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OUR KOREAN WAR. A PUNITIVE SORTIE FOLLOWS A MASSACRE OF AMERICANS. | , A Landing Party From the Old Monocacy Does Prodigies of Valor?The Hermit Kingdom Humbled. TN order to trace the history of America's relations with K-^ea nnd the general opening up of t the country to the influences of I Western civilization, observes the New York Herald, it is necessary to ! go back to the year 1866. At that time Korea was the "Hermit Kingdom" in more than name. The present King had ascended the throne a couple of years before, but being a mere boy the Government was wholly in the hands of his regent father, who was a bitter hater both of foreigners and of change. Some French missionaries, who had braved the law of the country and boldly advance^ into th9 native cities, were horribly massacred in 1866, and a French expedition sent to chastise the Koreans ascended the Seoul River and attacked several forts, but lost so heavily that the expedition sailed away without having accomplished the end aimed at, and having left the Korean soldiers with the impression that the foreigner could not fight, and that the Korean was invincible. In the same year an American schooner, the General Sherman, chartered by a British trader, sailed for China on an experimental voyage of trade and discovery. The vessel entered the Ta-tong Eiver and never returned. It was burned by natives, and those on board were slaughtered to the last man. On the news of the massacre being received, Commander ?new JReal Admiral?R. W. Schufeldt, visited the peninsula with the war steamer Wachusett on a mission of inquiry. No satisfaction, however, was obtained, and a similar mission, under Korea's minister of foreign* a: Commander Febiger, of th9 Shenandoah, despatched a few months later, proved equally barren.' Finally in 1871, the Asiatic squadron, consisting of the flag ship Colorado, the corvettes Alaska and Benicia, with tho gunboats Monocacy?now at Chemulpo ?and Palos, was despatched, under Bear Admiral Rodgers, to Korean waters. It waa intended to secure a treaty for the protection of Ameri<^ns si*pwrecked on the coast of Korea, to inquire into the General Sherman affair and to obtain if possible a treaty of commerce.?. Peaceful negotiations, however, proved to be impossible. The natives garrisoned the forts along the river and prepared to make things hot for the foreigners should they attempt to ascend the river toward the capital. A survey expedition, under Captain Horner Blake, consisting of the Monocacy and Palos, with four steam launches, was sent up the river. When they were close to Kang-wa Island the Korean batteries, containing some eighty guns, suddenly opened fire upon them. The redoubt was instantly wrapped in a sheet of flames, discharging in a few seconds about three hundred shot3. One nccount Bays that th^ae rasped the water like a hailstorm. Tha veterans of the Civil War had never known such rapid firing. Yet only one American was wounded. Fortunately the order to fire had been given a few seconds late; the American vessels were already out of the line of fire, and as the guns of the ?o " KOLZSS WOMEN. natives were fastened on logs, they could not be manipulated and were ox no further use. The answering firo from the gunboats and launches soon dewed the fort of its defenders, and a week later & punitive expedition was landed in order to teach the Koreans a necessary lesson. The force, composed of six hundred and forty men, 1.1 1 ^ .1 T A tt: WRS ICCi ov voyiJiiMuw'/r JLI. i\imberly, tlio Adjutant-General being Lieutenant Commander "\V. Scott Schley, v ho was afterward to win famo as the rescucr of Lieutenant Greely. The first battery, which wag attacked unexpectedly in the rear, was taken without difhcully; the works were completely dcmolishc-d and the canaon rolled into the rivor. On the noxi day the next fort?"Fort Monocacy," as it was christened?was cleared by shells from the Monocacy's guns, and was then dismantled by the landod troops. An advance was rnado npon tba citilel or principal fort, Which \ii? perched on the crest of a rocky hill. The Koreans were hovering beyond the reach of our guns in vastly superior numbers, and wore evidently waiting for an ojjportunity to crush the little American army as soon as it had entered the ravine lying below the fort. A OTl' GATE IN SEOUL. To defeat these tactics five howitzers and two companies of infantry were posted as a rear guard on rising ground, while the main body moved forward to storm the citadel. The Koreans attacked the howitzers in large numbers, but the excellent practice made by the American gunners under Master A. Y. Wadhams scattered them effectually and prevented any large body of them from getting into close quarters with our men. Presently, at a signal previously agreed upon, the firing from the Monocacy ceased, and amid a hoil of bullets from the enemy our men sprang up the steep incline to attack the citadel. They swarmed over the ramparts or through the breaches, and in a twinkling they were at close quarters with the defending garrison. The Koreans fought stubbornly to thd last without askinsr for quarter, and were all of them slain. After that the remaining subsidiary forts were soon captured, and fifty flags and 481 pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the conquerors. The citadel was named Fort McKee, in honor of the young officer who was first over the parapet. ^jjj ' FFAIRS OK HIS WAX TO COUNCIL. The defeat of 1871 probably rendered the Koreans more ready to treat peaceably with foreigners than they were before. In any caso tho hour for opening up the country was at hand. . The process began in 187G, when a treaty was made with Japan. A party of Japanese sailors, while * A xr landing ior water uu nuug-na uiwu, were mistaken for Americans or Frenchmen and were fired upon by a neighboring fort. Japan 6a w her opportunity and her fleet demanded as an indemnity that certain privileges in trade should be granted her Thifc was the first step toward the opening of the country to foreign intercourse. The Korean-Japanese treaty of 1876? the first entered into by the Koreans ?was concluded on the basis of free trade, only a small amount of tonnage dues on shipping being payable. In a subsequent convention in 1877 Japan was granted the privilege of opening three coaling stations on the coast; in 1879 the harbor of Gesan, and later Chemulpo, were thrown open to Japanese commerce, all other nations being excluded from the benefits granted to Japan. In the meantime, China, which has always regarded Korea as a dependency of hei empire, began to grow jealous of the increasing influence of Japan, and to counteract ihis hold of her inveterate ? J :t ?t. enemy, encuumgeu, n uu?? a^vuau; instigated, foreign Powers to follow in the footsteps of Japan in conceding treaties with this "Hermit Kingdom," and it was with her help that Admiral Shnfeldt led the way and successfully carried through a treaty between the United States and Korea in 1882. Later on commercial treaties were also negotiated by Great Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Italy. An interesting account of the circumstances attending the conclusion of the American treaty has been given by Rear Admiral Shufeldt, an account, moreover, which throws an important light upon the General Sherman affair. The Rear Admiral's narrative ie as follows: "I had been in Korea some years before to settle the trouble in regard to the massacre of the troops of our ship Gcnaral Sherman, and had writi ten a letter to the King, asking an ex1 * f ai ii T i.U piananon 01 me masier. x was tout that I must wait twenty days for my answer. It was then late in the i autumn, and I feared to be frozen up, with few provisions, in this out of the way and unfcraveled land. I had to set sail without hearing word from the King. Upon my arrival in America I received orders for a three years' cruise, and immediately left the United States for tho voyage. In the meantime the King of Korea had answered my letter, and finding that I had gone he cent the message overland to our Minister at Pekin. From here it was forwarded to tbo United States without being opened, and it was several years before I received it. It was full of friendship from the King toward tue Americans, and it explained the killing of the crew of the General Sherman in such a way as to show that the King was not to blame. "In that letter lay the seeds which grew into the Korean treaty, and the country would have been opened ! ?**/! A V\AA1i rt ,1 ("troCCAll BUUU'^1 nrvvi i-jvi tci.-.';: ucca cvvtuxtoowu to the diplomatic agents of thcUnircd States and net to me in my private capacity. It would have thus been opened by onv Minister at Peldn and Korea might have been ten years further advanced in its acquaintance with the world of to-day. As it was, the letter caused my appointment as the diplomatic agent for the bringing about of the treaty. I was ^eent by the Secretary of State to Pekifl, with the rank of Naval Attache of the Legation there, and with full powers to negotiate with Korea. I bore at thii time in my pocket, though no ono knew it, a commission from the President of the United States appointing me Minister to Korea, and I found upon my landing in the country that the people and the King had not forgotten my letter of nearly ten years before. xne treaty was eiguuu ucu Chemulpo, and our ships fired a salute at the time, in response to a signal which I waved from the shore. An American cottage now stands on the spot where the treaty was signed, and i it is the residence of Mrs. Schoenicke, the German who acts as the Chinese Commissioner of Customs. "The Americans also opened Japan," Admiral Shufeldt said, "and had our people pushed their claims to that trade,, as have the other nations who came in later, wo would now be the greatest foreign nation in connection with the Japanese Empire. It is the same with Korea. Americans are now in the lead in that country, and they can, if they will, be the predominating power. It is true that Korea is still wrapped in tjbe darkness of its thousands of years of seclusion. Its people are, however, no further back than were the Japanese at the time Commodore Perry lay at anohor in Mississippi Bay. I have lived some months in Korea, and I know something of the King and the people. I consider them, a very bright race, and I expect to see a growth of civilization among them which will develop their country and put them upon a high plane among the nations of Asia." She Was Charged With Electricity. A Washington correspondent tella this story: "The efficacy of a black cat as a lightning rod has been too frequently the subject of discussion and assertion to be treated at length at the present time, the drift of which is to show tho apt manner in which an illustration of this popular belief can be deduced from an incident that occurred on the evening of the 4th of July to the wife of a well-known business man of Washington. On the evening in question tue young matron had been expending considerable time and attention upon a handsome black cat, which she continued to stroke, notwithstanding the assertion of her family that by so doing she was charging herself with electricity. Finally, after dark, the young matron decided that a pleasant way of winding up the evening would be to go for a ride on the electric car to Bethesda. Accordingly, inviting two of her friends to accompany her, she set out for the ride in high spirits. The trio found places together near the middle of the car, and had gone a short distance beyond the power house when their conversation was interrupted by the conductor hurriedly bending over them as though to avert 6ome catastrophe beneath and telling them to leave the car with all speed, as it was on fire. Scarcely had they left their seats before a sheet of flame burst through the floor just beneath the very spot over which the young matron had been sitting, the electrical apparatus beneath having ignited at that very point."?Atlanta Constitution. Blue frogs. A resident of the Kiviera writes regarding the blue frogs of that region about which the newspapers have been pUDllSUlIlg bUIiltr \> LLtti stories. For many years frogs of a grayish blue tint have been found in various ports of the Mentone district, and sometimes one of the usual green frogs is found to have bluish spots or limbs. Visitors have been anxious to see these frogs, and in consequence a potter has contrived to have one or two animals on show. Last winter ha had one for which he asked ?10, as some one seemed anxious for it; on former occasions he has sold a blue frog for $20. The man cannot explain the cause of this special coloration, and feeds his frogs with ordinary house flies. The change in color does not seem to be due to any skin affections and the coloration, whether entire or partial, does not seem to be modified by time. The correspondent believes that the statement that these frogs are fed with fire flies is erroneous.?New York Advertiser. Never Touched Him. i 'That confounded flj again." | " "I guess I hit it that time-' V ' ' w o w!' ^ ^ ' ?New York World. !' ' Two Auttmim IN PDTE SATIN. Gowns in Pink and Peach. A pale salmon-pink satin skirt, covered with coffee-colored accordionpleated chiffon, caught halfway down with a group of pink roses and brown foliage is illustrated in <he doublecolumn cut. The bodice of satin is covered with a lovely embroidery of tinsel gauze elaborately beaded in gold, and the chiffon is drawn loosely round the decolletage, and caught up with the roses on the top of each shoulder, while the sleeves are formed of double puffs of satin covered with 1 lAAr?Arl arroin trifV* flio rhaoo bUC UUiUUU ngnm mwu vuu In conjunction with a peach colored shot tweed skirt and sleeves is a corsage of deep peach colored velvet simulating a sleeveless coat. This has originally shaped revers turned back with Eau de Nil foulard. The same silk covered with guipure forms the tight fitting vest. On the hips the coat is cut up in a very stylish manner; the fronts, lined with silk, are secured by a couplet of mother-of-pearL The jupe, slightly draped on the right side, shows the undershirt of silk covvered with lace.?New York Mail and Express. Tbe Jacket Still Reigns. No matter how many capes or other fanciful wraps a woman may have in her wardrobe, one jacnet at least is a necessity. The latest jackets are conspicuous for their enormous sleeves * p.nd big buttons. Driving jackets are made with strapped seams, and are strictly tailor-made in the effect. Jackets of black 6atin are among the season's novelties. They are trimmed lavishly with jet and cream lace. For vacation wear ffhe most chic jacket is of fine serge or melton cloth. White pique is used as the trimming. The jacket is made with large sleeves and has white pique revers which fold back from a tight-fitting vest. The revers fasten to the coat with gUt buttons on the outside and tiny white pearl buttons on the inside; when soiled they are easily removed and sent to the washtub. ? A dark-blue coat of melton cloth may be provided with three or four sets of different revers, so during the -whole season it may be ever changing.?New York World. Smallest Lot in i>err lors uiy. Since Comptroller Fitch found a warrant and voucher for threo cents which required the signature of sixteen different city officials before the money could be refunded to the Board of Education, the clerks in the Finance Department have been searching the office for queer things. They have found a paper taxing a lot in the city at the rate of one cent a year. The lot is probably the smallest one in the %city limits It io valued by the Tax Commissioners at SI and is owned by J. Ccnnell. The lot is situated between Giles place and Fort Independent street, in the Annexed District, and is so small that it is indicated on the map by a dot only. It was formerly part of a city lot, which was cut down by the opening of Fort Independence street. As it fronts on the street, however, it is of some value to the ariinininy lots, and if Mr. Counell wants to sell it he cau get considerably over SI for it.?Xow York Times. Sawdust is Scarce. These are hard times, and luxuries as well as necessities are wanting to many people. The latost thing to occasion alarm among certain classes of our people is a scarcity of sawdust. This is accounted for by the fact that building operations in this city and vicinity are practically at a standstill. It does not paj- to cut up lumber for the sawdust that may thus be obtained, and the supply is procured from mills and shops iu which material used in building is prepared. Some dealers iu sawdust have been compelled to send their orders out of town to have them filled. Sawdust is used principally to cover the floors of butcher shops and, saloons and in the packing of ice.?New York Advertiser. A company is forming in St. Petersburg for the purpose of establishing extensive cotton plantations on the Bokhara banks of the Amoo-JDarya, the great river of Central Asia. -i - J S vl Conceptions. A PEACH-COLORED GOWX. Plague Stones. There is a dreadful disease which has been killing olt thousands ot persons in China that the wise men who know all about such things say is tho same "plague" that visited London in the seventeenth century. It could not rage in London or in America new as it did theD, for we know how to keep cities clean nowadays, and this disease is one that can only thrive in dirty surroundings. Many of you probably have read about the great London plague in your histories, and perhaps some of you who have been over the water have seen a "plague stone." There is one in a museum in Warrinton, Lancashire, which was used in a little shop on the outskirts of the town when the plague was there. It is of red sandstone, about two feet in length and one in width, with irregular edges and a deep hollow in one end. This hollow was filled with vinegar, which acted as a disinfectant for the mocsy which those who came to buy dropped into it. There is still another authenticated relic of the great plague near Nottingham. It is a huge stone, like a butcher's l-iloftlt. and is known as the "bread Istone." It stood outside the town ac a means whereby the plague-stricken might obtain provisions without exposing others to contagion. Food would be placed on the stone at certain hours, and the pocfr wretches would como for it and leave money in its place. There is no record of tha money ever having been stolen, though thieves robbed houses in London which had been deserted by their terror-stricken ownere, and often caught the disease by robbing the dead aid dying.?New York Times. Swimming Wild Hogs. I Those swimming wild hogs of Ari* " * ? * " ii- 1 1_ zona are uountiess or me rnzor-uucK j variety seen in the pine forests on the easterL shores of Maryland. They are fleet beasts, the razor back hogs of Maryland, and good swimmers, aa are all lean swine. Fat swime float admirably, but when they swim their sharp fore hoofs dig cruelly into the hanging flesh of the breast and neck, and the swimmer is sometimes exhausted from loss of blood.?Chicago Herald. . A Five-Legged Colt. An interesting little wonder made its appearance last May in the livery barn of 0. C. Vess, at Lafayette, Ind. It is a bay male colt supplied with live legs. But the extra leg will never serve to accelerate the speed of the animal, for it grows from the side of the colt's head, just above the left ear, pressing the ear downward. It is a perfectly developed left hind leg, beginning its growth from the head at the point of the stifle joint. In every other particular this little freak has 11 m<\11 f.wmnrl I tne appearance ui utua next wmcu and developed colts. The growth of the superfluous leg has nearly kepi pace with the growth of the rest of the body, but it is not a little strange that the weight or presence of this extra member seems to give the colt no inconvenience or incumbrance whatever. He is as happy and frisky a piece of horse flesh as ever was seen. Without j the fifth leg protruding from his head | he would be judged an extra finely j shaped colt, and there is not thy I slightest indication that he will not j attain matured growth.?Chicago Times. Eats One Jtteal a Boy. The F?ev. John S. Eberile, a Baptist ! mimster ot Lrlencuuo. i'cnn., eass 'jujj | one meal a day. For aliout thirty years he his eaten n hearty meal at noon, but lasts during the other hours of the day. In the mornlnrr, instead of a nutritious breakfast on eggi, i chops and hot cakes, ho gee? to tho | well, draws a pitcher of cold water i and drinks copiously. In tab evening no salads or luscious fruits grace the table. Instead, he again fares sumptuously upon cold water.?New York Tribune. Elijah Bryan, of Nevada. Mo., who , is now in his uinoty-ul'th ye.*?, as a youth helped to defend the homes ot the Missouri settlers against the raids of Black Hawk's warriors J % An Old North Carolina Honse. On Buffalo Creek, in Forsyth County, is a house which is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest in the State. It was built before the Revolutionary War was commenced, but the exact year of its building is not known. It is a log hoase about eighteen by twenty in size, and is still in a good state of preservation. It is oc what is now known as the General Poindexter place, and wbb bnilt by a man named Banner, whose father's name was Henry Banner. "When Henry Banner was a young man living in the neighborhood, hi# house was attacked one night by Indians. By some stratagem he managed to escape with his wife and three children to the woods. Jlere he concealed one of the boys in a hollow log, while he and his wife and other two children lied to a fort which then stood on or near what is the site of Old Town. The boy left concealed in the hollow was rescued, and is said to have been the one who built the house above mentioned. Henry Banner owned an immense area of land, and it is said he once gave sis hundred acres of land near Walnut Cove for a single-barreled shotgun. In those times guns were more valuable than land.?Mount Airy (N. C.) News. An Ostrich Plume Bonnet, Ostrich plumes are in great favor Just now and their use extends to al most a craze. Some altogether new combinations are worn this season, and the effect of the novelties is decidedly attractive. The illustration is of a bonnet which, of course modified in some degree, has become a general favorite-?New York Advertiser. Artesian Wells ot Warm Water. George W. Newell is in the city from his Snake River farm. Mr. Newell has developed three artesian wells and has a fourth down 173 feet. oil +1ia Tvolla ia nf 1LIU VY a Li CI XX UUi ai4 vuw mu*au uw? One of the wells is down 335 feet, , another 200 feet and the third 150 feet. There is a splendid flow from each. The pressure from one is so great the water was forced through a hole in the sand digger at the bottom of the pipe, past several valves and fully forty feet, above the ground. Mr. Newell intends to sink enough wells to enable him to irrigate his entire farm of 640 acres with warm water. He will make a specialty of early vegetables, which, with the hot water can be raised several weeks in advance of those produced by cold water irrigation, Mr. Newell is now using horse power in sinking the wells, but he is figuring on a steam engine.?Idaho Statesman. Highest and Lowest States. Every schoolboy knows which is the smallest and which the largest State in the Union, but how many know which is the lowestr and which the highest? According to Ihe recently announced results of measurements and calculations made by the United States Geological Survey Delaware is the lowest State, its elevation over sea level averaging only sixty feet. Colorado is the highest, averaging 6800 feet above the sea, while Wyoming is a close second, only 100 feet lower than Colorado. In minimum elevation Florida and Louisiana dispute for second place after Delaware, their average elevation being, for each, 100 feet. Taking the United States as a whole, our country lies slightly above the average elevation of the land of the globe.?Philadelphia Record. One Hundred Thousand Clippings. Speaking of newspaper files, they are now so bulky that a condensation seems preferable, and this has led to a new and very peculiar method now used in a prominent New York library. A ati-wn-r-k nlinninrrQ nn fl.ll im? xx ouiay uuyu v* ?... portant subjects is under way and aa efficient newspaper reader is employed. His task is renewed day by day and in this manner his scrap book is constantly increasing. Strictly speaking, however, it is not a book, but a series of pages of manilla paper, on which the clippings are mounted, the subjects being kept together in boxes for reference. Thus far the collection contains nearly 100,000 clippings, and it is already a favorite place for research, as one can find many facts which are not contained in books.? Troy (N. Y.) Times. A Compromise. Mrs. Homespun?"Here! Come back, sir! You said you'll saw a cord of wood for a good breakfast, and you've only sawed one stick." Wandering William?"I'm sorry, mum, but I've decided to go iuto liquidation, and compromise wid mo creditors at two per cent."?Truth. ' QUEER KOREA. LIFE'S VICISSITUDES IN THE HERMIT KINGDOM. Seoul, Its Bedraggled Capital?There Are Three Grades of SocietyCostumes of the Natives?Poverty and Squalor Abound. SEOUL, the capital of the kingdom of Korea, is surrounded by a high and solid wall \uuuuti v ?? cii \,j -n y c tu iUI Ij feet high and six miles long), and the palace contains a few fine buildings. Otherwise, like all the rest of Korea, it is filthy and poor. There are eight gates to the wall, and they are opened at sunrise and closed at sunset: or shortly after. The curfew-bell rings at eight o'clock in the evening, and any man caught out after that hour is whipped. When the gates are shut, access to the city is only obtainable by scaling a dilapidated portion of the walL It is officially estimated that the city contains about 30,000 houses, and the bulk of the3e consist of thatched hovels, lining narrow and fetid lanes. There are three main streets communicating with the King's palace. They are quite fifty yards wide and smoothly graveled; but even in these principal jthoroughfares overcrowding and squalor assert themselves, for along the roadway may be seen tows of straw-thatched sheds on either hand, which reduce the space for traffic to a narrow riband in the center. Upon either side of the streets or alleys runs a loathsome gutter. Sanitation is absolutely unknown, and consequently no attempt is made to flash these stagnant drains. The people, it will be readily understood* are filthy in their habits. They don't seem to have even a remote idea of tha ' elementary laws of health. The Korean towns and villages are worse, if anything can be worse, than the capitaL There may be said to ba too distinct types of the country town or village; the purely agricultural, which lies away from the beaten track, and that which depends as much oa the entertainment of travelers as it doen on farming. Any wayside etafe furnishes an example of the latter kind. The road enters between two "higgledy piggledy" lines of low, mud-walled, straw-thatched hovels, thrown up at random, irrespective of convenience or effect. The usual refuse heaps, stacks of fuel and opea sewers abound; while a number of sun-tanned children, playing around the entrance to the huts, and a crowd of adults arguing on some question of the hour, combine to make the soena a lively one. The inns are generally only eating houses, and do not provide lodging. The rear of the inns'' furnishes a court yard, oftened garnished with a pig-stye, littered with fodder and pitchers and vats containing condiments, so much prized by the Koreans. A large iron cauldron for cooking food is placed in soma convenient corner of the room, al though it is always best, needless to say, for travelers to cook their own* food in their own utensils. Tha guests' rooms are quite without fqruiture, and contain' nothing but a reed mat spread over the mud floor and some blocks of wood for pillows. In the winter they are heated by means of flues passing under the clay floors. The eating-shop is quite open to the street with the exception of a 6helf, on which the viands are exposed. These var? slightly with the season and locality, but they generally consist of small, ragged bit3 of raw beef, slices of bean-cured boiled pork, salt fish, sprouted beans, chopped turnips, chillies, and steamed dough in rolls. Wine can also generally be had at tha inns. The stock in trade of the pro- / prietor consists of a rude kind of furnace made of mud and stone; this heats a pot which is always full of seething brown broth. There is also a rice copper, a bench of brass basins and spoons, a collection of coarse * ' - T ? iU A A China 00W1S, auu au KUHUCUitaie ^a.u of charcoal, kept busily engaged with a gridiron, in which scraps of meat, or tid bits composed of three or four onions and shreds of beef skewered on a wooden spit, are roasting. Mea usually attend on customers; women superintend the cooking and distribution of food. The ordinary Korean magistrate or Government official lives in a building fifty or sixty feet square, with a small piece of open yard in the centre. The magistrate's office is, say, ten or twelve feet square, and the open yard a court nn_Ai. j ,1 nouse. ISillcr^u inuia aic o^j. e?v? about over the wooden floor, and an earthenware pot, containing live charcoal, hangs in the centre for lighting pipe9. The mud walls are unplastered, and show all the cracks; the pillars which support the heavy tiled roof are bending beneath the weight, and the rafters are grimy with dust and cobwebs. Dirty robes hang about, and brooms and gourds are scattered about the floor. The writing materials consist of a small round table the size of a foot stool, an ink stone, Chinese ink, and hair pencils. "Writing is done by sitting on the ground and taking a roll of paper in the left hand and gradually unrolling the paper as the writing progresses. When finished it is cut off the roll, neatly folded into a narrow oblong, so that it can be easily closed by pasting one corner, a seal is put on, it is addressed, and finally dispatched. Money is frequently so scarce that it has taken a Korean tradesman, upon whom a letter of credit was drawn, all day to collect I from his neighbors the sum of twelve dollars. TvnroAn sovietv is divided into three classes: 1. The upper class, which consists of the nobility. The nobles are autocrats and have absolute power over the lower class. The public service anil teaching are the only two forms of employment opeu to them. The middle class forms the merchants and junior public service; while the lowest class, which comprises fourfifths of the native population, are literally hewers of wo .> l and drawers of water for the two higher classes. Korean has practically no army or navy. There are about four or five thousand so-called soldiers stationed at Seoul as a body guard to the King, but only about fifteen hundred of these are real fighting men. The others are armed with bows and arrows, aud are quite unaccustomed to any military training worthy of the name.?Frank Leslie's Weekly.