The Portland daily press., 1870-08-18

CORTLAND
Thursday Mornine, Aug. l8, 1870.



The Chiaese Quession i'm san Frnne,scs,
"Chinatown," as it is called, or the Chinese
quarter, comprises number of blocks on the
hill at the. rear of the city, and is exclusively
occupied by this nationality. 1 should think
it was bounded by three streets, longitudinal
ly, extending perhaps half mile, and by
eight or ten laterally.
b The number of Chinese in this quarter is
variously estimated, and it is difficult to Get at
the facts, even approximately. Three thou
sand have come in one week since my arrival,
thirteen hundred being on one ship. Citizens
tell you there are fifteen, twenty, or twenty
nve thousand; believe there are MANY more.
Iney are packed with the density and sciep-
tlnc precision of sardines i'm box. The
Stfeets OF the quarter swarm with them like
Dees ABOUT hive, and you find them all lust
as busy as bees in their various avocatlops.
Ihese are multifarious, indeed, since they car
~ on all Their own manufactures and stores,
and are, ir fact, as isolated and independent
as though San Francisco were thousand
miles away. They have their own butchers
and provision dealers, buy almost nothing
from the markets, bring from China all sorts
of food that are imperishable, as also their
own clothes, shoes and utensils, and are in
fact OF about as much use or Importance to
the trade or manufactures of California or
the United States as the sea-lions out at the
the Cliff House. rff
They send their dead back to China. and
after certain time, when their contracts are
finished, the living go back as WELL They
have artiflcers of all sorts. and manufacture
shoes, slippers, straw hats, bamboo and wicker
work, and all sorts of Chinese goods that can
be manufactured and sold, either to Celestial
or barbarian.
q They live in small, dingy, smoky houses,
and their shops are single rooms, about eight
feet by ten, sitting from tobacco and opium,
and disgusting from dirt and refuse food.
Passing along these streets in the afternoon
you will see their degraded women arranging
their complicated and hideous coifures, and
generally getting themselves ready TO follow
out their special roles of birds of prey. Out
side the doors the Cinnamon are cooking, pre-
pairing food or fuel; or occupied in small re-
pairing of shoes, clothes, pots, pans and ket-
ties. They keep up continued sing-sOng jab-
Der which answers to the Chinaman for lam
guage, but they never cease working like bea-
vers, and they meddle with no one, never ad-
dressing white man ("Amelica man, whom
business or curiosity has led into their pur-
lieus. In their shops you will see them
WciSuIUS Out tuc IutCh, DidCk, SIICky paste,
which is opium, as most common sale. You
find one at the head OF the counter keeping
his accounts with little balls strung on wires,
which he handles deftly and accurately, ap-
apparently counting as rapidly as we can with
figures.
In Chinatown they talk very little English,
but they all answer to the name of"JOhn, y
and seem willing and anxious to discover
your meaning, which is not remarkable, since
it involves sale. An odd sight, early in the
morning, is TO see the little Chinese children
on their way to school, each with his little
pigtail behind his back and his Chinese books
under his arm. ll sifF
These pigtails, which are forbidden of ma
ture to the adolescent Celestial, are eked out
with horsehair, silk. cotton or other substi-
tute-but the article is there. What they
learn or where they go-these American citi-
zens of Chinese origin-I know not, but they
form curious episode in the whole question
Although the Chinese make the best SER
wants in the world, and especially walters, l
know OF but one case where there is Chi
nese waiter in San Francisco, and that is at
one of the Stree lunch" tables of which have
spoken. There he is counted as the very hest
servan. the proprietor ever employed. But
the feeling among the laboring classes is so
intense against them that any attempt to in
troduce them generally into servitude would
be certain to cause dissention, and, possibly,
riot. -4 if a
As an illustration of this may mention
that when the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany built the new wharf from which their
ships now start, and chose to employ Chinese
labor-as they do on board their ships-the
Irish laborers came to them and informed
them that they would do SO at their peril.
The company planted heavy guns loaded
with grape at the entrance to the wharf,set
the Cinnamon to work, and requested the
Irish to "come on" when they-went off.
In California, as is well-known, Cinnamon
built the Central Pacific railroad and work in
the mines, and with complete success. But
they are also the washerwomen of the coun-
try. All the washing is given out exclusively
to the Chinese, who certainly do it admirably
well, though must say they use compost
tions in the process, which are deleterious to
the well-being of the garments. In the ho-
tells you meet them in every corridor with
their bundles of clothes; while you are walked
in the morning by the tapping at the door
and the persistent call--"C "Chinaman"- washee
Cor. N. Y. Maii.