the real daughter who so narrowly escaped
marrying may be an old maid, for all I know.

In such a high, dry climate as this one would expect to find little
tuberculosis, but I am told that there is really a great deal of it,
due to the carelessness of the families where there are victims, and
to the generally unsanitary conditions. A daughter of one of the
Southern missionaries here, having contracted the malady, has just
gone to Arizona in search of cure. Everywhere on the streets I
encounter faces marked by smallpox, and formerly to have had the
disease was the rule rather than the exception. In fact, instead of
alluding to a man's inexperience by saying "He hasn't cut his eye
teeth," as we do, a Korean would say: "He hasn't had smallpox." Since
vaccination became the rule, however, there are very few cases.

Infant mortality here, as in America, is one of the greatest factors
in the high death-rate, but conditions are improving. {65} And so long
as authorities declare that in America half the infant death-rate is
due to ignorance or neglect, we haven't much right to point a scornful
finger at Korea, anyhow.

I have already alluded to the fact that the old monarchial government
of Korea ended its inglorious career but a few short months ago. While
the records of the nation run back more than three thousand
years--probably to a period when Job was so superbly reproaching his
comforters in the Land of Uz--the late dynasty runs back only 500
years. We Americans, I may say in passing, are accustomed to think of
men of five hundred years ago, or even of John Smith and Pocahontas,
as very ancient, but a pedigree of only five hundred years wouldn't
entitle a family to enter good society over here. But though only five
hundred years in power, this recent dynasty succeeded in doing about
as much devilment and as little good as many dynasties much older in
years. One of the missionaries explained to me yesterday that it was
only when the King got very mad that he would order heads cut off
without reason--but then the Koreans are very lazy and his inactivity
at other periods may have been due to sloth.

The truth is, that most of these Oriental monarchies have been corrupt
beyond the belief of the average American. When I was a boy I used to
hear the old men in country churches thank God for the blessings of
orderly government and for the privilege of worshipping as they chose,
"with no one to molest us or make us afraid."