The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1870-09-01
GIRLS FOR SALE.
/ Scene in Il Slave Martin China.


Hong Kong Cor. of the Boston Traveller.
saw ,he sale ot family last week for
debt. where the husband and father were
IN California and perhaps L cannot do
ne;tCr than to tell you about i: There were
/ i've chlidren-three girls and ,wo boys
| We had passed them three times in our
chairs during the day. as they stood be.
side the road dressed in their holiday at
| tire, OF blaok. The silence they observed
whenever any person passed, end their
/ downcast looks, created curiosit, on our
part to know their bui>neSs there. Arr
Hung l"ur walJer) WAS called up and asked
/ the cause OF this parade. Why" said
he, the girls, and perhaps the whole
family, are for sale. - We stopped our
chairs and stepped ont to have talk With
, Lhen, using AR Hung as IN interpreter.
he no her Was wrlnaIed aud gray, and
hung her head "a ii she were afraid to look
u>ln the t'tce. Eat the children, with the
exception OF the oldcs, girl, looked cheers
ial, and were quite pleased with their hoi-
dty ATTIRE. The Oldest girl vas sixteen,
and he oldest boy fifteen So said the
grlt Cd booker whD hal the party in
charge, and who seemed quite anxious to
dispose of his wares. After great deal
ot qutzzng AMI eva>ive answers the broker
told u HAT the husband aud father was in
Caliorn'a, and had neglected to pay his
note given for his passage, and shat his
family were now offered tor sale to ray the
debt. He hoped to be able to pay the debt
with the sale OF the :wo oldest girls, but as
yet had received no offers He said that
the family bad become security voluntarily,
and he never knew Of a case where they did
not voluntarily offer themselves for sale if
the note they secured vas not paid. Ia re-
ply I our questions he said that when &
customer bought a child or person, the per-
son wa~ made at once the owner of the
child, body soul NJ Chnaman would
dispute the posses or : night to do what
even he pleased with the human being he
had y il for. The BOYS would make good
servants, he said, ana in the course of a
t"w years be worth fortune to the owner.
The girls would make good 'armers' or
nur~eS. as they are called in America). He
wouli <how Ms their physical beauty
would make them sing and play tricks, if
we thonght Of buying. How N m1ch would
sc give The oldest girl he would sell
for $i0D; the next one tor $500, and the
lirtle skye old for $50 The boys he
would not sell until the girls were disposed
o., We thnught the price too high. The
mai ket was glut Ell with salaDe girls, and
he must not think Of getting over 100 for
the Oldest and hands0meSt, while for the
little one he mnSt not expect over so. He
>uecrcd at hat, and said that EnglIshmen
always talked in that way when they
wanted to buy. While we we're talking a
party of blue rohed Chinese aristocrats
game up an began to inspect the family.
| They opened the mouth Of the oldest girl,
raqeed l6,, On sr whffe 'eelh to see if they
d I nm m t1p 4 I,.r rii, ,be1 har
fet, tod her to show the white of her eyes,
ordered her to sing ana to show them tho
trinkets which the fond mother had given
her as a parting gift. All the while the
salesman kent up constant jabber, in
which We took ~ interest. Time pressing,
"e passed on leaving the parties di>puting
about the price. and discussing the proba>
bill lie. of their running away if taken to
! iloag Kong. After making our call we
returned the same way 10 ascertain the
result of the sale Olly the mother and the
| boys were left. The debt vas only $500,
AMI 80 of 1t still remained unpaid. have
been often told b. residents in China that
! the parents would as soon sell their chill
! dren "a 4 cow or rig, aud | have begun to
believe tba Such was the case upon pass
ing the groure the first time But the
scene had changed. The mother sat in the
/
Y43I.ng ID 4 most plteous manner, and as
! Arr Hung said, cur~ing the men who sold
| ngr hu,blnd ticket 10 America al $500,
| which cost them hut $40 The broker sat
! h~rIeSsiy by, smoking his pipe, and twirl-
ing his cane, and looked as if it was the
smallest matter Of business with him. The
! nors we're crying, and seemed very much
| afraid of uS, now It was certain that one OF
! them must 90. But we passed on and left
! them in their misery. We never knew
whether the boy was sold to a childless
man 10 be treated a a son, 10 ortuguese
- be carried TO the West Indies under
nominal contract, or to native land owner
| to be his slave Bat that one OF them was
/ sold INTO >eryiiuie for the sum Of $50,
there can be 10 doubt. The girls were
doubtless purchased for the vile>t Of pur-
poses. unless they had the rare luck to fall
into the hands of sntnn native in search of
a legitimate wife. | am told that the price
| OF gold has gone up within lew months,
/ owing. perhaps. to the fact that . less num-
/ her of cmigran's have forfeited their bond
( in California than was the case six months
ago. | was shown four bright, plump,
rosy appear girls yesterday, who were
purchased less than a year ago the whole
I'M for $50. Now they will sell readily for
500 each