Mr. Foulk to Mr. Bayard.
Seoul, Corea, September 30, 1885. (Received November 6.)
Sir: I have the honor to report that the telegraph line being erected by the Chinese Government to connect Chemulpo and Seoul, in Corea, with Peking, overland, as reported in my No. 231, has been completed between Chemulpo and Seoul.
An office was opened in Seoul, and this part of the line put in operation on the 27th instant, on the evening of which a dinner was given at the foreign office to celebrate the event.
The Chinese officers and force of operators have started already for the interior, to complete the line to the Chinese border. A force of workmen are working on the line toward Seoul from the Chinese border. The Chinese telegraph commissioner, has informed me that the whole line will be in operation within sixty days.
I am, &c.,
Ensign, U. S. Navy, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.