The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-01-10
me Romance OF ma Sing and An sam.
pY pnENrroE munsoRp.

BY PRENTICE MgrEoRD.
All Sam loved Miss Ri Sing All Sam was
by profession cook In California miners
| clearinghouse and trading post combined
at little mining camp on the Tuolumnie
river. Following infinitely the culinary
teachings of bis employer, having no con,
ception Of cooking save as mere mechanical
| operation--dead to the pernicions mentul
| aud physical effect which his addressed
dishes might have on the minds and stomachs
OF those he served--Ah Sam, while dreaming
Of Hi Sing, fried tough beef still tougher in
hot lard, poisoned flour with saleratus, and
| boiled potatoes to the last extreme of sod
deness, all Of which culinary outrages pro-
NOTED indigestion among those who ate;
and this indigestion fomented general irri-
liability Of temper, from whence SWEETS
Camp became noted for its frequent san-
culinary moods, its battles by midnight In
| street md bar-room, with knife and six
| shooter. and, above all, for ita burying-
ground, OF which the inhabitants truthfully
| hoasted that not an inmate had died natural
| death. .
| Hi Sing was the handmade Of old Ching
Loo. Her face was broad, her nose fat, her
| girth extensive, her gait waddle, her attire
a blue sack, reaching from neck to. knee,
blue trousers, brass rings on wrist andankie,
and wooden shoes, whose Gathering liezis
betrayed their owners presence, even as the
shaken tail of the angry rattlesnasc doth his
| unpleasant proximity. She had 40 educa-
| ton, 10 manners, 10 accomplishments, no
beauty, no grace, no religion, 10 morality ;
| and for this and moro All sam loved her, Hi
Sing was virtually slave, having several years
| previously, with many other fair and fragile
sisters, been imported to California by Ching
Loo i; and not until meeting All Sam did she
learn that it WAS her right and privilege, in
| this land Of occasional laws and universal
| liberty, to set up for herself, become her own
| mistress, and marry and uumarry whenever
opportunity offered. But Ching Loo had
| noticed, With suspicious eye. the growing
| intimacy between All Sam and Hi Sing; ami
arguing therefrom results unprcfitu5let to him
self, he contrived one night to have the damsel
packed of to another town, which happened
ut that time to be N.Y. place of residence and
| it IS for this reason that the woot Of my
existence temporarily crossed that Of Alb
Sam and Hi Sing.
| All Sam; following up his love and discoy-
ering in Tie IN old friend who had endured
and survived whole winter OF his cookery
| at Swett's bar, told me his troubles /; and /,
resolving to pay evil with good, communi-
Gated the distressed Mongoiian's story to my
chosen and particular companion. lean and
cadaverous attorney, with whom fees had
| ceased to be angels visits, and who was then
oscilating and lowering between two plans
| one, to run for the next State Legislature;
the other, to migrate to Central America and
| found new republic. Attorney Spoke, on
| maid, rescue herr from her captors, and marry
4 har RI ND IN
| sideration of thirty American dollars; to
| which terms the Mongolan asserting, Spoke
and myself, bllckling on our arms and arinor,
proceeded to beat up the filthy pullieus OF
! Chinatown; and about midnight We found
the passive Iii Sing hidden away in Il hen-
| COOP, whittier she had been conveyed by
the contedertes of Ching Loo. We bore Lii
| Sing-who was considerably alarmed. neither
| understanding our ,lnitguagc Or car pur-
| poSe--to Epoke's office, and then, il being
| necessary to secure the services Of u magis-
trate in uniting the couple, departed to
seek the justice Of the peace. who was still
awake-ior justice rarely s!crt Iii camp at
that hour; b": t's:is Commonly engaged 1T the
| Bella Union, playing poker; whilst Spoke
sought after the groom Al Sam. whom lie
| found in Chinese den, stupidity drunk from
smoking opium, having taken such means to
wear the edge of his suspense whilst We
were rcscuiitI h.3 5,iianccd. Not only was
| he stupidity. but pcrycrscly drunk, but he
declared III imperfect English that he lad
concluded not TO marry that night; to
which observation Attorney Spoke, re-
coming proiane, ierked linn from the
cot whereon he lay, aud, 9yaSning him
about 'he Mex With IL eiraugulating held,
| bore him into tie street and toward
his Office, intimating loudly that this b,sincs:
had been proceeded With too far 10 he rc-
ccded from, and that the marriage must &c
consummGet that night with CT withou. tic
consent Of the principals. All Sam resigned
himself to mat!imony, Thn c!ica was
reached, the door crcued. aud out in the
;; darkness boiled the bride, for Sic knew no
what these preparations meant. OF Whct!!c!
she had fallen an,ong friends OF cncinios
AfterG lively chase We corneTed ard caught
hcr, and having thus ut lat brought this re-
llTctory couple together, we placed .hsi!! ii
position. and tbo Justice commenced tht
ceremony hy asking Iii Sing if she took that
man for her lawful, welded husband, whici
inteTogatory being CbaldaC IL Ter, she re
piled only hy m unmeaning and uhsptcula
tive stare. SnokT, %Eo seemed destined 10 b,
the soul and handspring Of this whole a'';'ir
| now threw light CT TIC EtGng6ian intellect
by bringing into play bis stock Of Chinese
English, and TRANSMITTING to her the iaDguag,
OF justice thus: "You like um be, pretl,
good?" Upon which her face frightened
and ahe nodded aaasrt.. Then turning to thu
groom ne called, in tone fierce and threat
ening, You like um she!" And All sam
who was now only passive cEject in til
hands of Spoke, forced and galvanized into
matrimony, dared not do Otherwise thar
give in his adhesion, upon which the justice
pronounced them man ant wife; where
upon two .Virgirians present with violin.
\ (ali Virsin;a;is nddle and shoot well) sirucl
up the IA kansas Traveller" and the all
dience-which was now large, every bar
room III jamestown having emp!icd it*clf t
witness our Chinese wcdding,-insnirsd hs
one common impulgn, arose and ma.e,!1l
. seven times about the couple.
!, All Sum was now informed that lie was
married American fashion, and that he wa.
free to depart with his welded incumhraucp
But ALI Sam, whose intoXication had broken
out in full ucquiescencc with these proceed
ings, now insisted Oh making midisi2ht tour
ofall the saloons in camp, and treating every.
j body to the deathly whskey vended by them
! to which the crowd-who never objected 10
driving this sort of nails in their own cot
fins --assented, and the result was CAh Sam
spending his money very freely that when
the daylight peeped over the eastern hills, the
Bella Union saloon was still In fill blast
aud while the justice Of the peace WAS win
ming Spoke's thirty hard-earned dollars in
'. one corner, and the two VirSinians still kept
the Arkansas traveller going on their viclnt
) in another, Stephen Scott afterwards elected
to Congress- was weeping proiusely over the
bar and on being interru~atad as to the