New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-07-16
sls,r e)rlsa,ss &epnblieatl.
CELEsrLALs IN LOUISIANA.


81. CELEsTLALs IN LOUISIANA.
A Herald Corrcspondent's Views.
We copy a portion of letter from the
New Orleans correspondent of the New
York Herald, relating to the lately arrived
Cinnamon:
NEW ORLEANS, July ., 1870.
This morning at daybreak one hundred
and forty Cinnamon turned out to work in
the cane fields of Louisiana. Ii the ex-
ipel ..ment succeeds half as well as indica-
tons now promise, Independence Day will
have q new meaning for the planters Of the
South. The Fourth of July, 1870, will be
pendence of a class Of labor which, relying
upon its suitability to the soil and c!inate,
and the excess Of demand over supply, had
begun to be tyrannical and exacting be
yond endurance. In Louisiana alone be-
fore this time next year thousands upon
thousands of acres will be brought under
cultivation, which, but for this new labor
force. would have lain idle. In Texas two
hundred and fifty Chinese are now working
ON railroads, opening up the commerce OF
that magnificent empire State; and some
hundreds have been set to work in
the cotton fields of Arkansas, under con-
tracts entered into with the agents or koop7
smanschap g. Ce. Thus in three Southern
States at once the experiment is progress,
ing. But Louisiana affords. the best and
most suitable field for Chinese labor for
several reasons, chief among which is the
fact that it's climate and products are pre-
cisely similar to those OF the sections OF
China from which the emigration is likely
to come; for curiOusly enough. the tide OF
Chinese emigration to the United States has
only reached two or three provinces OF that
Tn, riNva
B nnd other district no inducement could
prevail on the people to leave their native
/, and crowded land. So at least, says Lee
Fo0k Wing, the intelligent, educated head
man of the gang now In Louisiana, and men
tioning Lee FoOk Wings name lit is to be
hoped with the proper number of les" and
so's' in the spellipgl brings one down to the
hundred and forty Cinnamon with whom
this letter started. ss~as .,or ~
\, - II WHAT THEY ARE. ~. ,rr
Dressed IN blue blouses and drawers very
much like Coney Island bathing dress,
with shaven crowns, bcardless faces and
i.plaited pigtails sweeping the ground, their
appearance conveys o first impression of
-efeminacy which close inspection quickly
iisGpates. Nearly all Of them are young
mm--they have no women among them
some mare hOys, 1.-the, muscular and active
- . company of picked French ZOuaves
"
their quarters, they were racing, jumping
and chattering with all the la6ssdon of Q
parcel Of sch00lbOys just let loose. Two or
three, On soberer thoughts intent, were en-
gagged in cooking the common supper, and
cooking It ina way of their own devising.
In the arrangements for their re-
ceptiOn q kitchen had been forgot
the occasion. Burrowing hole in the
ground, after some quaint fashion of their
own, they developed a kitchen range, which
would make o backw0Odsman's fortune.
Alas, for the fondly cherished beliefs Of
early days! That well known picture Of
our childhood which represented the Chi
nese provision merchant making his daily
tail to one end of bamboo pole, and three
fat puppy dogs dangling at the other, was
: one of the few traditions which time had
not disturbed, pressing forward to verify
this h0nored belief by occular demonstra-
ton. Your correspondents found q most
4appetizing rogOMt of chickens and rice sim
mering in the saucepan: five or ten pounds
and some cOmcakes baking in the back
ground. Is not this enough to shake ones
confidence in everything-even in fish
stories! Il, ..s...-- "a. ..s..--
=. etf WHERE THEY ARE.
These one hundred and forty pioneers
from Celestial land have been engaged to
work upon one of the finest sugar estates IN
Louisiana known formerly as the Milaudon
Plantation, now owned by. Cakes Ames,
Governor Gardner, Peter Butler, and other
Massachusetts capitalists, and managed by
Mr. Amos B. Merrill, one of the shrewdest
lawyers of the Boston bar. Elt PEASANT, is
; it not curious that Massachusetts men who,
If history lies not, first brought negro slay-
cry to curse the South, who built mp the
institution and then destroyed it, are now
taking the lead in introducing the new mo-
tive power here and in their own State, and
perhaps in fifty years hence will be forming
q "Chinese abolition society" The China
men on the Millandon place have their
distillery lone Of those sacrifices which gov
ernrnent every now and then exacts from
Lossisiana distillers TO please the Western
whisky rings It is . large, two story
wooden building, and when fitted mp with
the hunks which the Cinnamon themselves
: are preparing, will answer admirably for
their accommodation. 4 Eg
Yhe engagement of these men by Mr.. Mer-
rill and his associates is not the less mat
ter Of pluck, because their aid was greatly
needed. Rains and unfavOrable weather
have erased the crops in Louisiana beyond
the probability of cleansing with the pres
1ent force, and there Is universal ont
cry for labor. Still as he who ate the first
oyster was o bold man, 80 he who tried the
first Chinaman ran no mean risk. They
prefer to keep together for mutual pr0tec-
tion. The man who concluded TO take one
Cinnamon. was bound to take q hundred.
His experimenting had to be done, not in
miniature or ON paper, but In actual prac-
tice, and on large scale. There will be
plenty ready to follow the example now, as
~ ls found likely to pay. Mr.. Gardner has
start it was the thing which required nerve
and enterprise and liberal command of
money. These Mr.. Merrill and his associ-
ates have brought to bear, and with every
prospect Of success. Twenty thousand
Cinnamon would not be too many for imme-
date absorption in the labor market of Lou.
isiana. ,4'ls af-sc c., .t.1s "a ..se ...-r.5 t'
r zc WHAT THEY CAN DO.
: Thirty of the hands have worked on sugar
plantations in their own country; the rest
are quick and ready to learn. They are
handy at all mechanical trades and are said
to make the very best Of household servants
A few of them speak a little English. Lee
Fook Wing, their head man, who, by the
way, is one of the adherents Of that power
full rebel faction in China which has over
rum half the country, and whose leader
mixes up Christianity and Confucianism in
celestial confusion, has lived in England
and speaks English well.
II suppose some of your countrymen here
can write 2" was asked of him in the hear
ing Of your correspondent. Ma.
Certainly, all of them" -
What! and read ,too!' -
''Certainly-theirO own language"
well, that's more than can be said of
many other laborers in this country. Are
they cOntentedf" @a 'FZ
"Yes." To set
$40 thew like the climate 7,.