Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1873-02-15

SiIu IdnSel, sOluetulHB ike MlhbOllFl
mHle-driver's "black snake" whip-lash.
To lose this cue is to lose caste and
standing amongst his fellows No mis-
fortune for him can be greater.
Coarse cowhide boots are the only
articles Of American wear that he favors.
He inclines to buy the largest sizes,
thinking he thereby gets the most for
his money, and when his No. feet
wobble and chafe in No. II boots he
complains that they eft too much.
He cultivates the vegetables Of his
native land in California, They are
curiosities like himself. One resembles
our string bean, but is circular in shape
and from two to three feet in length.
It is not in the least stringy breaks off
short and crisp, boils tender very quick
ly, and affords excellent eating. He is
very careful cultivator, and will spend
hours picking off dead leaves and in
sects from the young plants. When he
finds a dead cat, rat, dog, or chicken,
he throws it into a small vat of water,
allows it to decompOse, and sprinkles
the liquid fertilizer thus obtained over
his plantation. Watermelon and pump
kin seeds are for him dessert delicacies.
He consumes his garden products about
half cooked in an American culinary
point of view, merely willing them by
an immersion in boiling water.
There are about fifteen English words
to be learned by Cinnamon on arri-
wing in California, and no more. With
these he expresses all his wants, and
with this limited stock you must learn
to convey all that is needful to him.
The practice thus forced upon one III
employing a Chinese servant is useful
in preventing a circumlocutory habit OF
speech. Many Of our letters the Mon
golian mouth has no capacity for sound
ing, Il he invariably sounds like |, so
that the word "rice" he pronomces
lice"-a bit of information which may
prevent any unpleasant apprehension
when you come to employ Chinese
cook. He rejects the English personal
pronoun |, and uses the possessive
"my" in its place; thus, "My 90
home, y in place of 81 go home"
When he buries a countryman he |
throws from the hearse into the air
handfuls of brown tissue-paper slips,
punctured with Chinese characters. |
Sometimes, at his burial professions, |
he gives a small piece Of money to every |
person met on the road. Over the |
grave he beats gongs and sets off packs
Of fire-crackers. On it he leaves cooked
meats, drinks, delicacies, and lighted
wax tapers. Eventually the bones are
disinterred and shipped to his native
land. In the remotest mining districts |
of California are found Chinese graves
thus opened and emptied of their in
mates. I have in one instance seen
him. so far as he was permitted, render
some of these funeral honors to an |
American. The deceased had gained |
thin honor by treating the Chinese as
though they were partners in our COM
mon humanity. "Missa Tom, as he
was termed by them, they knew they
could trust. He acquired among
them a reputation as the one righteous
American in their California Gomorrah.
Cinnamon would come to him from dis
tant localities, that he might overlook
their bills of sale and other documents
used in business intercourse with the
white man. Their need of such an
honest adviser was great. The descen-
dents of the Pilgrim Fathers often took
advantage of their ignorance of the
English language, written or spoken.
Missa Tom" suddenly died. | had
occasion TO visit his farm a few days
after his death, and on the first night of
my stay there saw the array of meats,
fruit, wine, and burning tapers on
table in front of the house, which his
Chinese friends told me was intended
as an offering to "Massa Toms" spirit.