Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/572

 crude, cheap foreign buildings of the Chinese merchants are incongruous with the general tone of Korean buildings, above which they tower in all the blankness of brick and mortar. The Japanese have everywhere preserved the tinder-box character of their architecture. Some of them are beginning to use brick and stone, and the general tendency seems to be in the direction of more solid and enduring forms of architecture.

Foreign residence is gravitating toward the hills between the city wall and the river, three miles away. The time is approaching when we shall have here a quarter corresponding to the "Bluff" in Yokohama or the "Hill" in Kobe. These hills form an ideal place for foreign residence. They are high, well wooded and conveniently situated, and soon a second line of electric tramway between Seoul and the river will make these suburban places easily accessible at all times.

The problems of proper water-supply and sewerage are still to be solved. An American syndicate are arranging to put in a good system of water-works, and until that is done little can be accomplished in the way of sewerage.

As for passenger transportation, Seoul has made more advance than the average port in the Far East. The AmericanKorean Electric Company operates about nine miles of surface road on the trolley system. It is a distinct success. The Koreans are good patrons of the road, and the numbers carried have increased steadily from the very start. The employees are largely Koreans, both in the power house and on the line everywhere. It is the unanimous opinion of the Americans who operate the road, that the Koreans make competent hands in every department of the work. They have almost displaced Japanese both as mechanicians and overseers. This is a striking testimonial, and one that should have weight in settling the question whether, as so many foreigners seem to think, the Korean is incapable of attaining proficiency in the field of applied science.

The same company supplies electric light to all and sundry, but as yet there are very few municipal lights in the streets.