T3J5 KINGDOM OF OOREA. Rcmp.rka'Jle Country Described by A.' Ciirt'i , Bond. Why an army should fight for the possession of Corea can never be guessed at by the unlucky American who has tried to travel through that incomparable country. It ig the most remarkable nation in the world-t-for its inconveniences, and the most original in its administration. For eccentricities of government Tam many is an ideal in comparison, and the duped Detsites are happy capi talists beside the population of this somnolent peninsula. Not only the most searching and exasperating examination made by the custom officers, but the pedigree of the amiable visitor is taken, a record of his life and his intentions, where he is going and how long he has money enough to remain. Naturally, when they see anyone come volunta- rily to such a country it arouses their suspicions. In the treaty ports on the cta.t where strangers land, if they land at all, wealth makes its great display. At such places Japanese and Mexican dollars are circulated with a limited freedom that almost amounts to fami liarity. One ot these silver dollars is worth 50 cents in the coin of the United States realm, but ha-? the dignity of being the largest piece of money 111 circulation. The Govern ment goes to very little expense in its Treasury Department, the only coinage being a small copper disk called '.' kash," exchangeable for sil ver at the rate of 10 pounds of kash for one Jap or Mexican dollar. Away irom the coast this kash is the only money that circulates. The natives have no confidence in any thing else. This necessitates' the pur chase of a few hundred pounds of copper disks at the seaports, and then the traveler roust hire a half dozen ponies there are no horses to carry sufficient money to meet the expenses of his trip. The other im pediment is transported by porters, and these porters are the most ex travagantly paid of any laborers in Corea. This is probably so as to put them in such an independent finan cial position as to relieve them of the necessity of killing their employer to get his money. Each porter receives one Japanese dollar per day. Now it is the custom in Corea to pay everybody for all work done every night, a custom that has doubtless grown out of the universal distrust each individual has for each other individual. But whatever may have been its origin the inconvenience to strangers is pleasant to contemplate. Nightly the unfortunate traveler with his string of copper ponies is forced to unload his affluence and weigh out 10 pounds of metal for every man in his train. Then the balance of the night he has to sit up in the midst of firearms and see that the faithful attendants don't steal what is left. So taking one consideration with another, traveling in Corea has its trials. For many years no stranger was able to get beyond five hours travel away from the coast, and the interior I was therefore a terra incognita. The reasons for this were various. It had not then occurred to the Corean pub lic to use ponies to carry baggage, and all the carrying was done by men ; no porter will carry more than 10 pounds ; a day's work is 10 hours. When the caravan was started each man was loaded down with 10 pounds of kash. After they had marched five hours they would wait on the traveler and deliver themselves somewhat in this strain : " We are five hours' journey from home ; if turn around now and go back our day's work of 10 hours will be completed by the time we get home, and we have 10 pounds of kash to pay us. If we go on another five hours we will be an entire day's journey from home, and as we only have money enough for one day with us how shall we get pay for to-morrow? Being unable to answer this inquiry satisfactorily, they would all turn about and retrace their steps. These local peculiarities interfered slightly with free intercommunication. The climate, if one remains long enough to test it, will be found un certain. It may be balmy and delight ful at sunrise and hailing like a cy clone at noon ; it rains when it feels like it, and nature never takes the trouble to warn bv as much as a cloud ; it just turns the water on and floods everything, while there is ap parently a clear sky and a cloudless horizon. Where the rain comes from no one but a native of the country is sufficiently familiar with its resources to tell. At times the rain is sizzing with heat : at other times it is freez inz cold, and this occasionally occurs on the same dav. always during the one season. Nature joins' the rulers to make life a3 much of a burden as possible for the population. In such a climate lancy crardening is out .01 the ques tion, and the delicacies of tlie season are entirelv 'unknoWn. Only the hardiest, commonest vegetables and olants can be crown, as in, addition to this climatic uncertainty the soil is coarse, barren and fjebbty. The peopje Children Cry for Pitcher's Caotorla. Riow tobacco, wheat, rice, ginsing, hemp, millet and cotton, and were it not for a provision in the Constitution they could raise potatoes, but it seems that ab -ut the time the wise men built the grand structure of laws under which this nation has remained qui escent for about 6,000 years the potatoes acted badly ; they failed in some manner to meet the views of the ruling classes, and so they were boy cotted. It was solemnly announced that the devil had a hand in their misconduct, and the unavoidable de duction was that anyone who en couraged them by raising or eating them was in sympathy with the devil, and therefore should be promptly put out of the way. It is impossible to say that this happened 6,000 years ago, but it did happen at some time, ami at this day not a potato is raised in the whole peninsula. The catt'e. nonics. doc. nil's, sheen and goati are very many ; every native is the possessor of some of these creatures, but what the practical pur pose of possession is I never was able to see. The cattle and pigs are to be eaten by the ruling classes only s and there are a string of frantic laws on this prohibition that makes every sub ject of the Crown liable to some awful penalty, boiling in oil or lead or some thing of that sort, if he or she trans gresses the restrictions and enjoys a round of beef or a Hip of bacon. The sheep and goats are killed only as sacrifices on stone altars, and with an accompaniment of sad music their conception of sadness which sounds to the American ear much as does the dinner gong of a Coney Island hotel. After the sheep or goat has bled to death, in honor of some god or other, the carcass is disdainfully thrust aside by the priests until the crowds have melted away, when it is carefully conveyed to where it will do the most good, and the holy men live on lamb and perhaps mint sauce for a week or more. The Government is remarkable, among other things, for having gone one step further in its regulation of internal affairs -than any other Gov ernment ever saw the wisdom of do ing. The country is especially rich in minerals, there being almost in exhaustible veins of gold, silver, cop per and coal. The Government recognizes this happy condition, for bidding all descriptions of minings, and with the exception of one small copper mine worked for the purpose of providing a portion of the mineral necessary for their coinage, the bal ance being purchased from China, none of these deposits are disturbed All the cold and silver used by them is imported from Japan and China, no coal is used, and as the supply of wood is not great, that also is import ed. The wildest flights of my fancy were never able to reach even the probable cause of this unwillingness to open up the wealth of the nation, and the inquires I put to the natives who could understand me were in variable met with a frighted look and the general appearance of horror at such an encroachment or questioning on a subject too sacred for contem plation. The idea of attempting to comprehend the mysterious ways of their King and all the great people who sit around him at beoul never enters the simple minds of the popu lace. Thev retrard the mandates ot their rulers with the same reverence and unquestioning observance that the most devout follower of Confucius shows toward the prophet. The King of Corea bears the same relation to the Emperor of China that the Khedive of Ecypt does to the Sultan of Turkey ; he W the vas sal of the Chinese ruler, and this fact. much to his disgust, is set forth in everv public document that is promul eated. and is proclaimed to the world far and wide with the lactc ot moaesty and consideration for which the Chinese nation is noted. Notwithstanding the encroachment unon the dicnity of this high official he is surrounded by an exhaustless ceremony that accounts for the ex travaeant estimation in which he is hpld. Tie is verv holv. so holy, in fact, that when people speak ot him they simply say him, and when they want to be very subservient they say it. but they never say L,i usi, tne name under which this gentleman suffers. This name is apparently only civen to him to use in public docu ments, for no one ever nas me teroer itv to use it in addressing him, and it is never mentioned aloud anywhere in this Kindom. If any subject wishes to practice on it he goes under ground and does it bv himselt : to utter 11 abve cround is sacrilegious and the r"j(fl guilty is cut up into eight pieces, and a piece sent to eacn province, Thpn there is another interesting Inw t.- further sanctify the head of the State ; this law provides that any nprsnn who touches the King with any implement or weapon of metal shall have some horrible thing done to him.' It is impossible for me to sav what the punishment is connect ed with this, because the punishment for each offense, as enumerated in the criminal code, becomes progress ivelv worse as the crimes are de scribed, and as boiling oil is the most merciful of the entire lot. it does not make much difference what the oth Chi ldren C ry for Pitcher's Castorla, THE COLUMBIAN, ers are. . . ' On the face of it this la v about touching the Kin? with a metal weapon appears to be all right, but it has a boomerang clement about it that worked disastrously a few years ago. The famous Tieng tseng-Tai-Ouang, an early century ruler, was taken sick with an abscess on his neck, and cried loudly for relief. All the great doctors of several nations thereabout were gathered together and agreed that all there was to be done was to lance it, but that this would be touching the royal person with a metal weapon, and as this law was explicit in the penalty for such an offense, and there was no ruling power in existence that had the power to change the law, the doctors all, singly and collectively, refused to be dropped in molten lead for the mere purpose of saving the life of the ruler, and so Tieng-tseng- Tai-Ouang died in horrible agony. This inconvenient law also pre vents the King' being shaved, and as the true Oriental is too much occu pied with the thoughts of the welfare of his people to do anything for him self the Kings of Corea wear full beards. On the other hand, for the King to touch anybody is considered such an extraordinary honor that very serious obligations ever after rest upon the person touched. The most formidable of these is the neces sity for wearing forever a brass plate over the spot touched, but the subject is exempt from wearing more than one plate over tne same spot U tne King happens to touch him twice in the same place. The King's wives are iving castanets when they walk. It ;s worthy of mention that while King's name is sacred during his ifetime immediately upon his death it becomes .common property and is bandied about with the most reckless freedom. As soon as the present ruler dies his successor will put up monuments to him all over the coun try and they will be plastered with Li Hsi. All his present subjects will then criticise his good and bad actions, and will sneer and applaud as they feel disposed. No penalty is attached for libel on a dead ruler. Doubtless the reason is because every known penalty has been attached to libels on a live one. The law courts of Corea are perma nently as exciting as the recent strikes were temporarily. The only difference between the witness and the principal in a Corean lawsuit is that the princi pal frequently gets off unscatched, while the witness is invariably maimed and frequently crippled for life. The principals show their cleverness by de clining to testify in their own behalf, for as each witness comes forward he is warned by the Tudee of the terrible penalties of committing perjury, and to still further impress it upon him his legs are beat with clubs, his body is cut by cords being dnswn rapidly back and forth across it, his shoulders are dislocated, or he is suspended by the arms from the ceiling. The Judge addresses him very kindly and says something to this effect, " Now you see what we can do, and what we will do if you don't tell the truth in this case, and if you want to escape it, you want to tell all you know, and tell it honestly. Truthfulness is one of the most beautiful attributes of Corean character. No salary is paid the officials, but in view ot this economical plan tor conducting the Governmeet no re strictions are placed upon those in office in their exercise of blackmail and extortion. It is noticeable that all the officials occupy elaborate rest dences and they live in comparative luxury. The eng ei-tsieng, a Minis ter answering to our Secretary of State,' receives a salary equivalent to about $r,ooo per year. At one time, tradition says, there were books published in the Chinese language which, were more or less read and seemed to hold out some promise of imparting a reasonable amount of imformation and intelli gence to the people, but the Govern ment very soon learned of this, and, while they shrunk at the thought of prohibiting literature entirely, they made it a law that books should there after be printed upon marble, and so at this day, if some daring Corean should want to translate " The Heav enly Twins." the story would be en graved on slabs of marble, each two slabs having a piece of velvet between them to prevent friction, and so the six hundred odd pages in that delecta ble book would make a Corean farm look like a graveyard if anyone cared to read it through. The Corean language Consists most ly of vowels, there being 1 1 in their alphabet, and, therefore, the words are short and not unpleasant in sound. The nouns have nine cases and verbs 11 moods. There are 13 dipthongs and 14 consonants. No one thoroughly knows the alphabet or language. There are no newspapers, no railroads, no steamboats, no tele graphs, no postoffice9 ; only the very highest people are able to write ; no one else is able to read. There religion is Confucian they have great regard for the devil, and really fear him more than they rely upon Confucians. They regard snakes as holy in some way, and salaam whenever they meet one. Snakes lead about the'only happy life Children Cry for Pitcher's Caotorla. BLOOMSBURG, PA. to bo found in Corea. The upper classes frequently wear clothes, and the lower classes occasion ally try to imitate them upon some grand occasion, but grand occasions that are sufficiently so to call lor such a marked change in the national cos tume are limited to tne death or ac cession of a ruler. There is a severe law against polygamy. Taper is the only article of merchandise manufact ured, and every citizen makes what ever implements or utensils may be necessary for use. Corea, in its own language, means chosen. Of course anyone who chooses it ij welcome to it. New York Mail and Jfrpreis. $100 Reward, $100. The readers of this naper will be pleased to learn that there is at least one dreaded disease that science has been able to cure in all its stages and that is Catarrh. Hall's Catarrh Cure is the only positive cire now known to the medical fraternity. Catarrh being a constitutional disease, requires a constitutional treatment. Hall's Catarrh Cure is taken internally, act ing directly upon the blood and mucous surfaces of the system, there by destroying the foundation of the disease, and giving the patient strength by building up the constitution and assisting nature in doing its work. The proprietors have so much faith in its curative powers, that they offer One Hundred Dollars for any case that it fails to cure. Send for list of testimonials. Address F. J. CHENEY & CO., Toledo, O. B&TSold by Druggists, 75 c. To the School Teachers in the Public Schools of Pennsylvania s The Pennsylvania Forestry Associa tion offer prizes of fifty dollars for the best, and twenty-five dollars for the second best essay upon " The Practi cal Value of Forests to the Surface of the Country," prepared by teachers in j the public schools of Pennsylvania. The conditions under which the prizes are to be awarded are : rst Each essay must be presented at a county teacher s institute, or (in cities where institutes are not held) 'at an organized assemblage of teachers, and the merit of the same passed upon in such manner as the institute or other organization decides. ad The County or City Superin tendent is requested to forward to the Pennsylvania Forest Association as soon as possible a list of those who contributed essays, giving names, ad dresses and schools with which the writers are connected ; and also the two essays which have been endorsed as specially meritorious or ' recom mended for competition for the prizes. 3d A Committee will be selected by the Council of the Pennsylvania rorest Association to pass upon the essays received from the various County and City Superintendents, who will decide which of these is en titled to the first prize of fifty dollars and which to the second prize ot twenty-five dollars. 4th The competition will be open to all essays presented as above in dicated which are received by the secretary of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association on or before March 31st, 1895. It is intended that,' as far as it may be practicable, all persons who have been, are, or shall be, teaching in the public schools of Pennsylvania, between April 1st, 1894, and April 1, 1 89s, may become contestants. 5th It is expected that the names of each essayist and as far as possible excerpts -from essays will be printed in Forest Leaves, the organ of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and the essays winning the prizes will also be published in forest leaves, but no restrictions upon publication of essays in local papers are made. The sole desire of the Association is to - encourage the study of and in terest in tree-growth, and none should be deterred from entering into the contest because of modesty or diffi dence. The purpose has been to open the subject to all in the broadest manner possible. A concise, well thought-out essay will be as apt to win'a prize for its practical features as a composition of greater length, abounding in elaborate phraseology or presenting rhetorical perfection Teachers everywhere in the State are requested to enter the contest, The subject is a practical one, and, by keeping their eyes open during the Summer vacation, teachers will find innumerable facts on every hand bearing thereon, which " he who runs may read and write about. John Birkinhine, President. J. T. Rothro;k, Secretary. According to an eminent authority there are many forms of inebriety, illustrations of which may be found in all our cities where they are treated at the hospitals. Besides the various forms of alcohol, ether intoxication is frequent and cocaine drunkeness is becoming more common. Cocaine is more speedy in Us effects than alcohol or raorphine and there is usually at first increased mental arid bodily vigor. but when tne breakdown comes it is complete. Then there are people who drink eau de cologne, lots, ot them Dr. Norman Kerr, the greatest livin authority on the subject, also contends that there is a craving for tobacco often soil resistible 4)iat when indulged to excess it partakes of the character of inebriety. . . , ' Notes from the Pennsylvania Ezperi merit Station. Mangfils and Sugar Pocti Silago. Compared w'dh In IJirlctin No. 26 of the Station, Professor II. J. Waters and R. J. Weld report the results of a compari son ol the yields of digestible matter produced by mangels, sugar beets and silage corn when grown under similar conditions, and also a comparison of the merits of roots and silage for the production of milk and butter. On fairly good upland clay lime stone soil, made rich enough for a fair crop of corn or beets, and under reasonably good field culture, the following results were obtained : 9S -2 ll r-q "rS 75 ft c3 7ii . - , SO I llm. IH.Wl Id 4,r ItH. 5.V!i MM lbs. :).! 1760 Vlrlil of com per aero YIHd nrboi'tK IncrfRHMOf corn over pkjlh. In other words, as much digestible organic matter was produced by one acre of corn as was secured from almost two acres of beets. Similar although very much less striking results were obtained at the Maine State Experiment Station in a comparison of several classes of forage crops, and involving in each case two years' work. At the Ontario Agri cultural Experiment Station silage corn gave second highest yield of digestible material per acre as the ' average of two seasons comparison of six types of forage crops. Both of these Experiment Stations are out of the corn belt, and a less favorable showing for corn was to be expected. In the Pennsylvania experiments a careful account of the cost of growing, harvesting and storing the two crops was kept with the following results : Cost of one acre of beets in pit. $56.07 Cost of one acre of corn in silo. . 21.12 In 1890 the cost of one acre of beets was $60.00. The Wisconsin Experiment Station reports the cost of one acre of sugar beets from a two-acre field, without charging rent of land and using no fertilizers, at $53.80. The Ohio Experiment Station grew sugar beets at a cost of $31.30 per acre in 1890, and $38.84 in 1S91, making no charge for fertilizers or rent of land. The average cost per acre of sugar beets, when grown on a commercial scale in California, as reported by seven large growers, was $48.85. At the United btates Sugar Beet Experiment Station, Schuyler, Neb raska, the cost per acre in 1892 was $49.78, exclusive of fertilizers and rent. In special cases these figures may be considerably reduced for both crops, but it is believed that the rela- tions between approximately them given correct for above is average conditions. In a feeding trial involving two lots of five cows each and covering three periods of twelve days, 100 pounds of digestible matter in the silaee ration produced 13 r. 92 pounds of milk and 7.2 1 pounds of butter, while an equal amount of digestible dry matter in the form of roots produced 137.36 pounds of milk and 6.53 pounds of butter a difference in the butter pro duced 10.4 per cent. But when the two lots of cows were fed alike on a combined ration of beets and silage, the silage lot produced, per 100 pounds of digestible matter consumed, 130 pounds of milk and 6.79 pounds of butter, and the roots lot 150 pounds of milk and 6.46 pounds of butter, thus showing an apparent superiority of the cows constituting the silage lot. When this is taken account of it leaves net gain in feeding value of the silage over the roots of 5 per cent. Similar results were obtained at this Station in 1890, These results are also in accord with those of trials extending over four years, and involving in two ex periments twelve cows each, .and in two, sixteen cows, at the Ohio Experi ment Station. Below is given a sum mary of their results : Poutulsof milk prortueed pr 100 pouuda of dry uituuT uoiujumpu 1MMU lxmi 1BHU 18'.ll H'-i rtrt 18H4 KH 75 nnpt ration mi Ml 00 Ullage ration iu The average of all Experiments points to the conclusion that, when compared upon the basis of digestible matter, silage is at least as effective as sugar beets or mangels for the pro duction of milk or butter. Tim annual ri'norts anil ouartnrly bullet Ins nf the Htailon will bo sent, Jihb of oharifo, on ap plication. ('orresponuL'UCQonaurmuiiuriu hhu ects la desired. Address, i II P. Armsby, Director, State College, Centre Co., Pa. '' There is danger in delay." Since 1861 I have been a great suf ferer from catarrh. I tried F.ly's Cream Balm anil to all appearances am cured. Terrible headaches from which I had long suffered are gone. V. J. Hitchcock, Late Major U. S. Vol. and A. A. Gen., Buffalo, N. Y. Kly's Cream Balm has completely cured me of catarrh when everything else (ailed. Many acquaintances have used it with excellent results. Alfred W. Stevens, Caldwell, Ohio. Price of Cream Balm fifty cents. Mrs. Putnam, ForrlsUlah, Muss., says : That Bcarlnc:- Down W Peeling and dizzy, faint, gasping attacks left mo ns soon as I be gan to taks Lydla K. i')ifrAam'VeKetablo 1KCW-- ... rnUrd from m . a r1 f 'nnirifimirf I n,ti tlm dowl. I was sick with womb troubles so long I thought I never could got well." 44- crri ft FOR CL0THE5. THE PROCTER ft OAMQLK CO., CI NT!. Fine PHOTO GRAPHS and CRAYONS at McKillip Bros., Bloomsburg. The best are the cheapest. NOW !!! is THE TIME TO BUY Wall Paper - CHEAPI - AT l I SUTE'S BOOK STATIONERY STORE. '.Mings Sold Hii&g, - Bloomsburg, - - - Pa. ' Don't Cost anything to look. pad i m mm WORKMANSHIP GUARANTEED, Estimates given on Application. SHAW & DONAHUE, Fourth Street - Bloomsburg, Pa tWntopics; , , Tio Journal 0 Society, (SrA0ES) ' KBWVOBK. CTHCRSDAYJ In rinlversMly recogulre-l u tbt most compfete weekly journal In the world.. lu 'bauiuerlutf " columns are Inimitable. lu octety UPWH, especially of the dolim of iLa 10O of Nt w York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and alt over the world, 1 Dot equalled by auy newspaper, lu Kinauflal lnartnn-nt la authority with all tmnLuTM and broker. Ite ' Literary Show" note on current literature 1 by the cleverest of re-vli-tvurfl. ItH "Atleld und Afloat1 makes It the niot interesting paper for all lovers of tport JmhUiiK, football, rowing, shooting, fishing, etc. ts " On the Turf ' excels all other racing notes. It buriefctjues. poems aud Jokes are the cleverest. Its stories are by tho nest writers among them Amelia hives, F. Marion Crawford, Julian Hawthorne, Edgar Vawoett, OUbnrt Parker, alary Hawker ("Lanoo lttleoniT"), li.irry pulu, Paul Bourget, hud yard Ktpllng, Ambrose illerce, etc., etc., and are. even If St mm without coarseness or anything to oitt nd tUe mot refined and moral woman, in addition to all this tlure Is euch week a supplement, port ml t, la colore, o sumo iuuu umineut lu his walk of life. . Tales FronfTown Topics Quarterly, flrst day of March, June. September, )ev'mter ; pages t lino. Contain In eaeh riumuHr, in addition to short stcrleti, poems, bur leH;iii, etc., from the old itttmr of Town Topics, , complete, original prise story of l-'O to 100 pages. No one who enjoys the highest class of fiction, and would be ait courant with all that pertains to good soLimy, can afford to be without Town Topics every week. There Is so much Interesting reading In ft eit'l In the "Tales," that a club subscription to both will supply nny family with abundant reading of tho most t'Utoriuliitug character all the year. KATES; Town" Toples per annum, e-l 00. A trial subwrln tlon for three mouths, Htl.Oi), and a sueclmua copy of "Tules" Free. Tales From Town Topics, per number, 5ucmt. Per annum, t'-VtO, Hold I'lunbed, pr annum, (?fl.OO, and any two pn I- uh J- .miliers of "Talee" you mt y specify rata CTHend locentu for aauiple copy Town Topics. IV -Hare you read AM LIB RIVES' latest and br si uovtti, Tanis, Tho Sang -Digger? 12mo, olutu, Kilt, uncut from Ulj (out, (1.S0 post pnl.l. ' h"inlt hy rlitvk, 1' O. money ordvr, postal note ov ti'jUUfvU letur lu TOWN TOPICS. SI Vt VJ4 ttlruel. ew lork. '
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers