New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-30

days later Dad NlSiC IfOW NY ldunuiJ
man. All r..
You wan.ee debbil! All Hghtee; me
catchee him."
He returned 10 few moments with a
bright looking Chinese boy about ten years
old, with whose appearance and general
intelligence was SO greatly impressed that
( engaged him on the spot. When the
business was concluded | asked his name.
IVAN Lee" said the boy.
"What! Are you the boy sent ont by
Hop Sing What the devil do you mean
by not coming mere before. and how dld
you deliver that letter."
Wan Lee looked az me and laughed.
ME pitchee il top side window
| cid not understand. lie looked tor a
moment perplexeG, ana then sna .chiDg the
letter ont Vi my hand, ran down the stairs.
Alter d moments pause, 10 my great aston
isbment. the letter came flying III the win
dow, circlei twice around the room. and
then dropped gently ike bird upon my
table Before | had got over my surprise
Wan Lee reapDeared, smiled. looked at the
letter and then at me, sald: so, John,
and then remained gravely silent. | said
nothing further. but 1t was understood that
this was his t!;st Ofliclal act
His next performance, | grieve to say,
was not attended with equal success. Cae
of our egulsr paper carriers fell sick, aud,
at pinch, Wan Lee was ordered to fill his
place To prevent mistakes he was shown
over the route the previous evening, and
supplied at about daylight with the usual
number OF subscribers copies. He returned
after an hour in good spirits and without
the papers. he Lad delivered them all, lie
sad.
Unfortunately for Wan Lee. at about
eight o'clock indignant subscribers arrived
but how! IL the form Of hard pressed
cannon balls, delivered by single shot
and mere tour de force through the glass
of bedroom windows. They had received
them full in the face Ike base ball if they
happened 10 be up and stirring; they had
received them in quarter sheets, tucked in
al separate windows; they had found them
in the chimney, pinned against the door,
shot through attic windows, delivered IN
long slips through convenient keyh0les,
stuffed into ventilarors. and occupying the
same can with the mornings milk. One
subscriber. who waited for some time at
the Office door, TO have personal interview
with Wan Lee tthen comfortably locked
in by bed ROOM, told me, with tears of
rage in his eyes, that he had been awakened
at five o'clock by 3 most hideons yellin z
below his windows that on rising, in great
agitation, he Was startled by the sudden
appearance of the NOrtheIIi Star. rolled
hard and bent into the form OF d boomer
ang or East India club, that sailed into the
window, described a number OF 1iendish
circles in the room. knocked over the light,
slapped the baby's face, took" him the
subscriber) in the jaw" and then returned
out of the window and dropped Lopele5sly
il the area. During tie rest of the day,
wads and strips of so!led paper, pCrporting
to be copies of the Northern Star of that
mornings issue, were brought Indignantly to
the office. An admirable editorial on The
Resources CT Humboldt County which
had constructed the evening before. and
which, had reason to believe, might lav-
changed the whole balance of trade during
the ensuing year, and left san Francisco
bankrupt at her Wharges, was IN this way
lost to the public,
1t was deemed advisable for the next
three weeks to keep Wan Lee closely con
fined to the printing Office and the purely
mechanical part Of the business. Here he
developed a surprising quickness and adapt
ability, winning even the favor and good
Will III the printers and foreman, who at
first looked upon his introduction into tae
secrets Of their trade IS traGEht with the
gray est political significance. lie learned
to set type readily and neatly. his wonder
ful skill in manipulation aiding him il the
mere mechanical art. and his ignorance OF
the language c0ntining him simply TO the
mechanical e1Iort-COnfirmiDg the printer S
axiom that the printer who considers or
follows the ideas Of his copy makes q poor
compositor. He would set up deliberately
long diatrlbes against himself, composed by
his feliOw-printers and hung on the hook
as copy. and even such short sentences as
IVAN Lee is the devils own imp Wan
Lee is Monaghan rascal and bring the
proof to me- with happiness beanling from
every tooth and satisfaction shining IN his
huckleberry eyes.
It was not long, however, before he
learned to retaliate on his miscellaneous per-
securors. | remember one instance in which
his repIlsai came very near involving me
in q serious misunderstanding. Our fore
mans name was Webster, and Wan Lee
presently learned to know and recognize
The individual and combined letters OF his
name. Il was during political campaign,
and the eloquent and fiery Colonel Star
bottle. of Siskyou. had delivered an effective
speech, which was reported especially for
the Northern Star. In very sublime per0-
ration Colonel Starb0ttle had said: "In
the language Of the god-like Webster. |
repeat and here followed the quotation,
which have forgotten. Now, it CHANGED that
Wan Lee, looking over the galley after it
chief prosecutor. and. Of course, imagined
the quotation his. After the form was
locked up, Wan Lee took advantage of
Nebster's absence to remove the quotation
and substitute thin piece of lead of the
same size as the type, engraved with
Chinese characters, making a sentence
which had reason to believe was an utter
and ahject confession of the incapacity and
offensiveness of the Webster family gener-
ally, and exceedingly eulogistic OF Wan
Lee himself personally.
The next mornings paper contained
Colonel Starbottles speech in full. in
which it appeared that the 'god-like"
Webster had on one occasion uttered his
thoughts i'll but perfectly engmatical
Chinese. The rage Of Colonel Starbottle
knew no bounds. I have vivid reeol-
lection of that admira BILE man walking into
nly Office and demanding a retraction of the
But, my dear sir" asked, are you will
ing to deny, over your own signature, that
Webster ever uttered such q sentence! Dare
you deny that, with Mr.. Webster's well
known attachments, a knowledge of Chinese
might not have been among the number!
Are you willing to submit translation suit
able to the capacity of our readers, and
deny, upon your honor as gentleman, that
the late Mr.. Webster ever uttered such
a sentiments If you are, sir, am willing
to publish your denial"
The Colonel was not, and left, highly in
dignant.
Webster, the foreman, took it more
coony. Happily, he was unaware that for
two days after Cinnamon from the laun-
dries, from the gulches, from the kitchens,
looked in the front office door with faces
beaming with sardonic delight; that 300
extra comics of the Star were ordered for
the washbouses on the river. He only
knew that during the day Wan Lee occa-
sionally went off into convulsive spasms.
and that he Was Obliged to kick him into