KOREA. 



325 



and New York to secure the privilege of open 

 stores on Sunday to Jewish observers of the sev- 

 enth day failed; it can not be said that the great 

 majority of the Jews were in favor of exceptional 

 legislation, but they wait their time until public 

 opinion in general recognizes the need of more 

 discrimination in Sunday laws. The publication 

 of the first volume of the Jewish Encyclopedia 

 was notable not only from the participation of 

 Jewish and non-Jewish scholars and its being 

 undertaken by a Christian publishing firm, but 

 also as a sign of increasing interest in Jewish 

 studies. The acceptance by Prof. Schechter (of 

 Cambridge University) of the New York Jewish 

 Seminary's directorship is another sign of educa- 

 tional progress. Dr. Schechter is a scholar of rec- 

 ognized authority, and is conservative in his 

 views, and his appearance in the field marks an 

 impending change in the character of American 

 Judaism, if he is strong enough to resist his en- 

 vironment and restore the olden foundations 

 which are passing away in the stirring currents of 

 the time. The Jewish Historical Society is prepar- 

 ing for an American Jewish Historical Exhibition 

 to be held next year in New York. The movement 

 to confederate Jewish charities and have one col- 

 lection only for all has succeeded in St. Louis, 



Chicago, and Philadelphia. The National Farm 

 School, near Philadelphia, and the Woodbine 

 (N. J.) Agricultural School continue to meet suc- 

 cess. The corner-stone of the new Mount Sinai 

 Hospital was laid in New York and the Sanitari- 

 um of the Montefiore Home was 'opened at liedt'oid 

 Station, New York. In Philadelphia the Jloim: tor 

 Jewish Orphans was dedicated, in Cincinnati the 

 Jewish Shelter Home, in Cleveland the Jewi.-lj 

 Infant Orphan Asylum. Congregation Beth 

 Ahaba, of Richmond, Va., celebrated its sixtieth 

 anniversary, June 14; Congregation Gates of 

 Prayer, of New Orleans, and Beth Elohim, of 

 Brooklyn, their fiftieth anniversaries, May 10 and 

 17. The visit to America of M. Nissim Behar in 

 the interests of the Alliance Israelite Universelle 

 is arousing much interest in the work of that or- 

 ganization. The Jewish Publication Society in- 

 troduced a new novelist in Martha Wolfenstein's 

 Idylls of the Gass, and announces a new transla- 

 tion of the Psalms for early issue. Part XIII of 

 Dr. Jastrow's Dictionary of the Talmud appeared, 

 and Part II of M. Lazarus's Ethics of Judaism, 

 and Nina Davis's Songs of Exile. Emma Wolf 

 wrote Heirs of Yesterday. Rev. Dr. Philipson 

 translated Dr. Wise's Reminiscences, and P. 

 Wiernik issued in Yiddish a History of the Jews. 



K 



KANSAS. (See under UNITED STATES.) 

 KENTUCKY. (See under UNITED STATES.) 

 KOREA, or TA-HAN, a country in eastern 

 Asia, between Russia and China. It occupies a 

 portion of the mainland, with the peninsular part 

 projecting toward Japan. Eleven miles of its 

 northern frontier borders upon Russian territory, 

 from which it is separated by Tumen river. The 

 Ever- White mountain and the Yalu river divide 

 it from Manchuria. Its area is estimated at 82,- 

 000 square miles. It was opened to commerce by 

 treaty with Japan of February, 1876, and with 

 the United States in 1883. The Koreans are larger 

 than the Japanese, and finer-looking than the Chi- 

 nese, but lack the moral stamina of either. By 

 the official report of the census taken in 1900, the 

 population is set down at 5,608,351, but these fig- 

 ures comprehend only those who are enumerated 

 for revenue purposes. Estimates of the popula- 

 tion by foreigners vary from 10,000,000 to 15,000,- 

 000. Females are greatly in the minority, because 

 less care is taken of the girls in infancy and child- 

 hood. The Americans in Korea number 269 mis- 

 sionaries 162, miners 75, electricians 15, Govern- 

 ment employees 10, merchants 7. The Koreans 

 have a system of measurements and weights pe- 

 culiar to themselves. The old perforated cash 

 and new coinage are on the decimal system, the 

 latter in name corresponding to dollar, dime, nick- 

 el, and cent; but the regulating coin of the coun- 

 try is the Japanese yen, worth 50 cents. In 

 measurements of time there are the year, month, 

 day, two-hour period, and pun or twelve minutes ; 

 but in the vernacular there is no word for minute 

 or second, though Koreans in contact with West- 

 ern people use native equivalents of our terms, 

 even to the second. There are also linear, square, 

 spherical, grain, and land measurements. 



Government. The Koreans claim Kija, an 

 ancestor of Confucius, as the founder of their 

 civilization in 1122. The present dynasty, which 

 began the fourth great period of national develop- 

 ment, arose in A. D. 1392, when Seoul, the capital, 

 was founded. Since the Chino-Japanese War of 

 1894-'95, Korea has been an independent state, 



?aying no tribute to China or Japan. On Oct. 

 4, 1897, the King assumed the title of Emperor, 

 naming his realm Ta-Han (Great Han, meaning 

 all Korea, in distinction from the ancient San- 

 Han, or Three Kingdoms, 9-960 A. D.), and in 

 August, 1899, he promulgated a written Consti- 

 tution, whose nine articles declare his own abso- 

 lute power and the independence of Ta-Han. The 

 Council of State and the ministries of the 

 Royal Household Finance, War, Justice, Agri- 

 culture, Education, and Home and Foreign Af- 

 fairs assist the sovereign. Over each of the 14 

 provinces a governor, and in each of the 360 dis- 

 tricts a magistrate, presides. There is no navy 

 apart from revenue vessels, but an army of 5,000 

 men is equipped and drilled in Western style. 

 Japanese interests in the empire outweigh all 

 others, but Russian influence is very great. The 

 King celebrated his fiftieth birthday on Aug. 7, 

 appropriating 200,000 yen for the celebration, the 

 music being from a band of 27 pieces of native 

 musicians under a German instructor. A thou- 

 sand silver medals were cast in commemoration, 

 the inscription being in the native en-mun, one of 

 the most perfect alphabets in existence. On Aug. 

 18, the late Tai-Wen-Kun was raised to the rank 

 of Wang or King. 



Railways, Telegraphs, and Public Works. 

 By American capital and contractors, the rail- 

 way from the seaport of Chemulpo to Seoul, 26 

 miles long, has been finished and put in success- 

 ful operation, including the 10-span steel bridge 

 across Han river. The same Americans have 

 built, and now operate, an electric railway, eight- 

 een miles long, in and about Seoul, which is very 

 popular with the natives. On July 20 work was 

 begun on the railway between Fusan on the south- 

 east coast and the capital, which passes over the 

 line of the great Japanese invasion of 1592, and 

 through a rich rice district. The line will run 

 almost directly south from Seoul 125 miles, and 

 then turn abruptly to the east, taking advantage 

 of the river valleys and the gaps in the moun- 

 tains. The Autumn Wind pass requires great en- 

 gineering skill. One of the 31 tunnels is a mile 



