Brief Notice

The insurgents in Che Chun were driven out by Seoul soldiers and went to A San where they met another body of Government troops and a sharp engagement ensued.  Four of the rebels were killed and six captured.

The Nichi Nichi states that Cannibals in the South Sea refuse to eat Japanese because, they say, the flesh is too sour. <The Nichi Nichi was a Japanese-language newspaper published in Tokyo between 1872-1943. tom>

Marquis Charles de Rudini, only son of the illustrious Italian Premier is now travelling in China and Japan.

A St. Petersburg dispatch dated the 9th states that the Novosti says Japan should by this time know Russia’s feeling in regard to Korea, that while she does not wish to be there herself, she will not permit any other power to be predominant in the Hermit Kingdom. ” The King,” continues the Navosti,”is perfectly fit to rule and when restored to the throne the Russian troops will retire.”

The Madrid correspondent of the Standard says that the new chamber elected on the 12th will certainly support the Government in resisting American interference in Cuba.

Cholera is rapidly spreading in Calcutta and Bangkok and is causing many deaths.

Sir Andrew Noble, the great artillerist, a partner in the firm of Lord Armstrong & Co., is visiting Tokyo.

The Empress-Dowager of China is believed to have regained her influence in the palace, since she has successfully overthrown Wang-tung-ho, the tutor of the Emperor, who together with the Censor impeaced Li Hung Chang in 1894. The Empress-Dowager has procured the perpetual retirement of the Censor.

The Japanese paper in Chemulpo called the Chosen Shimpo in speaking of Korean Government officials, calls them by their given name and omits the family name. For instance, Pak Chung Yung is called Chung Yung.  We have no space to give in teaching this sheet what good manners are but we hope the habit will not grow on them or soon they may be calling the English Colonial Secretary “Joe” the President of the US, “Grover” and their own sovereign “Micky.”

Grace: I must refuse him, poor fellow, but I wish I could do something to lessen the pain.   Maud: Get some one to tell him that you haven’t as much money as he thinks you have– Brooklyn Life.

Lamps should be filled every day and chimneys should be washed once a week. To procure a perfect light, every lamp should be provided with a new wick once a month. Just before lighting, rub the body of the lamp carefully so that there will be no smell of oil.  A little salt put into the lampwill do away with any disagreeable odor there may be.

He: I would kiss you if I thought no one would see me.   She: Shall I close my eyes?– Woonsocket Reporter.

On May 5th, the mail carrier to Su Wun, Kong Ju and Chun Ju districts was met by a band of robbers in Jiji Tai, Su Wun, and lost six letters.

Capt. Kim Myung Whan reports that the insurgents in Hyo Yang and Kim Sung districts now number 900 and it is impossible to disperse them with the force at his command. He has asked for reinforcements.

Capt. Yung Whan reports that the leader of the insurgents in Kim Wha, Sin Chang Son, was captured and shot on the public road.

A Japanese policeman lost $2.10 and an official document on the street. This was made known to the Korean Police Department. Yesterday a Korean policeman found the the man who picked up the package and recovered the money but there was no sign of the document with it. This was communicated to the Japanese police and the owner gave the money back to the Korean who found it. The diligence of the police and the generosity of the Japanese in this case are both to be commended.

The Governor of Han Heung reports that 1700 insurgents have established their headquarters at Hak Po Sa, An Pyun.  Japanese troops went to the place and drove them away and burned the village. During the engagement nine of the insurgents were killed and fifty houses were burned.

The Seoul court passed the death sentence on five robbers yesterday and they were hanged the same day.

A wealthy Korean lost his pocket book containing $440 on the street in front of one of the silk stores at Chong No. A boy named Yi Chong Ok found it and brought it to the Independent and asked that the owner be found if possible.  The owner called at the office yesterday, received the money after giving proof of his ownership, and the boy was rewarded with sixty cents.

Editorial

Among the many civilizing agencies that of general education holds a leading place and yet of all agencies, it is the slowest to show striking practical results.  Its power is due to the fact that it reaches back into a man and makes some soli repairs in his mental substructure which sooner or later are sure to make their appearance either in the form or durability of the superstructure. For the same reason it is that the external or visible results are slow in making their appearance.  They have to work out from the inside and it takes time, but when these results do become apparent they are doubly valuable because they indicate that the whole fabric is permeated with that same good quality.

There is hardly any branch of reform in which a people like the Korean might more easily become discouraged than in that of general education. Immediate practical results are demanded and if the superficial signs of quick fruition are lacking enthusiasm is checked and the cause of education receives a blow.

Until recently the Korean government has not been thoroughly right in regard to this matter and for years the cause of education dragged along as best it. In 1884, His Majesty projected a school a school for teaching English and through that of various branches usually included in a school curriculum.  In 1886, the scheme was carried out and the work began under the direction of three foreigners. We are told that almost immediately it appeared that the government desired to have men educated in two years.  In other words it wanted simply interpreters. This was not only the desire of the government but was the advice given to the government by more than one of the foreigners in high position under it. This being the case, the school, it seems, was turned into an interpreter mill with the result that the cause of education was immensely damaged; the wrong idea was inculcated that education was a matter of turning out a certain number of English speaking men a year, rather than giving men a thorough rounded elementary education.  It is a matter of great congratulation that a change has been effected and it was the China-Japan War that made the change possible. Today we see a thoroughly equipped and prosperous school because in back of it there is a real itelligent educational impulse in the government, because the men connected with the Educational Department know what an education is worth.

The time has now come when Korea should adopt a national system of education.

To do this several things are necessary. First it needs a full set of educational works translated into the Korean.  Here there is an utter lack at present. There is no arithmetic, no general history, no geography suited for a general text book, no history of Korea itself.  Having equipped itself with these essentials it should found provincial schools, six or eight perhaps, and make them feeders to a central school or college located in Seoul. As time goes on, schools could be founded in the magistracies which would be feeders to the provincial schools and so by regular steps, a full system could be worked out. It would have to be done gradually and carefully; Koreans would have to be found capable of taking these provincial schools in hand, a normal department would be necessary, in fact the whole apparatus and machinery of such a system would need to be set in order.  In a short time the national feeling heretofore expressed in the form of the quagga or competetive examination whould be diverted into this new channel and it would become a settled institution.  The magistracies would be able to support their own schools and the national budget would contain appropriations only for the central college and perhaps a number of scholarships in the provincial schools.

Get Korean to understand that preferment of any kind depends more on his capacity than on his family name and soon we shall see here what was seen in Japan, an impulse toward education that was simply overwhelming.

–The Independent, Vol. I, No. 18