THE KOREAN REPOSITORY. WEEKLY EDITION.
Vol 1 No. XIV Thursday,
May 11, 1899
STREET RAILWAY
RUNNING. The Seoul
Electric
Street Railway Company Starts Machinery and Runs Cars. Operating
machinery of any kind is no easy task in Korea as any
one who has tried it can
testify. With no machine shops and no machinists, with
no place where even a
bolt can be bought, and with employees who positively
have no conception of the
principles of mechanics, the starting of a new plant
is fraught with unnumbered
difficulties from beginning to end. This has been the
experience of the men in
charge of the Seoul Electric Street Railway.
Invitations were bent out inviting
the foreigners and prominent officials to the trial
trips on Monday, the 1st
inst. At the last moment one wheel was found to be too
tight for the shaft on
which it was to run. Then came the notice of
postponement. The company thought
they would be ready by Wednesday, the third, but made
no positive notice to
that effect. But on that day all Seoul, or a large
part of the Korean portion,
at least, flocked to the power house to "see the
wheels go round."
The smoke puffed out of the iron smoke stack, the
crowds surged into the
grounds and even filled the cars, but the cars stood
fast and refused to
respond even though the patient people waited until
nearly 9 o'clock. On Thursday, the
4th, the cars were run out for the first time, but one
man and an assistant
cannot watch an entire plant and the cars outside at
the same time, and it was
the first of this week before cars were finally
operated in a satisfactory
manner To say that the Koreans are interested is to
put it mildly. From His
Majesty down to the coolie excitement runs high and
when they see a car start
they do not understand why they should stop. Messrs. Bostwick
and Colbran have the sympathies of the foreigners, and
are to be congratulated
that they are overcoming the difficulties in their way
without any accident of
any kind. The road is not
to
be open to public traffic for some days yet owing to
the fact that the men
engaged as motormen have not arrived in Korea. The cars for
regular traffic are divided into closed and open
compartments. The closed parts
are for the first class passengers, while the open
parts are for the second
class passengers. Each of these cars will seat eight
first class passengers and
twenty-five second-class passengers. The company has
five ordinary cars, and then has a closed car which it
reserves for special
occasions and "trolley parties." This car is a first
class car in
every respect except that it is a little narrower than
most cars used in
America. In addition to
these six cars for the public there is a car reserved
for the exclusive use of
His Majesty, the Emperor. This car is richly
upholstered, with the windows
emblazoned with the Korean ensign, while large
platforms at either end furnish
ample room for the accompanying guard. We have not been
able to find out what the fare is to be, but
understand that the first class
fare from the western terminus to the power house at
the East gate is to be
nine cents The road is divided into sections and a
certain fare will be charged
for each section instead of one fare for the whole
road. We hope by next
week
to be able to give all these details and announce that
Korea's first railroad
is running regular cars every day. M. BIBLE SOCIETY
DAY. Last Sunday was
observed by the Union Church congregation as Bible
Society Day. As was
intimated in our note on this subject some of the
Korean congregations observed
the day, tho to what extent we have not yet heard. At the Union
Church in the afternoon the entire service was given
to this object. Three
addresses were made, and special music was furnished. The service
opened
with an organ voluntary by the organist, Miss Dr.
Field. After the usual
opening services the congregation was treated to a
song by a male quartet
composed of Messrs. Hulbert, Steadman, Swearer and
Gifford. Their singing was
excellent and was thoroughly enjoyed by all present. The first
address
was made by the pastor, who spoke particularly of the
pioneer work done by the Bible
Societies, referring particularly to the work done for
Korea before the arrival
of missionaries here, and the work done for the
Philippines before the opening
of that country to protestant missionaries. His
remarks were to the point and
appreciated. The second
speaker
was Rev. Jas. S. Gale, of Wonsan, who called attention
to Scriptural authority
for the work, and also showed that there was need of
this kind of work to
overcome the constant influence of wickedness in the
world. Mr. Alex Kenmure
was the last speaker, and he emphasized the fact that
an open Bible always
improved and elevated the nations, especially bringing
out the fact that only
in those non-christian nations where the Bible had
been furnished the people
was there any real advancement in morals and
civilization. After the
addresses an offering was taken which amounted to
forty-five yen and forty-five
sen. After another
song
by the quartet the service was closed with the
benediction. M. CITY AND
COUNTRY. In Pyeng-yang on
April 27th a daughter was born to Rev. and Mrs. Graham
Lee. Fires are also
reported at one of which over 70 houses were destroyed
and at the other over
ten houses. Renewed efforts
are being made by Korean women to secure the
establishment of schools for girls
in Korea. H. B. M. Ship Alacrity,
with Admiral Seymour aboard
arrived at Chemulpo May 5th, and the admiral proceeded
to Soul the next day. Five German
mining
experts are expected to arrive at Chemulpo for the
German mines at Kim-sung per
steamer Genkai
on the 10th inst. A serious fire
is
reported in the village of Nam-chang, Syunchang
prefecture, province of Chulla,
by which 48 houses were destroyed. A first class
fraud by the name of Im Tong-keun is under arrest for,
among other things,
representing himself as having a connection with the
railroad and raising money
thereby. It is said he will get his deserts in the
chain gang this time. Members of the
Methodist Episcopal Mission in Pyeng-yang, consisting
of Rev. W. A. Noble, Dr.
Follwell and family and Mrs. Hall, M. D., arrived in
Chemulpo on Tuesday. Mrs.
Hall remained in Chemulpo for a short visit with the
family of Rev Jones, while
Rev. Noble and Mr. Follwell and family came up to
Seoul on Wednesday. Rev.
Noble is the guest of Rev. G. C. Cobb, and Dr. and
Mrs. Follwell are being
entertained by Miss Dr. Harris at the East gate. The trouble at
Chemulpo ended in a complete fiasco as far as the
Koreans were concerned. The
people's meeting refused the offer of $1,000 indemnity
on the part of the Kamni
and finally dispersed having accomplished little more
than the expression of
their indignation and protest. In the meantime their
chairman, Mr.Choi Chwai-su,
an intimate friend of Mr. Pak Yong-hio, has been
arrested and brought to Seoul
on the charge, it is said, of inciting the people and
is held a prisoner here.
A deputation from the twelve wards of Chemulpo has
been appointed to work to
secure his release. Mr. Deshler has
begun building operations on his new house at
Chemulpo. It is located on the
old Woo Li-tong lot just back of Mr. Woo's present
residence and Mr. Deshler
has already begun extensive improvements about the
place. A stone wall is being
built and three expert gardeners from Japan are at
work beautifying the place.
Among other things some immense stones from Boise
island have been brought over
and placed there and a thousand years from now will
probably puzzle some Korean
savant in
geology to explain just how
fragments of boulders from the glacial epoch with
cockles on them came to be
dropped on the Chemulpo hillside. For the present they
have a part to play,
however, in a piece of very effective landscape
gardening. DENTAL NOTICE. DR. HAROLD
SLADE,
resident dentist of Kobe, Japan is visiting Seoul
professionally and may be
consulted for a short period at the same compound in
which he saw patients last
year in Chong Dong and now occupied by Mr. W. H.
Emberley. Office hours
8:30
a. m. till 4:30 p. m. Examinations made at 11:30 a. m.
and 4:30 p. m. Patients
desiring
dental work will kindly consult Dr Slade at as early a
date as possible to avoid
disappointment as his stay here is limited. Thursday, May
4th,
1890. GENERAL DYE. General Wm. McE.
Dye
and his son J. Henry Dye left Seoul last Friday, the
5th inst., for their home
in the United States. General Dye came to Korea in the
spring of 1888 as
Military Adviser and Instructor-General in the service
of His Majesty, the King
of Korea, and has lived here ever since. Until the
late war his whole time and
attention were given to the reorganization and
drilling of the Korean army.
Readers of THE REPOSITORY are acquainted with some of
the services rendered by
General Dye, but very few know how carefully
everything committed to him was
performed. Before coming to
Korea, General Dye served in the Civil War in the
United States and was
promoted several times, one of which being to
"Brigadier-General, United
States Volunteers, March 13, 1865, for gallant and
meritorious services during
the Rebellion." After several years of service in the
west, he was
"honorably discharged at his own request, September
30, 1870," and
returned to private life on his farm in Iowa where he
lived three years.
Towards the end of 1873 he became Colonel of Staff in
the Egyptian army, where
he served for five years. He was engaged in the
Abyssinian campaign of 1876 and
severely wounded in the battle of Gura, Abyssinia,
March 7, 1876. He was for
four years superintendent of the metropolitan police
of the District of
Columbia and just before coming to Korea Chief of the
Army and Navy Division of
the Pension Bureau. Very few of us
who
were honored with the friendship of General Dye knew
that he was the author of
"Egypt and Abyssinia," a large octavo volume of
several hundred
pages. We knew of course of his familiarity with Egypt
and were often
entertained and always instructed by his conversations
on that country, but
never did he by any word give us an intimation of
having written a book. General Dye was
an
enthusiastic and successful fruitist, as readers of
THE REPOSITORY well know.
He led us in this and we gladly acknowledge our debt
of gratitude to him. He
has proved by actual experiment that fruits such as
apples, pears, cherries,
and grapes can be raised successfully in Korea. His
extensive knowledge on this
subject was always at your service and the General
never seemed happier than
when he could tell you how to conduct your orchard. .
He knew the trees in our
own orchard almost as well as in his own and during
the last year when he was
unable to go about as usual, we had little difficulty
in counseling with him on
the subject. He left Seoul
very
weak from the long sickness during the winter. We wish
him and his son a
pleasant voyage to their native land. THE BRITISH
ADMIRAL VISITS SEOUL. Seoul has just
been honoured by a visit from some distinguished men.
On Friday last the Alacrity, the
graceful yacht-like
despatch-boat attached to the British fleet in China
waters, steamed into harbour
at Chemulpo about 11 a. m. She had on board
Vice-Admiral Sir Edward H. Seymour,
K. C. B. On the following day, the admiral,
accompanied by Captain Smith
Dorrien of the Alacrity,
Staff-Paymaster F. C. Alton, the admiral's secretary,
and Flag Lieutenant F. A.
Powlitt, visited this city and were the guests of H.
B. M.'s Consul-General,
Mr. Jordan. They did not allow any grass to grow
beneath their feet. On Sunday
morning they visited the Foreign office and made a
call on Prince Yi Chai Sun. In
the afternoon they went to the Kyeng-pok
Palace where the Queen was murdered. On Monday they
visited the East Palace; at
5 p.m. they were received in audience by His Majesty
and were entertained at
dinner later in the evening. The gallant admiral and
his party left again on
Tuesday morning, the Alacrity
weighing anchor as soon as they stepped on board. The
regrets of the community
follow the admiral—regrets that his visit was all too
short to permit it to
honor itself by paying him its respects. HEIGHT OF
MOUNTAINS
IN SEOUL. In a private
note
by the former Russian Minister to Korea, the Hon. C.
Waeber, we find the
following concerning the height of several important
points in and around the
capital: meters.
feet. Seoul, Naktang
34
111.5 Puksan
395
1,296. Namsan
260
853. Sankaksan (at
Pukhan)
800
2,624. We think these
figures are reliable because Mr. Waeber was a most
careful student of matters of this kind. VERY WELCOME
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