8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



curriers, salt makers, a few seal engravers, plowmen, cattle and 

 swine drovers, special thatcliers and tilers, no barbers, but hair- 

 dressers, dyers, tanners, carpenters and cabinetmakers, and these 

 latter go by the name of large and small carpenters. Craftsmen 

 are not allowed to sell raw material ; the lumber dealer, for exam- 

 ple, would prevent a carpenter from selling even a board. There 

 are also stone polishers, paper pasters, and tailors who make cloth- 

 ing by quantity. As in this country, such clothing is not consid- 

 ered as good as custom-made clothing. Women make their own 

 clothing. Boys are not commonly employed, but are sometimes 

 seen on the streets as peddlers. In Japan, on the contrary, boys are 

 everywhere employed, and in all occupations, thus adding to the 

 industrial strength of the nation. Men make shoes, though this is 

 considered a mean occupation. Sandals are made by monks. As 

 with us, there is a localization of industries and trades. A system 

 of apprenticeship exists. In the first year's service the apprentice 

 is fed, in the second year he receives half pay, and in the third 

 year full wages are paid him ; in the fourth year, if skillful, he 

 becomes a partner in the work, or goes off by himself, the master 

 helping him. The Government builds long markets in which are 

 shops for special merchandise, such as silk, cotton, shoes, paper, 

 etc. These are hired by merchants on perpetual lease, and the 

 merchant who thus rents a shop receives all the trade in his 

 specialty. Thus every one dealing in cotton must come to the 

 cotton shop. A shop thirty or forty feet long will sell for five 

 thousand dollars. Traders are accustomed to borrow capital from 

 the nobles, upon which they pay interest. There are a great many 

 guilds, which are called Brotherhoods in Trading. Partnerships 

 are common. In the guilds, if one meets with a loss or failure all 

 the others help make up the loss ; in partnerships this is not so. 



Public work is done by the co-operation of villages. In S^oul 

 public work is done by the general Government, the city, how- 

 ever, collecting taxes for the work. If the people volunteer to do 

 the work, no taxes are imposed. If the municipality does the 

 work, then continuous taxes are collected ; if the Government 

 does it, the city is taxed for it. In the country, five days' work 

 on public improvements is considered an equivalent for the tax. 



In farm work no distinction is recognized between the sexes. 

 Female domestics are employed in spinning, weaving, sewing, and 

 universally in cooking ; women even of high rank may cook with 

 propriety ; indeed, such service is considered quite legitimate for 

 women of all ranks. Men never become cooks. In certain dis- 

 tricts women make hats and straw mats. In the western part of 

 the country silk is made, in the northern part linen, while in the 

 southern part cotton is made. This kind of work is all done by 

 women. 'A 



