Wood Carriers of Seoul, Chosen

Categories

Special Collections > Keystone Slides

Type

tiff scanned file from original glass slide

Description

The northern part of Chosen (ch´ sn) is crossed by a range of snow-capped mountains, heavily wooded. Following the foothills and the ravines there are hundreds of acres of forest untouched by the axe. Here are the wild animals sought out by Korean hunters. Wolves, wild dogs, and tigers, to say nothing of the smaller species of the furry tribes, are to be found. Wherever there are forests in Chosen, they contain fine trees of maple, oak, pine, ash, and birch. But about the cities and along parts of the shore the woods have disappeared. The natives say the trees were destroyed by a great forest fire which raged for 7 years. Perhaps this is a myth, but it is likely that fires helped to make the country barren of trees. But some of the timber has been used for building purposes, and a great deal of it has been made into firewood and charcoal. Still, the untouched forests of Chosen are one of its sources of riches. Seoul (s-l´), the capital of Chosen, is a large city. It has a railway, telephone and telegraph systems, and an electric street railway that connects with points 3 miles outside the city limits. One of the problems is to get a supply of fuel into the city. The country is rich in coal deposits, but there are only beginning to be worked. The woods around Seoul have disappeared. You see here one way the problem is being solved. These men have carried into Seoul, from a long distance, a big load of wood apiece. They cord the wood on a kind of wood-hod or rack, rope the sticks on the frame, shoulder their burdens, and walk. The Korean men are strong, active fellows, interesting, and bright. They are considerably smaller than the average American man. They belong to the yellow race and are more like the Chinese than the Japanese. To what country does Chosen belong? Keystone ID: 20601 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.

Rights

Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.