Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, May 2, 1909, Page 20

M OCMAR AR S HOW FUEL I8 BROUGHT TO CONS! (Cbpyright, 139, by Frank G. Carpenter.) EOU Korea, 1908.—(8pecial Cor- respondence to The Bee)—low would you Ilike to be a .everlastingly fought over by angry dogs? This has been the - position of Korea in the @' it will probably be so in the f The, country lles at just the right bone past pla td_be the battlefield of three nations. It hangs down like a great nose on tie east face of Asfa, its bottom almost touching the ‘hungry, overcrowded empire of Japan Its ‘top ends at Manchuria, beyond which 1§ Stberla, with her Pacific ports, icebound hBIE the year round and needing it for an outlet to the warm open seas. On the west i& China, with its vast horde of almond- e3ed subjects, who are just beginning to adopt the modern civilization and will soon cpvet the world. All of these powers would Ifke .to chew at the bone of Ko “The inese dog is still too weak to more than enarl at it, and Russia, for the time, has besn driven back by the iron teeth of Japan. The sweet morsel now lles In the phws of the latter, and she is wondering whether she dare eat it or not. Korea's Past Troubles. Korea has been ravaged by Japan and China again and again. The Japanese eame here as far back as A. D. %0 and uiider the Empress Jingo conquered the cbuntty. About 100 years after Columbus distovered America they again overran it ynder their ‘‘Monkey-faced General" H)deynhhi, who had taken an army across the atralt, Intending to proceed onward td" the conquest of China. I am not sure diring which . Invasion it was that the Koreaht took the skins of the Japanese and. uséd them for drumheads; and the JApanese, in turn, carried back home with therh Méveral hundred thousand human ears, which thev burled near one of thelr templén In the city of Kyoto. During both invaslons, however, Korea suffered greatly, b she dia also In her troubles with China, ‘The Chinese practically controlled ored up to tihe war with Japan, and that af Was brought about over disputes as 0 ‘the rights of the Japanese here. T was il ‘thé country when the war broke out, ang the king of Korea was then sending thbute to Peking. Yuan-Shi-Kal, who Was consul general from China to Korea, then practically the dictator of this countty's forelgn policy, and he had a way of riding with his retinue which etigudtte and custom prescribe for his rinjesty alone. After the war, the Japanese took the 18ad and began to bulldoze Korea. At the spme time, Russia drew nearer and drer the bone and began to chew fund the edges. Bhe was planning the t§king possession of certain islands when the. Japanese declared war upon her, and the result wos the great fight in Man- .;mlm. which has now thrown Korea #to the paws of Japa - Will Japan Eat Koreat ..The live question before the world to- day b whether the great Japanese dog Wil et this fat and julcy Korea. I have —_— come here to find out, and in these letters hope to tell you of just what the morsel consists and all I can learn as to its prospective mastication. During the past few months 1 have been traveling in Japan, and, If hunpger is index, ther: is no question but that will even- tually rest in the Ja stomach. Just now the acting somewhat on the humanitarian plan which we have adopted as to the Philippine Islands. This was originated by Prince to, and, as far as he and his assistants can go, it is be- ing carried out in good faith. The situa- tion, however, is such that it is doubtful whether this can be long continued Let me glve you-ome phase of it in a nutshell. Japan now has 50,000,000 of ths most Industrious, most aggressive and most entertaining souls upon earth, and to these she is adding 500,00 more In births every year. All these are confined to a country about the sizo of California, a country so mountainous that its good farming land is only 12,000,000 acres. Collectod in one place, it would be about half the slze of Ken- tucky, and this small area is now support- ing the whole fifty millons. If all the land were divided equally there would only be one-quarter acre per head and the hold- ings all told average less than two acres in size. Suppose you were to cut our farmers’ holdings down to two acros each and put the whole American people into Kentucky, you would have about the condi- tions that prevail in Japan. At the same time, Imagine that Indiana, just over the Ohio river, had a more fertile soll and that it waW"half tilled, with much land lying vacant! Could anyone keep the Kentucky man out of it? —— Japanese Immigration. Well, that is just about the condition of Japan and Korea. The strait which flows between the countries can be crossed in a night, and today the Japanese are emigrat- ing In great numbers and gradually taking possassion of this territory which they have gotten through their struggle with Russia. There are already, outside the officlals and army, 160,000 of them on the ground, and they are rapidly changing the face of the country. They have their settlements in all the large centers. I found Fusan a new clty when I landed there a few weeks ago. Instead of mud huts, thatched with straw, runring along dirty alleys, covered with filth, a new Japanese city had arisen. Wide streets, as clean as a Dutch kitchen floor, crossed one another at right angles, run- any Korea panesc government is ning far up the hills. There were many two-story bulldings, and shops with all kinds of goods. I rode several miles through business streets of one kind and another, passed several schools and & big city bullding, and finally stopped at a three-story structure which proved to be a commercial museum, containing every va- riety of goods, both Japanese and Korean. here were samples of Korean cotton and Korcan silk, and many suggestions to the natives as to how they might develop their country. i Bulls Without Horns, N HIS “Irish Life and Char- acter,” Michael Macdonagh has a cholce collection of bulls, He called on a hairdresser in Kingstown. As he was leav. Ing the man trled to induce i to buy a bottle of hairwash. ‘“What ®Opt of stuff is it?” he asked. “Oh, It's d stuff,” the man replied. “It's a sort Qf_ multum in parvo—the less you take of it "the better.” A\ féw days later the writer was walk- 1bg, With a friend over the Wicklow mountains, where they met a ‘‘character.” 1, Well, Mick," said my friend, “I've heard 4ome queer stories about your doings Itely." “Och, don’t believe thim, surr," méplied Mick. “Sure, half the lies tould dbgut me by the naybours isn't true.” {he following notice Mr. Macdonagh saw posted In a pleasure boat on the suir #**The chairs in the cabinet are for the ihdles. Gentlemen are requested mot to ke use of them till the ladies are seated. fAnd this he clipped from a Kingstown néwspaper: | ‘James O'Mahony, wine and spirit mer- chant, Kingstewn, has stlll on his hands & small quanity of the whiskey which was diunk by the Duke of York, while in Dublin." el Retreat? Never! In an Irish garrison town a theatrical company was giving performances, and #ome soldlers from the local barracks were ¢ngaged to act as supers. Thelr dutles in- cluded the waging of a flerce, fight In which, after a stirring struggle, one army Was defeated on a given gignal from the rompter. For @ fow nights all went well, But on the Friday evening a speclal per- formance of the plece was to be given ::::r the patronage of the colonel and r. officers of the garrison. The two 68 met as usual at the end of the @ act, when they fought and fought Rept on fighting, regardiess of the glare in the eye of thelr (actor) ril, Who hoarsely ordered the proper y.to “retreat, confound you. But the it Btill went on, and soon the horrified ager saw the Wrong army being driven Iy off the stage, still' fighting desper- .. Down came the curtaln amid roars Jlaughter, and the fuming manager 884 to ask the delinquents why they 10 retreat on hearing the signal. 4" roared a burly fusilller, whose From the Story Teller's Pack visage had been badly battered, “and is it retrate ye'd have us, wid the colonel and all the officers in the boxes?'—Lonrdon Tid-Bits. Makin Plat In the course of his sermon a preacher in a rurai district used the word phe- nomenon. This word caused one of the memebers some trouble, for he was unable to attach any meaning to it. Finally, he determined to seek an explanation from the minister, and at ‘he c! ice appreached him on the subject “What did you mean by that th word yer used In yer rermon?” he began. “Oh, 1 see you ¢ know what a phenomenon is,”" replied the minister. “*“Well » not have you ever seen u cow grazing in & tield In which thistles were growing “Yes; many a time." That Is not a phonomenon. And no doubt you have often listened to a lark singing merrily away up in the ciouds?”’ “Yea." ‘“fnat, again is not a phenomenon. But i you saw that cow sitting on a thistle singing itke lark that would be a pheno- menon ~Cleveland Leader s It would Vest. be supposed naturally woman who knows President Taft as well as Miss Mabel Boardman would have been the right person to select a present for the that a executlve. The “Tafters,” that is/the party that made the trip with Taft to the Philip- pines, decided to give the president a watch and chain. Miss Boardman was se- leced to the present. The watch was a substantial one, as it should be for a man like the president, and the chaln was one of the heavy gold link -chains which stretches from one vest pocket to another across the front of the wearer, relates the St. Louis Star, Before presentation was made one of the “TPafters.” Senator Scott of West Virginia, called at the Boardman house and was shown the watch and chain, “Look here, Miss Mabel,” remarked the West Vir- ginia senator, “you have entirely miscal- culated he length of that chain. I guess you don't know how broad Taft is a ‘oss the front. Just try it on me,” and the senator presented a fairly rotund form, and it was found that the wateh chain would have stretched like & taut hawser across the front of the president. Upon this measurement five inches were added to the chaln in order to make it fit the presiden- tial frontage without causing any incon- venience. procure At Talku, a city of 50,00, a hundred miles further north, there is another large Japanese settlement, and Japanese citles have sprung up at Pyengyang and Gensan. Pyengyang is the biggest town between Seoul and the Yalu. Previous to the Japan China war it contained 80,000 people, and ft is now the third largest city in the empire. It lles on the right bank of the Taidong river, some distance inland from the sea, and its situation is such that some think it will eventually be the biggest town in Corea. It has already in the neighborhood of 10,000 Japanese settlers, and a sectlon devoted to them has been laid out near the station and is fast bullding up. Public buildings have been erected. The Dai- Ichii Ginko has erected a new bank bulld- ing close to the gate and the settlement has a city hall, a clubhouse, a theater and a government hospital. Schools for both J=panese and Coreans are going up and the dry bones of the natives are beginning to shake at the changes. There are now between 5000 and 10,000 Japanese at Gensan on the west coast, and there are 2,000 or more here at Seoul, with another large settlement at Chemulpo, on the Yellow sea, twenty-six miles away. More than 30,00 immigrants came in last year and the prospects are for a steady increase from now on. This is especially so from the fact that a big colonization company, backed by the gov- ernment, has been formed in Japan. . This has a capital of $,000,000, and it will ex- ploit the crown lands which were taken charge of under ceftain conditions by the Japanese after the abdication of the old emperor now almost two years ago. —is Look at Coren. But first let me give you a bird's-eve view of Corea. The peninsula s of about the same shape as Florida, and fts area all told, is about that of Kansas. It is as long from north to south as from New York to Cleveland and In some places as wide as from Washington to Philadelphia The country lies just opposite our eastern state on the otner side of the globe, If [ could Qore a hole right through the earth from where I now am and had the right sort of glass I might see the American sun within a short distance of New York city. The latitude s just about the same as that of Boston, New York. Philadelphia and Washington, and the climate is better than ours. For the greater part of the year the skies are as blue as those of Colorado, and then it rains for two or three months, off and on, giving a plentiful sup- ply of water for crops. If the mountains had not been skinned of their timber the rainfall is such that they might be culti- PLOWING IN KORBA. vated clear to their tops, and by reforesta- tion such farming will probably be done. —— Land ot Mountains. like Japan, is a land of moun- tains, but the mountains are and there are more broad, open valleys. There is a range which runs north and south from Manchuria to the Strait of Corea, with spurs branching off here and there. The range fs not lofty. There are but few peaks a mile above the sea, and the highest of them all is only 8,000 feet. This is Mount Palk-To-San, an extinct volcano, whose crater s filled with water, forming a beautiful lake of unknown depth. The average hills are below the altitude of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, and some slope off into plains. All of these mountains were at one time well wooded. There were forests from one end of the peninsula to the other, and the farms rar up the sides of the hills. Today in the central and lower parts of Corea the tops of the ridges are as bare as the desert of Sanara, and there Is only a thin growth of pines on the sides. This is %0 all the way from Fusan to Seoul Right here at the capital, which lies in a basin surrounded by mountains, the most of the hills are as bare as the Rockies, and the clay has been washed down jnto the valleys. Trees will grow easily, but the people skin the mountains year after Corea, less steen year of every bit of vegetation in order that it may be used for fuel. First they cut down the trees. Later they chop away the sprouts and young growth and finally pull up the grass until the country looks @s though it had been plowed over. ey How Coren Keeps Warm. At this writing the streets of Scoul are filled with bullocks, ponies and men loaded with fuel which they have brought into the city for sale. Porters go along with cartloads of evergreen branches fastened to the jlggy, a sort of framework which they wear upon their backs. Bullocks by scores are entirely covered with bundles of similar fuel. A single animal will carry almost 1,000 pounds, or as much as one horse could haul in a cart in our country. Indeed, the load is so large that you could not put it into an American cart. Tt rises six or elght feet above the back of the bullock, and hangs down on the sides al- most to his feet, so that sees little more than his head, tail and hoofs as he goes along the road. There are ponies carrying wood, chopped Into stove lengths and tied up in bundles, and men laden with charcoal which has been made in the hills. The chief form™ of heating here is by flues, which run under the floor, and straw twigs and pine branches are excellent for one this purpose. A bunch is entrance of the flues and flames spread out, almost to roasting. One of the first works of the Japanese will be to stop this skinning of the moun tains. They will nlant fast as possible upon the available thus con- serving the rainfall and greatly increasing the land susceptible to cultivation.! They have already planted model forests In the vicinity of Seoul, Pyengyang and Taiku, and as soon as the nurseries are in good put in at the lighted, and its making the floors hot hills, shape will extend the program to other parts of the country AT, Farms ot Corea. Today most of the farms of Corea are confined to the valleys. The area being cultivated is just about half that which is tilled in Japan, and if it were as in- tensively farmed it would be feeding 25,000,000 people Instead of less than 15,000,- 000, as now. 1 am told that the sofl here is naturally much better than that of Ja pan, but I doubt if the product is one- fourth as large. The farmers fertilize but little and they know nothing of artificfal manures. During a recent trip over the country T saw men carrying manure from the villages to the flelds on their backs, and farther on bullocks were used for the purpose, the stuff being loaded Into baskets of straw rope which hung down on each side of the animal. Everywhere the methods of cultivation were crude. The plows were little more than forked sticks shod with iron. They are one-handled affairs, drawn by bul- locks, reminding one of the plows of the scriptures. Much of the country is hoed over hy men and women. The clods are broken up with mallets, which the peo- ple swing back and forth as they walk through the furrows. There is no machin- ery of any kind." "The grain is all sowed by hand. It is threshed with flails and winnowed In the wind, the grain and chaff being thrown high into the air The contrast between the country scenes of Japan and Corea is striking. Everything in the former country shines with thrift. There i8 not a weed in the flelds, the houses are neat and well built and the people clean and rosy from the hot baths they take every day. All farm- ing here Is done in the most slovenls way. The methods of taxatlon and squeezing have been such as to leave but little incentive to work, and the bulk of the profits have gone to the officials. The farmhouses are mean. They are squalid huts of mud and stone with roofs of straw thatch tled on with strings. They collected together in little villages which often nestle on the sides of the hills. There are no trees or gardens about them. Every home ls surrounded are T HAS been Omaha’s privilege to entertain many distin- guished women, but few among them have enjoyed the world-wide distinction of Mrs Lilllan M. N. Stevens of Portland, Me,, and Miss Anna Gordon of Evanston, IIL, president and vice presi- dent of the National Woman's Christian Temperance union, who spent a part of last week and the week before in the city.” A few years ago they took up the work that Frances Willard laid down be- cause they, through their long and close assoclation with her, were deemed best fitted to carry on and carry out the plans she had so wisely laid in the work for temperance. Mrs. Stevens is & woman of exceptional executive ability. She has the kindliness and the firmness that, combined with thorough knowledge of parliamentary law and quick judgment, make the admiruble presiding officer. She is also one of the comparatively few women Who possess all the essentials of the successful public W. C.T. U CONVENTION. speaker. Convincing and eloquent, she also has a volce of rare carrying quality that may be heard by thousands. But Miss Anna Gordon, more than any- one else, perhaps, came closest into life of Miss Willard. A Bostonian by birth, as a young woman still in her teens her assoclation with the organizer of the World's Woman's Christian Tem- perance union began. As Miss Willard's secretary and constant companion she was trained into the work she has as- sumed as head of the Loyal Temperance legion, the children’s branch of the or- ganization. Rest Cottage, Miss Willard's home at Evanston, at her death reverted to Miss Gordon for her lifetime and after that becames the property of the organ- ization. This Miss Gordon maintains just as Miss Willard left it and thousands of people visit it. The National Woman's Christian Temperance union headquarters the are maintained under ghe same roof, though in a separate and newly con- structed bullding. It includes twelve rooms and houses, besides the records of COMMITTEE THAT INSPEC TED THE OMAHA AUDITORIUM IN CONNECTION W. C. T. U. Convention Committee the ¢ rization, a working force of twenty or more which carries on its business. In her mildness and gentleness of man- ner Miss Gordon is not unlike Miss Willard. Her work for children is a work of true love and her success in leading hundreds of little folks in temperance demonstrations has been remarkable Mrs. Stevens and Miss Gordon visited Omaha to confer with the local commit- tee regarding the entertalnment of the National Woman's Christian Temperance union convention next October. Monday morning, with the committee, they in- spected the Auditorium, suggesting ar- rangement that would have to be made for the great gathering of women In the afternoon they addressed a blg mee ing of club women at the First Congre- gational church The local entertainment cludes: Mrs. Louis George Tilden, Mrs Mrs. R. Scott Hyde, Elmer Thomas, committee In Borshelm, Mrs, BEdward Johnson Mrs. Baton and Mrs, Aoz o WITH THE NATIONAL KOREAN PORTE by a mud wall high enough to keep the men on the streets from looking in at the girls The streets are winding alleys, where the garbage of the houses is thrown out to rot in the sun. Sometimes ditches run along the sides of the streets serving as sewers, and the houses have no sani- tary arrangements whatever. The condi- tions are so bad that typhold, cholera and disentery are of frequent appearance and Nearly every other face one sees is more or less pock- smallpox is almost universal marked, and parents, I am told, do not count their children as permanent possibil- ities until after they have had that dis- These are some of the conditions of this country which Japan is trying to make over, ease. Land Without Roads. As to other things, Corea in many re- spects is worse off than the Philippine There are-practically no roads. The only ways from place to place are by bridle paths with fords across the streams. Now and then one finds a rude bridge, two or three feet wide, propped up on poles, and again he has to make his way over such streams by stepping stones or be carried across on the back of men. Practically all transportation away from the railroads is by pack bullocks, ponfes and porters, All these carry great loads, and the men will take as much as 500 pounds at a pinch. There is a big guild of porters. Its men are found in every city and village and can be seen everywhere carrying great loads over the country. One of the first things that the Japanese will do will be to make wagorm roads, and military highways, connecting all parts of Corea. I understand they are building some now, and that four main lines are to be constructed. A number of new rail roads have been planned and several started. This Is In addition to the 600 mile line now in operation. At present, Japan is S0 poor that it cannot push this fea- ture of its work, but it I8 its intention to extend the railroads at the carliest possible time, People of Corea. 1 have space here for only a word about the people of Corea. They are among the queerest and most interesting of the Asiatic races and have great possibilities. As to thelr number, a census was taken some time ago and the count made 10,000, 000. They have been squeezed and ground down by taxation, however, that they will not glve out the full number of souls in each house, and the probability & s0 that there are many more than were counted. A falr estimate, I am told, would be 14,000,000 The Coreans themselves esti- mate the population at 20,000,000, but their figures are of little value, as they have no basis to go on. The most of these people live in villages such as I have described. There are no very large citles. Seoul has now perhups 20,000, although the ceusus gave it only about 200,000, Pyengyang has 60,000, Taiku 60,000, and after that come Chemulpo, san, Gensan and Sengdo. e Soeial Conditions. The people are divided Into classes, and, formerly, the emperor and the nobility owned most of the lands and held all the offices. They have been the curse of the country and have squeezed the others un- mercifully. The nobility until now have gone about dressed in sllks and fine grass cloths, with a lot of retainers about them. They have had coolies with them to hald up thelr arms as they walked, and if they rode, a servant would go.along on each slde of the horse to see that they dld not fall from the saddle. They did absolutely no work and considered it a disgrace (o carry a bundle. The boys who went to the modern school, established by the emperor, took servants along with them to carry their pencils and paper, and some tramped to the school bullding through the rain, be- cause they would not endure the disgrace of carrying an umbrella. This sentiment prevails somewhat today. aithough it is fast disappearing. By the coming in of the Japanese the most of the nobility have lost their fat Incomes and the farmers and common people are now Lo better show. It is clalmed that they are being oppressed by the Japancse, but their condition cannot possibly be as bad as it has been in the past and the dawn of freedom seems to be breakins The Japanese are establishing courts in the cities, and they propose to thoroughly r organize the government of the provinces as well as that here at Seoul. FRANK G. CARPENTER. have a One on the Professor STATELY 0ld professor was ap- proached by a young student ore day in one of the western colleges. Trying hard to keep back a4 smile, the young man asked “Professor, you say you are an expert at solving riddles, don’t you?" “I claim that I am, my boy." “Well, then, can you tell me why a man who has seen London on a foggy day and a4 man who has not seen lLondon on a foggy day like a ham sandwich?" The professor studied for a fong time, are venturing several answers which proved to be wrong. Finally, at his wit's end, he sald “1 give it up.” “It's easy,” sald the other. “Give it ip," répeated the professor “Why,” was the reply, “one has seen the mist and the other has missed the scene Ha, ha! Catch on? Ot course I do, you lunatic! But what bas the sandwich got to do with ft?" After the youngster had recovered from a spell of laughter he chuckled “Oh, that's what you bite on."—Circle Magazine, A French Compliment. Wit illumines one of the dueling storles In Monsieur Ronzler-Dorclere's recent book “Sur le Pre Prince Plerre Bonaparte and a French gentleman, Monsieur de la Valette, fou with pistols Monsleur de la Valette fired first and missed. The prince fired. hit De la Valette Just above the belt, but did not wound him, owing to a G-franc plece in his walst coat pocket, against which the bullet was flattened “8ir,”” sald Prince Bonaparte to his ad versary, holding out his hand, “let us make friends, and allow me to congratulate you the foresight with which you have in vested your money.”~Youth's Companion Only the FIt Can Wed. That they are physically and morally fit to wed Is what prospective brides and bridegrooms in the state of Washington will have to show by physicians’ certifi- cates and affidavits after June 1 befo any county auditor can issue marriage licenses. The new law provides also that women must be of legal age, fixed at 18 years, and men 2 years; also that the parent cannot give consent unless the girl s more than 16 years of age. The perialty for giving false information or performing such marriage is a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not more than three years, or both. It'is also provided that no woman under 4 years of age or man of any age, cx- cept he marry a woman of more than 4 years, elther of whom Is & comman drunkard, habitual drunkard, epileptic, feeble-minded, Idiot or insane persom, o formerly afflicted with hereditary insanity or is afflicted with pulmonary tuberculosis, or any contagious disease, shall intermarry any or marry state, other person within the During the encampment of several regi ments of British soldiers tn a certain dis trict the wood and turf used for cooking purposes were carted by the nelghboring farmers. One day a donkey cart full of turf was brought in, the driver being country lad. As a regimental band was playing he stood in front of the donkey and held the animal tightly by the head Some of the “smart ones” gathered round highly pleased. and ithe wit of the part asked why he ‘“held his brother tightly." The reply was crushing: “I'm affald he might enlist Queer Gardening. Secretary Wilson, of the Department of Agriculture, said the other day of a certair farmer He is now profiting by the department's advice, but he was very stupid at the by ginning. He farmed as a Philadelphia woman, one spring season, plante her garden The woman's husband came home and found her poring over a seed catalogue She had a long list of seeds written on a sheet of paper This as a list, my dear,’ she sal that 1 want you to buy for me tomorraw At the scedman's “Her husband looked at the list. They he laughed loud and long ‘You want these flowers to bloom th summer, don't you? sald he *Yes, of course Well, those you have put down here don't bloom till the second summer.' Oh, that's all right,’ the lady sald easily All right? How is it all right? “‘l am making up my lst’ she plained, ‘from & lust years catalogue’ -