l recent years the world knew but little of this country. It was
really a "Hermit Nation." The people lived in walled cities and allowed
no outside people to come in. Less than a half century ago signboards
could be seen along the highways upon which was written: "If you meet a
foreigner, kill him; he who has friendly relations with him is a traitor
to his country." It is said that they actually kept the country along
the sea shore barren and unattractive while in the interior the people
lived on the fat of the land. The mountain peaks were great beacon
towers lighted up every night to signal to the capital that no danger
threatened and all was well along the borders.

In area, Korea is about as large as Minnesota. The population is more
than fifteen millions. Except in the northern part, which is as cold as
Minnesota, the climate is delightful. Nearly everything that will grow
in Japan will grow in Korea. The surface is largely mountains and
plains. In the mines are gold, copper, iron and coal, as well as other
minerals. The silk industry is becoming one of great value and although
every mountain forest has been cleared, some paper is made.

Perhaps in no other country in the world has such an effort been made to
keep men and women apart as in this strange land. In Seoul, the capital
city, they used to toll a bell at eight in the evening which meant that
men must go indoors and let women on the streets. Blind men, officials,
and certain others were exempt. Any man with a doctor's prescription was
allowed on the streets, but so many of these were forged that much
trouble resulted. At midnight the bell tolled again and after that hour
men could circulate on the streets freely without danger of arrest.

The people in Korea nearly all dress in white no matter what their work
may be. Men and women dress much alike. A curious custom among married
women is the wearing of waists that expose the entire naked breasts.
This is all but beautiful and as some one says, gives the appearance of
a shocking show window. The theory is, so they say, that to cover the
breasts is to poison the milk. No man really amounts to much in Korea
until after he is married, but that is largely true in our country.
There, however, silence is the wife's first duty. Marriage customs are
much like those in Japan where parents make the matches. It is said that
often the husband never hears the voice of his wife until after marriage
and even then she keep