Chicago Eagle

Eccentric Points in Korea.

That the Sovereign of the Land of the Morning Calm, otherwise Korea, has some peculiar notions which he imposes upon his subjects is not perhaps matter for surprise, but they are matter for amusement. Every Korean official wears a band of woven horse hair, which fits tightly round his head. Mr. Hatch, in a recently published book on the manners and customs of Korea, says, "The origin of this curious adornment is attributed to a desire on his Imperial Majesty's part to restrain the intellectual powers of his servants. According to his notion, brains might expand if not thus held in. It is not uninstructive to know," adds Mr. Hatch, "that the Emperor does not deem this adornment necessary in his own case."

The hats worn by Korean state functionaries have brims of enormous dimensions--three feet across sometimes--and are required to be made of clay. The reason for this, Mr. Hatch remarks, is that some years ago the then Ruler of Korea was annoyed at the habit of whispering that prevailed at court, and so decided upon compelling his courtiers to wear hats that would make it somewhat more difficult to put their heads close together and exchange confidences.