COREA AND ELECTRICITY.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 450, 1 December 1904, Page 3

COREA AND ELECTRICITY.

Ffee De«tdly "Uve Wta-e" Known In TSust Country a* a "Tbumder ■ ff •»* I4«btnJoc Stria*." Hear the eonter of the city of Seoul there is a beautiful marble pagocu that was brought from Peking about 1300 by one of the Mongol queens who came as a bride to Corea. Her pe«ji> at that time were shaking the whole known world, and, under leaders like Genghis, Kublai and Tamerlane, wer«' upsetting all the throne* of Asia, so that Corea still ■peak's of them with bated breath, and the smallest children know them by name, says a writer in Outlook. The marble pagoda st ; ll stands, a silent witness before the world of the great Mongol conqueror?, but past its stony ear whizzes an Amerienn electric car eveTy ten minutes ;:t ten miles an hour, regardless of all the Mongol shades. Along this main street of Seoul, one of the oldest streets in the world, stretch western wires charged with something that defies all the curiosity of the east to pronounce upon. A few days ago a broken strand hung temptingly from one nf the poles, and the far east determined ti» get hold of it to investigate, with the result —one live wire, one dea' 1 man. A government notice wasposted up: "If anyone is caught footing with these thunder and lightningstrings let hj im be padded." . 9«llt«g the TTlnd. Tt seems incredible, but is nevertheless a fact, that a* late as the year 1814 •in old woman named Bessie Millie, of Pomona, in" the Orkney islands, sold favorable winds to seamen at the small n'ice of six pence a vessel. For man* years witches were supposed to sell U'e wind. The Finlanders and Laplanders made quite a trade by selling winds. The old women, after being well paid by the credulous sailors riaed to knit three magical knot*; the buyer was told he/would have a good : »n.le when he untied the first knot, the second knot would bring a strong wind, and the third a severe tempest. ■U one time winds- were sold atMoct St. Michael, in Normandy, arid.arrowr>.ere sold at the same time* to. charm away bad storms. A tM*t*es*ed Commaalty. According to the official report of the Ottawa, Kan., druggists, for March, it took 82 gallons of whisky, S8 gallons of alcohol, 38 gallons of wine, 14 galUrns of gin, 23 gallons of brandy, 4 gallons of beer. 3 gallons of ale and 4 galr lons of malt to cure the ills of thai distressed community. The liquor was wanted for a multitude of diseases, ranging flpom ingrowing toenails to appendicitis. One honest fellow signed up under the "mechanical" clause of the constitution. said he needed four gallons mechanically—he was going to have a "barn raisin'."