading one and Gen. Waterson the other. The movement of one of these columns to the right of the hill gave the alarm and the battle began about fifteen minutes earlier than Hendricks had ar- ranged it. A simultaneous dash was made | by the two divisions upon the hill, and a desperate fight ensued. Gen. Waterson had the protection of the woods In his advance, but Hendricks had to cross an open space and receive the murderous fire f-om the guns on the crest. His men broke twice, but he rallied them with reminders that in| ten minutes their brothe:s would come up! in the rear. He had thirty men killed and disabled before he got inside the line, and while there engaged in a hand-to-hand} fight. Waterson reached the guns and silenced them. At the same time the shouts of the party coming up in the rear | were heard, and ten minutes later the battle was virtually decided. Lieut. Saxton, a brave young officer, was killed. Fifty of his men were either killed outright or mortally wounded. The cavalry that was in the woods was not so easily dealt with, and continued the skirmishing until well into the forenoon, by which time Hendricks began the work of moving the wounded in-| to the Laran, and later in the day he felt sure that the mounted men had ridden in all directions for succor, and virtually retired. He then transferred his force with the guns to the Laran, and by nightfall had withdrawn into the cave, and once more masked his entrance. NING “You Overlooked One Said Deliberately. The first intelligence received by Calicot came that night, and Stocking was present when the extraordinary dispatch was read by Miss Endicott. Here it “Every detail is planned; I have made no mistakes; thirty-two out; have twenty- four hours’ margin; bayou cleared; notify all heads quick and come on; all consult here; in the field in three days; signal all; will send force escort; sould not save Sax- oma t “Great God!" exclaimed Stocking, “I wonde> if that is Charley Saxton of the twelfth murdered by these outlaws?” Calicot begged him to be cool. “We shall know,” he said, “if Fenning sends back the newspaper accounts.” But though they waited some time, Miss Endicott communicated nothing further. “They are hurrying away,” she said, “on horses.”" “What do you make out: of it?” asked Stocking. “To me it is unintelligible.” “In the light of what I already know,” said Calcot, “it is plain enough. Let me interpret it. Hendricks has lost thirty-two men in the fight. and he has driven off his opponents. He now has twenty-four hours before a larger force will arriv In that time he expects to consummate his plans by having all the head conspirators here in the Laran, where they cannot be disturbed. Mrs. Hendricks and the men who were with her are on their way here now. Ba- you clear, means that they shall come to that entrance, and Hendricks will have a force to meet them. By calling in Mrs. Hendricks it is very evident that he does | Rot need the cottage any longer and is ready to emerge into an open fight. From all that I have been able to deduce, I think he is calculating om a hundred thousand men in the country who have been secretly ; preparing themselves for the signa! of out- ! break, and who will flop to his standard when he takes the tield. The men who are to meet here will represent the different | wings and elements of that revolt." “And you still think,” said Stocking, with }a rather pathetic stare, “that this diabolical and crazy anarchist will continue to meet with success?" “I am afraid that he will up to a certain point. He is using elements that can only | €Xpend themselves in explosion. He 1s nuw | calculating with an ingenuity that is both devilish and magnificent how to s urprise and destroy forces that will be sent here. With every new genius in villainy, society has to take lessons in defeat before it can take’ the perpetrator, simply because so- ciety does not concentrate its energies on | the study of villainy. But it is not our business now to speculate on reform, but to save ourselves. You promised to do as I bade you, and I have promised to save you if you will.” CHAPTER XXIII. Calicot, looking very white and gaunt, nfingled among the crowds in the arena. To any one less absorbed in a purpose the scenes would have been fraught with an almost superhuman interest. The confusion was appalling and the noise deafening. But even his abstracted perception could distinguish in it all the effort of system and discipline forcing matters slowly into pur- pose. Squads were forming and marching through the corridor, toward the rotunda, choking the passages; officers were run- ning and shouting; litters were passing and repassing with Wounded; groans, curses, commands loaded the heavy air with sa- tanic tumult, and the cavernous surround- irgs and ghostly lights compieted the infer- nal hue of the picture. A man suddenly plunged into this sub- terranean scene, as, indeed, many of the wounded captives were, might rude ly imagine that he had died and been thrown into the traditional hell. Calicot was about to make a very doubt- ful experiment. He was going to determine if his estimate of Hendricks’ character was correct. While looking for him he came near the portal; it had occurred to him | that in this confusion it might be possible for Stocking to get up the shaft undetected, | But he was quickly convinced of the folly jof that idea. The exit was well guarded, jand the men had a countersign which was changed every day. He saw several of the new detail turned back because they had fergotten it. While he stood there Hendricks came up and spoke to him. “There are two of your wounded friends there in Mr. Franklin's office,” he said. bee, need intelligent care. You might lend a hand. Iam sending all the captured back to the surface as fast as possible » they can be recovered. We cannot do them justice. am at Be your ervice,” replied Calicot. ak to you of another I told him to get her out as soon as three We move from here in “I wanted to suggest to you, . “to let the other girl vous shock in t \ | | | | | | i | thrust the pad into nis pock S$ uproar. | “You wish to escort hi | Let Lieut. Stocking do it. The old} : pilot him to to 1 . he is in ‘ nant I am a sufficient return here to me. -_" ¥ friend is a vindictive man,” said We go through It to victory. tea “But you have noticed that Ij think, calculated for every contingenc: Hendricks. haven't time to be. “I said to myself, the execution of your plans no longer de- pended on our captivity or secrecy.” “Ah, you have arrived at that conclusion.” “I acknowledge facts. So far as I can see you are in armed rebellion. It is no part of the magnanimity of war to entomb helpless women. From to my wishes.” gut your friend did not think so.” but he, perhaps, does not understand Hendricks smiled rather grimly. nightfall,” he said, “I will give your party an escort and pass them out of the bayou end. My own men are in the woods bet’ n the bayou and Memphis and the women would not be safe. Then Hendricks abruptly left him. Calicot’s anxiety now grew hourly. He had a sickening fear that Fenning might ar- rive at any*moment and frustrate the whole plan. ‘The women spent the intervening time in preparation, and Calicot, after a hurried consultation with Stocking, repaired to Mr. Laport’s headquarters, and, finding the wounded men had been removed, he sat down at the table and for an hour gave him- self to the writing of what seemed an inter- minable letter, which he concealed on bis person when completed. He then wandered aimlessly through the long passages, waiting impatiently for the night to come. It was 8 o'clock, as near as he could guess, when Stocking and the two young women got aboard one of the box cars and accom- panied him to the bayou entrance. Very little was said on the way. Calicot was apprehensive and not disposed to talk. His chief fear was that something would occur to interfere with their departure at the last moment. It seemed to him that the rotunda was full of men and he suspected that Hendricks had been ‘getting | fresh recrults at the bayou end during the fight at the Laran portal. When they arrived at the end of their journey, Stocking very nearly upset the project by suddenly refusing to go unless his friend accompanied them, and it re- quired all the firmness and persuasion that Calicot could command to induce him to proceed. “Do not,” he said, “imperil every- thing by giving up your faith in me now. On the day after tomorrow, when you have secured the safety of your companions, you are to come back for me. The government will have some of its forces here then, and the issue will not be doubtful, believe me. But I must stay here tonight and tomor- row to learn all I can of the plans at the conference. Mr. Franklin, I understand, has secured money enough to take care of himself and daughter. You are a free man. Do not hesitate.” They parted at the entrance to the lift. Stocking was sullen and uncertain, but he ca back and wrung his friend’s hand silently, and Calicot felt that the action was a pledge. A moment later he turned | nd mounted the steps of the railway plat- form with a sense of desolation in. his heart and an unmistakable moisture in his ey! en they came to the rotunda he told uard that he would get off and walk ck later to the arena. He was left standing on the platform when the car moved away. The great dense shadows covered him from the army of men below. He walked along the ties to the great wooden doors of the magazine and stood there a moment. Then he de- seended the steps and was lost in the crowds of men below. He had expected to meet Hendricks at his military headquarters, but one of the captains who knew him said that there Was a meeting of some kind and Hendricks | and all the other chiefs had gone to the office in the arena where it was quiet. He then made his way as speedily as he could through the coal corridors to the arena, and was surprised to see how com- pletely the chaos of a few hours ago had | Ne disappeared. “trly all the men had been gathered into the rotunda, and save a few groups here and there and the work- men and officers scattered about the place was deserted. Without a definite purpose he went im- mediately to the quarters where he and Stocking had lived together so long. Som thing of a morbid desire to feel its ,lone- liress now that his only companion was gone actuated him. The door stood ajar and he walked in, The moment he was inside he heard voices. He listened. They came from the adjacent quarters that had been occupied by the women. He moved softly along the partition to the little cor- ridor that connected the houses. It was dark, save for the light that came through an inch or two of open door at the other end. He looked through. To his amazement he saw that the room was filled with people, and he knew at orce that this was the final consultation of the conspirators. Hendricks was there, were Mrs. Hendricks and Fenning. hers he did not know; he was cer- tain he had never seen them before. The marked c! of the men convinced him at once that they were no ordinary schomers. Hendricks was speaking drew from his pocket a pad of paper and a short pencil and Mstened. The speaker was recapitulating what he had done in the Laran from the start, and evidently en- deavoring to convince them that the spiracy never could have obtained its pi and = Calicot ent momentum if it had not had a safe and impregnable stronghold to mature itself in. “To organize army in the teeth of the authorities was as impossible in America as in Russi. he said. “But 1 have organized the nucieus of a stand- ing army the touch of which will convert your straggling materiais ‘into soldiers. We are now prepared to strike the first blow. We have all worke utiently to this point. In three days we must be pre- pared to take the feld.” Calriot Began to Write. verything depends upon instant and accurate co-operation. If we are a unit in our work we are invincible, for it will take a month for the opposing elements to con- solidate against us, and then they will be too late, Now let us what our prog On the morning after tomorrow t what I have seen of your, | character I believed that you would accede “At! 1 | will be in flames and the executive and his | cabinet at Washington will be destroyed. Dynamite and the torch are the signals for the grand movement of our scattered forces to the two centers, and at the same time I appear in the field with a trained army and invite the people to save themselves by coming to the people's banner. doubt in your minds of the accomplishment of this. You hold the signal, Garvoux, for the work in Washington. 1 believe’ you have made failure impossible if you get back there.” i: “My part of the work Is certain,” said Garvoux. House.” “And J," said a white-haired man, with emence, “will have one hundred thous- nd men in Chicago, needing only a leader. | Every available force of the government be in Tennessee.” And I will be in Chicago on the night of t di virtually dictator,” said Hen- s, “if you have paralyzed the execu- tive arm at Washington. Gentlemen, if you leave here tonight prepared to carry out our work we are masters of the situa- tion in four days.” Calicot leaned a momeat against the wall of the corridor. He appeared to be faint. Then, as if making 2 desperate effort, he and, turn- save and ing, felt his way along the ; came out into the arena. He cast a hur- ried look around. The railway platform as 4) feet away, and a car was ready to start with a number of men. He ran across the open space, ha d, the train and climbed aboar!. “I might as well travel as do anything else to hill time,” he said to the man look- him. “Are he replied Calico’ od. Let me want te Once th and the bac! get a drink. re he slipped off in the shadows, car went off. In five minutes tt up and Calicot got on again. s asked. to the bayou tonight. It could not h than ten at his place in ing on. Hen- he sail, how plans. Let v we are mas every There is no | “T have four agents in the White | coor of the rotunda with its tender hanging ran up to | | ther the mast stupendous feature of this | This is the stage of anarchy. |ious scruples with game. I hi I At that moment Calicot pushed the door replied Calicot, “that | open and stood white but calm before the assembled group. “You have overlooked one factor,” he said, deliberately. The astonished circle started into atti- tudes of ala: Hendricks and Fennihg alone preserved their coolness, “My prisoner,” said the former. “You were listening.” “Yes,” replied Calicot, “it is my duty to tell you that in your plans you forgot one important element.” They looked at him with a suspicion of danger in their faces. He appeared in his almost ghastly calmness to be sore kind of incalculable force. “What do you mean?” asked Hendricks. Calicot put his hand vpon his breast and bowed slightly. “Yo. fcergot me,” he said, “and your work ccmes to naught. It was just like ycu to underestimate the qualities that would destroy you. I have never heard that in your diabclism there was any provision for self-sacrifice. Fortunately in my scheme there was. In three minutes we shall all die together. In the confusion that followed Hendricks shouted: ed by his confinemer “No,” sail Calicot, “I am nelther crazy nor desperate. I have lit the slow match to your magazine. The explosion will kill every human being in the Laran. You will “Be calm: the man has been craz- MAIL IN COREA The First Step Toward a New Civili- zation There. IT HAS GONE THROUGH JAPAN The Coreans Have Gone Ahead of the Chinese. NO BENEFITS TO AMERICA —E——ee Written for The Evening Star. HE KINGDOM OF Corea is about to shake off the tram- Uy mels of thousands of (es years of tradition. It be found here, with ycur secrets divulged. ¢ the first I have saved the country. Providence, | Wogn qs een peg ae which is on the side of history, sent me to , hea SS ) —_ you, and you accepted the instrument of mn civilization. It is your own destruction. y about to establish a mail service. The CHAPTER XXIV. Lieut. Stocking, the moment he was in the Wash bayou and felt the elation of freedom, met with a new blow. “T cannot go to Memphis with my father,” she said. ‘There are reasons that I cannot tell you now. We must get a boat, cross the Mississippi and disappear.” It was in vain that Stocking plead and argued. “You do not know all,” she said, “and I must save my father’s life. There is a skiff in the woods two miles above the bayou. Take us to that, get us across and leave us to find our way in Texas to the coast. You must go back to your friend, and I will write you when we are all safe, if you give me an address.” Vainly Lieut. Stocking plead with her. On this point she was firm. The guard took them two or three miles up the Mississippi and there the party crossed the river, the lieutenant accompanying them two or three miles into the interior, until he believed they were safe from pursuit, when he bade them farewell and returned. The journey had consumed a day, and when he reached the eastern shore of the Mississippi he en- countered the pickets of a government force, was promptly arrested and taken to the camp about a mile from the Laran portal, where he found two regiments of troops. It was not difficult for him to es- tablish his identity, as ne found several ac- quaintances among the officers, and to them he told the whole story of his capture and incarceration. It was an_ incredible’ and startling revelation, and led the command- ing officer at once to move his camp to a new elevation at some distance from the Laran and to take every precaution against an attack in the rear. On the morning of the third day Stocking set out with a picked guard and several of the officers to inspect the entrance of the cave. I Have Saved ntry.” It was not diMcult to find the portal, to their astonishment the whole of the lift was discovered lying on the ruins sanitarium adjacent to the uncovered from which issued a waverin smoke. | Suspecting some kind of treachery, Stock- | Stocking Read c ft, B, thin, blue Corea, but very few. ing proposed to go down alone, and after |, some delay in getting ropes, he was lowered | into the hole. Finding everything enveloped | in darkness and silence at the bottom of the | shaft, he had to come back for assistance | and lanterns, and thus provided, and ac- companied by an officer, he redescended, with the growing conviction that Hendricks | had withdrawn all his forces from the cave | and abandoned it. | ‘The moment he arrived at the mouth of | the arena passage and held up the lantern he perceived that something extraordinary | had taken place. On either side of the en-! trance to the shaft were the bodies of men— | two of them had apparently been hurled | against the wall of the arena with terrific | force, for their bodies were dislocated end | eir skulls fractured, and they were coy-} ered with a blue mold that made their faces | indistinguishable. A few seconds later the | condition of the arena disclosed the de- struction that had taken place. The resi- dences on the western wall were shattered and in ruins. The machinery of the great dynamo stood out gaunt and awry, like the bones of a corpse, from which the flesh had been suddenly torn away. Not a sound was heard. Here and there bodies lay exposed upon the floor of the arena with the clothes torn from them. Word was immediately sent above for men and lights, and a strong reconnoitering force was with difficulty lowered into the cave. ‘Then the full extent of the appalling dis- aster wes investigated. Stocking forced his way with some difficulty into the rooms where he had spent so many hours, and there, with the lanterns of the men held high and throwing a dismal effulgence on the scene, he saw inextricably mingled with the debris of the place the members of the group to whom Calicot had communicated the last words. All wore the same horrible mask of blue mold. Hendricks himself was sitting in a chair, but his neck was dislo- cated and his head hung down upon the side of his body. Calicot’s body was in the cor- ridor. It alo: had escaped the blast of disfiguring color; his face wore a grim smile ani in his hand was a pad covered with writh ng. Stocking wrenched it from the dead fingers and held it to the lantern. In a distorted hand ‘was written: “All parttcu- on my person, I have saved you and country, It was my duty. I am hap- Shocked beyond all power of speech, Stocking silently secured the papers, and went with the party through the coal passage to the mouth of the rotunda, and unprecedented tragedy was revealed. The whole of that great space was cov- ered with blue corpses, in every conceivable attitude of sudden death, a blue stratum of smoke lying above them and still depositing its sulphur and carbon upon their forms. Death reigned. It had come like a lightning stroke. It had spared nothing. The end of the dismantled electric engine, hurled from the trestie, rested upon the to the fron benches. Against the eastern wal! hundreds of men had been hurled in a mass, and there commingled in a sickening ulp, from which stared the blue and Riaedus faces and poked the unwrought limbs. As Stocking slowly realized what his friend had done, a sense of his heroism overcame everything else. He opened the papers and read the hastily written mem- crandum, from which this account has been compiled. “I got.” it said, “the dynamite cartridge from Laport’s workroom, and also the fuse. I let it down the ventilating tube to the floor of the magazine. It burned twenty minutes. I have made notes of all the dis- closed is. Let the government act quick. is and the organization are de- ved. the sreat Laran rebellion fs at an end.” (The End.) eee aE Fish Have No Souls. Marion Crawfe in the Century for April. The Moslems, like the Jews, were com- manded not to make images of anything in heaven or in earth, and Mohammed ad- ded, “Therefore, if ye must make images, make images of things which have no souls, such as trees or plants.” His Sun- nite followers have never transgressed this rule, and their friezes and capitals | and paneling are either ‘n geometrical patt or are ornamented with sym- metrically twined boughs and leaves. The Hindu, on the other hand, never ses an opportunity of introducing gods. | ele nts, fiers, horses, and birds—any- thing living that he can think of except | yet attempted. There is a tennis court be-| fish; for fish have no souls, and the be- liever in’ the transmigration of the spirit eats die rather than eat bee ,» and has relig- | i counselor of the lega- tion at Washington has been in confer- ence with Mr. Brooks, chief of the foreign mail service of our Post Office Department, for some time, obtaining information for his government about the postal system of the United States. He is expecting to receive from his government almost any day an order to | have a set of official stamps printed. Corea has no engravers, and the only printing establishment in the country 1s a primitive concern under control of the government at the capital, Seoul. There are no newspapers in Corea, no railroads and no gas. The elec- tric light will be seen there before a very long time, perhaps; for an American en- | gineer is now busy putting up an electric Ught plant at Seoul. Possibly the electric car will follow. A Bright and Intelligent People. If the Coreans are to be judged by the representatives they have sent to Washing- ton, they are a bright, intelligent people, and it is amazing that their development along the lines of modern civilization should have been so long delayed. But until a few | years ago Corea was a dependency of China {and paid tribute to the Chinese emperor. When the Corean government sent its first minister to the United States, four years | ago, the Chinese government was very much incensed. But our State Department rec- | ognized the Coreans, and we now have a legation at Seoul, to which the newly ap- pointed American minister is on his way. The secretary in charge of the American legation during the minister's absence is Dr. H. N. Allen, who was for a long time secre- tary of the Corean legation here. Dr. Allen lived among the Coreans for about fcur years before he was sent to this country as secretary and interpreter of the Corean le- gauon. He went to Corea from China, and had the good fortune, not long after his ar- rival, to save the life of a Corean prince who had been wounded in battie. The gov- ment, in gratitude, gave him a hospital and made him royal physician. It is ilto- | gether likely that Dr. Allen is responsible | for the proposed post office department in Corea. Communication by Runners. It is a singular fact that in this country | cf twenty million people the chief means of | communication between the 360 towns and villages is by runners. But it is not so very | singular when you consider that the Core- «= \s seldom have any need of communication w th distant points, because each little com- “aunity supplies the wants of its people without any outside assistance. As for the importation from other countries of food or clothing, it is virtually unknown. The Core- ans have cultivated the home market to the | limit of exclusion. ‘There are some horses in The post office depart- ment therefore will have to use runners. That is the means of mail transportation in primi- India. It is a slow means of commu- nication, but it Is better than none. There is today actually no means of reaching the interior of Corea with a letter or a packet except through the courtesy of the Ameri- can legation at Seoul. There would be no means of reaching Seoul if the Corean gov- ernment had not made provision, some years ago, for a runner to carry the mail from Jinsen, the port of Corea, to Seoul, the cap- ital. If you are visiting Corea, you will heve to have your mail addressed in the care of the American legation, for there is no such thing as a postal delivery at Jin- sen or Seoul. All mail for Americans in Corea goes by way of Yokohama to Jinsen and fs then carried by the government run- ner to Seoul. It takes several days for this runner to reach the capital. It takes six- teen days for a letter to reach Corea from Japan. The average time of a letter from Washington to Seoul is more than a month, Starts With Foreign Residents, Usually, the movement in Asiatic ccun- tries for the establishment of modern facili- ties for communication has started with the foreign residents. In China, Americans have pushed the introduction of the railroad and the telegraph, while the British, impatient of delay, have established a postal system of their own at Hong Kong. The British colony of Hong Kong maintains post offices at Hoihow, Canton, Swatow, Amoy, Foo: Chow, Ningpo, Shanghai and Hankow. The letters of the representatives of the United States at any of these places come to this country bearing a British stamp. There are two reasons why no effort has been made by foreign colonists to improve the means of communication between points in Corea. In the first place, there are less than one hundred foreigners in Corea, ex- clusive of the Japanese. In the Place, the government of Corea wil! not per. mit a foreign resident to enter the interior of Corea without a permit, and will not per. mit him to live there under any con litions. The second reason, perhaps, in part explai the first. The foreign residents are grouped in a foreign colony not far from Jinsen. But what explains the absence of the for- eign element more fully is the absence of any digpositon to purchase foreign goods and the lack of anything in native produc- tion to exchange for them. Corea made an exhibit at the world’s fair and offered some things for sale there, but they were chiefly bits of forean dress, tables, cabinets and other tl whose chief value lay i oddity. They were curios, that is all. The Legation Here. All of these facts, and many more, were told to me in a chopped up conversation which I had with the interpreter of the Corean legation at Washington. There is no minister here now. The minister who was sent here four years ago “had some sickness,” as the interpreter smilingly ex- plained to me. Possibly it was in large part home sickners. Anyway, he and his secre- tary of legation, Ye Cha Yun, and Mr. Ye Wan Wung, the special attache, with Mrs. Ye Cha Yun and Mrs. Ye Wan Wung, went back to Corea, leaving Mr. Ye Sung Soo, the counselor, and Mr. Jarng Bong Whan, the sccond secretary, in charge. The minister and his sulte took a lively interest in ali things American while they were here; and especially was this so of the little Corean women. The Chinese legation at Washing- ton learned a lesson from the Coreans. He- fore the Corean women came to Washing- ton there was no woman to do the honors of the Chinese legation. Washington so- clety took very kindly to the Corean women, and probably as a consequence of their ex- perience the present Chinese minister has not only brought his wife and children to America, but he gives them all the social latitude which is granted to American wo- men. their The Coreans Learning. There have been some very frisky Chinese connected with the legation at Washington. Dr. Yow was a familiar figure on the hunt- ing fleld at the meetings of the Chevy Chase Club for many years. the Chinese are stolid. The Coreans, on the contrary, are active and energetic. They take the liveliest interest in all American | sports, as well as in other American insti- tutions. They are much more adaptable than the Chinese. The members of the Co- rean legation had not been at Washington three months before they were making earnest efforts to learn bicycle riding. That is something which the Chinese have not hind the legation on Iowa circle, and a bil- liard room in the basement of the legation sh with impunity, though he would | building. The legation is furnished like a} modern American dwelling. There is very little which is distinctively Corean about its second | But, as a rule, | reception rooms, except a screen in many Panels, embroidered in colored silk, after the fashion of the Chinese. This screen w worked by the legation women. It is | plain contradiction of the modest one had n of the interpreter that the Corean art work which would be accept American people. As to the dev a market for American ¢ said that he wa i nothing Ameri would care to b doubt that if th the interior of « » that there wa: But there is very Httk Yankee trader gets inic he will cultivate the for American goods, a+ ion people at Wash d. The Corean women , adopted the high. before they went aw: heeled French shoes and the kid gloves, anc developed a reinarkable fondness for having their photographs taken. The Corean me: have adopted many articles of Americar dress. When they ca’ here first they wore their native costumes exclusively. Ip this they followed the example of the Chi nese, who have aiways clung to their na tive dress. But as the Corean shoes of the legation people wore out they substitute? American shoes for them, They still wear the flowing robes of silk which they brought with them, but in many minor particulars their dress has been Americanized. Their conversion will not be complete unless the: put aside the peculiar head-dresses which they wear both in and out of doors. These head-dresses are of horse hair, woven in an open-werk pattern, which shows the wear- er’s hair gathered high on his head. The exact shape of the head-dress could not be described in words. It has been likened tc a bird cage. Beginning of a New Era. The interpreter of the legation believes that the establishment of a mail service is the beginning of a new era in Corea. At first, he told me, communication would necessarily be slow; for the government would have to use runners between the chief cities, just as it uses them now be- tween Jinsen and Seoul. The pay of these runners is small. All labor is very cheap in Corea, as it is in China. But the amount of postage to be charged, the route to be covered and the character of the service is something to be determined by the home government after it receives the report of its representatives here. The Japanese gov- ernment now prints its own stamps; but they were printed in this country for many years. The Coreans will not go to Japan for their stamps; they will come to Amer- ica. The establishment of a postal route un- doubtedly means the opening up of interior Corea to the foreigners, and eventually it must mean the introduction of many other American institutions. GEORGE GRANTHAM BAIN. Se OREO, DID NOT FIGHT AFTER ALL. Duelis: Prevented From Firing by the Distress Sign of a Secret Order. A play recently written for a popular comedian is founded on a tragic occurrence in which Dr. J. M. Kellar, formerly of Louisville, but now of Hot Springs, Ark., was an actor. The story was told to Mr. Gardner, who repeated it to James B. Garey, and the last-named gentleman saw the dramatic possibilities. The incident cc- curred during the war, says the Courier- Journal. Dr. Kellar was an army surgeon, and was stationed at Nashville. One night at the Nashville Club two officers, a major end a colonel, had a misunderstanding during a card game, and the lie was pars- ed. Immediately there w: a@ challenge. The colonel, who was a comparative stranger, called on Dr. Kellar to act as his second, and gave him letters of introduc- tion, showing that he was a gentleman and a brave soldier. Preliminaries were ar ed, and the belligerents with their seconds met on the field of honor the next morning at sunrise. The distance was measured cf, the principals were stationed, and “one, two,” had been counted, when the colonel threw up his hand and declared he could not and would not fight. He deciined to give his reasons and was branied as a coward. Dr. Kellar, who kney the man must have a valid excuse, stood by him and requested the others to say nothing of the affair until proper explanations were made. When the doctor reached his hotel |he found a note from the colonel, which only added to the mystery. He declined to explain his apparent cowardly action, but said that time would show that he had acted rightly. He left Nashville and was afterward heard of only from the seat of war, and in all cases was spoken of as a brave, fearless soldier. At last came the news of his death, and with it a letter to Dr. Kellar that had been found on the dead ; man's body. It cleared the mystery. This letter stated that just as the colonel raised his weapon to fire in the duel, his antagcn- ist, the major, had given the distress sicn of a secret organization of which both were | Would not violate his oath by disregurdiag the signal. Dr. Kellar hunted down the cowardly major, made him acknow!edgs the truth of the statement, and then had him dismissed from the army in disgrace. a ier merative Joke. Charley Chappie—“‘Aw, yes, me deah boy! Heat the dolluah wed-hot, and throw it on the sidewalk, y’ know, and some April Fool i come along and pick it up.” } | Hungry Henry—"A person has to be a little cautious on the first of April.” | Hungry Henry—“Hain’t lived in this world thirty-eight April-Fool days for noth- in’. I hain’t. ais aR aaa Not Possible. From the Chicago Tribune. Foreign Visitor—“If your city council are so corrupt, why do you not raise the sal- aries of your aldermen to a figure that | would place th accept bribes?” Native American—“Great Scott! € cil meeting would bankrupt the city enema m above the temptation to coun- For sale—a bargain—residence of Mr. H. L. aa 19th st. ww. Apply J. 8. Larcombe, 808 17th ich the Corean people) , | members, and the colonel could not and} | Pullinan | Loutsvile, without lll RAILROADS. - MSiLVANIA Rallatoab. STATION CORNER OF 6TH AN! 1CORS AND B STREETS. 11:05 AM. P, ry 28. 1696. 2 LIMITRD.—Paliman US AM. PENNSYLVANIA rawing and State Room, Sleepiug, Dining. ‘Sino. {25 und Observation Cars Harrisburg to Chicngo, ome and Cleveland. Bate ; arg. 11:65 AM. ‘AST LINE.—For Pittsbarg, Parlor 43 PM. CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS EXPRESS, Paliman Butte Parlor Ger to ie . Sieep- ing and Dining Cars, Hi to Louis, _ Cincinnat! and Chicago. 10 PM. Wi . ong 1 clevelan, EXPRESS. tt Cars to Chi end Ha: eeping . Louis and ‘Ciuciuma tt. A.M. for Kane. Rochester and Niagara’ Fulle dally, except % 11:05 A.M. for Willi daily, For W daily, 3:15 PX, jochester, Marara Falls daily, except Saturday, with Sleep Ae ton to Rochester, Buttalo daily. 5 i Serurday, with Seapine’ Gee Wye ees — and Saturdays only Washington to ‘toch PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK AND THR how WW, Pilaaeipin , onper iladelphia only, Past 7 ata, sha ps ‘ on without and 3:15 PM. auiy. on Vor Baltimore 20, 11:08 and End (4.00 Linn - 340, 14: 30:00, am 2:01, 2:39, 4 - 10:00, 10:40. Fag For PM Cr PM “ E daily, except Sunday. Por ole, 72 oi Ege ba? ok pediate sta counects at Lynchburg the Norfolk and Western railroad Manassus and at for ‘ally, except - 11:01 a.m, THE GREAT ‘AST NAIL —Dallf, operates Pullman, ‘Bute suespe theta dt meena my gee mee XE v1 jumibta to Uniting at Danville with the Palleasy Charleston via Columbia apd at with Sleeper for through Pullman Augus also carries Pect vonnestioa gomery and New Orleans, 4:45 pm.—Daily for Charlottesville and inter mediate stations, amd through train for 1 and Strastu ae a 43. p.m. WASHINGTON AD WEST. VESTIBULLD LIMITED, i cd by and Tampa. Din- var, Charlotte’ to Jacksonville. Also 128 Panna Sleeper ork to Ni a via via Salisbury, i Birmingnam. Dining car ION ieave Wasineten 9:10 ame ao) [ON jeave Yash! fou at E DMs datiy, for Rovnd Hill, and &. day. "for Herndon and tu ing, arrive Wash from Round UM, hy ie t ington 7:13 a.m. sas Division 4:40 ing Car reservations and informa- thea nisbed at afSces, 511 and 1300 viver Pa ve Gen. Man. W. A. TURK, Gen. Pass. L. & BROWN, Gen. Apt. Pass. Dept. nia avene, a B. ME BND ONTO. nia _Ratlroud, TT RAILROAD. SCHEDULS IN EPPECT FEB. 16, 184. Leave Washinzton from station corner of New Jersey avenne and C st, For Chicago and, Northwest, Vestibuled Limited express trains, 11:30 a.m., 6:15 p.m. ‘or Cincinnat Vestiouled j might, ‘4: ‘sburg and Cleveland, express @afly 1120 a.m. and 8:40 p.m. To: Lexington and Staunton, 11:30 am. os For Wischoste= and Way Stations, 5:30 p.m. For Luray, Nataral Bridge, ‘Roauabe, ‘Roorsitle, Loge Memphis and New Orleans, 11:10 p.m, vt Week days, £3:35, 5:00, «8:00, 45 minutes), x83 utes) a.m. 212200, 48 i Annapolis, 7215 wba S z a ay 8:30 a.m, 4:31 Frederick, 11:30 a.m., EW ADELPHLA. For Philadelphia, New | York, Boston and the East, datly 3:35. 8:00 110-00 a.m.. ex. Sun. J Car, 02:00 Diatng Cer, 52 300 S00 (11:30 pam.” Sleeping o'clock), Rotlet Parlor Cars on all day trains, For Atlantic City, 16:00 a.m. and 12:00 som, Sunde ys 12:00 neon. fExcept Sunday. ySunday aly. trains. Raggage called for and checked from hotels an@ residemes by Union Transfer Co. on orders left at ticket offices. G19 and 1351 Pa. ave., and at Depot. RB. MPBELL, CRAs. 0. SCULL, Gen. * 220 ~~ CHESAPEAKE AND O10 RAILWAY. lule In effect November 30, 1893. a from Union station (B. and A solid vestibuled train with dining Sleepers. for Clncipnatt, 6:30 pain. pm: 9 at x all’ point xo AM DATLY—For Old Point Comfort and Norfolk. Oniy rail ine. 2:00 P.M. DAILY. for Charlottesritie, eg BE 3 pal Yuetle points; dally, except Sunday, Rich- Pali locations and tickets at company’s ef Sces, 513 and 1421 Pennaylvania avenge. ‘H.W. FULLER, na Pasenger Agent. POTOMAC RIVER BOATS. _ NW PALACE STEAMER B Leaves River View wharf, 7th street. cate, Toesday and Thursday at 7 a.m. ey ‘shone eotaber ued Raat ae Pak on Mondays, % until hex ot calling Semaphore 1765. tH 4 EAS REED CO, ES. RANDALL, 259. “Ckkeneren Gens G . _fel9-tt Washington, D. C. STEAMER MATTANO | For Mateos Croek and intermedinte landings TUR Tth street wharf every SUNDAY, Day and THURSDAY. at 7 o'tlock a. senger and freight rates the lowest. formation apply @. SHI 28 Pa. ave. 0.W. VASHINGTON STEAMBOAT © — From 7th st. ferry AYS and SATURDAYS at 7 mon Leonardtown and St. termediate landings. Returning A’ v i NDAYS. (See schedule.) | THURSDAYS and SUN coo 430-tt Gen"! Manager, | NORFOLK AND WASID IN STEAMBOAT 00, | ‘E_ BETWEEN WASHINGTON, D. DAILY UN ORTKESS MONROE. und es NORPOLE, Va. ‘The new and powerful Iron Palace Steamers, WASHINGTON AND NORFOLK—SOUTH BOUND, Leave Washington daily at 7 p.m. from foot of 7th st. wharf, arrive at Fortress Monroe at 6:30 a.m. next day. Arrive at Norfolk at 7:30 a.m., where railroad connections are made for all polnis | south and southwest. NORTH BOUND. ve Norfolk daily at 6:10 p.m. Leave Fortress | gunree at 7:10 p.m. Arrive at Washington at “30 em. text ay. os 3, 619, 1351 and 1421 Penw 7. Tickets on sale at 513, sylvania ave. and 615 15th st. via new line. TNO. ‘Ask for tick: Telephone, 750. aple-te Gen. Sag