CHAPTER XXXIV,
MODERN IMPROVEMENTS
IF a traveller who visited Korea twenty years ago should come back here in this year of grace 1906, he would be startled at the material changes that have been effected because of the opening of the country to foreign intercourse. But if he should make excursions from the open ports and the main centres of commerce, he would soon discover that, with the exception of the six hundred miles of railroad and of the telegraph lines, these evidences of material advancement are almost wholly confined to those centres.
Japanese energy and capital have transformed Fusan from an insignificant fishing village into a thriving city with water works, electric lights, commodious hotels, banks, museums and imposing municipal structures. The same may be said in lesser degree of Wonsan, Mokpo and Kunsan. Chemulpo is the most important port of entry as yet. Her proximity to the capital has won her this distinction, but the trunk railway terminus at Fusan must eventually push her ahead, especially when she becomes a port of call for the great trans-Pacific steamship lines. Chemulpo is, however, still a distinctly live place. Real estate in the foreign or Japanese quarters brings from twenty to thirty yen per square metre, which gives us a glimpse of the genuine life of the place. Not only has the Japanese population passed the ten thousand line, but the Koreans have flocked in until they aggregate some thirty thousand. The foreign town is fairly well built, though as yet there are few public buildings of note. The splendid sea-view from the steep side-hill on which most of the foreigners' houses are built makes it a very attractive place to live. A mile-long bund affords facilities for handling the
