The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-06-18
SAN FRANCISCO, May II, 1875.


SAN FRANCISCO, May IA. 1875.
THE CHINESE
This letter will be devoted mostly to
the Chinese, and permit me to say it is a
topic that could profitabIy be extended
through a dozen letters.
Very early, rs far back as 1850, the
Chinese came, or rather We're brought,
to California And all the Americans
who came to the coast were in search of
gold, and as gold could only be mined by
individuals, labor went up to an absurd
price. The man who could make $50
day working gold, with no capital but
tin pan and a pick, couldn't be induced
to work for another man for much less
than that sum, and as there We're very
few women here, the work usually per-
formed by the softer sex was necessarily
done by those hiSh-priced men. There
being a heavy trade with China, specu-
latOrs brought over Cinnamon as labor
ers, under contract as to wages. Then
others followed, and so it progressed,
till the emigration became as fixed and
regular a thing as that of the Irish to
the Atlantic States.
San Francisco is, of course, the head |
quarters of the Chinese, for they all land |
here and all stay here, unless they have |
superior inducements to go farther East. |
Here they constitute n community by |
themselves. They
LIVE BY THEMSELVES,
eat by themselves, drink by themselves, |
have their own amusements and their |
own resorts. The Chinese have taken |
possession of Dupont, Jackson, and sever
nj other streets, with the alleys leading |
out OF them, and one, passing through |
this quarter, might well fancy himself in
Canton or Pekin.
WHAT THEY DO.
When they work for ''Melican" people
they serve in mary capacities. They are
used as walters, cooks, sernbbers, ard do
all the work done by girls i'm other eoun-
tries, and excellent servants they make.
They literally obey orders, and they do
it with celebrity and faithfuIness that
is astonishing. They never argue or
question. All that is necessary is for
them to know what yOu want, and they
will do it, if it is to be done. Conse-
quently, Cinnamon have routed Bridget,
and occupied her place They are ex-
ceedingIy
TEMPERATE
They never drink, though they do
smoke opium, which is more dangerous
to them, though not so much so to those
about them. / have not yet seen a
drunken Chinaman. Their opium dissi-
patton they go away to indulge in, so it
does not afiliet their employers. But
they carry on many occupations on their
own account There are
MERCHANTS AND MECHANICS
among them i'm plenty, and most excel
lent merchants and mechanics they are.
Some of the heaviest importers of teas
and Chinese manufactures are Chinese,
and in the items of shrewdness, probity
and prOmptness, they rank quite as
highly as their American competitors.
There are several Chinese houses here
who do quite as large business as any
Of the American houses in the same line
Their mechanics are quite as skillful as
any. They have shOemakers, black
smiths, tailors, and jewellers, who work in
the American fashion, and make Ameri-
can goods. and are patronized by Ameri-
caus.
THE LAUNDRY BUSINESS
an enormous number of them.
On every street, and for that matter, on
almost every block, you see "Ah SAM"
''Kung Tie" ''Sam Lee" all with the
legend, washing and Ironing, attach
ed. A half-dozen or a dozen of them
work together, their premises for that
being two rooms, ten feet square,
in which they work, cook, eat and sleep.
The front room is the work shop proper,
but at night it is converted into a dor
mitory in the simplest manner possible.
The long table on which they starch and
iron is converted into beds, as well as the
space under them, and they roll in to-
sether, and stew and sweat the night cut
in cOmfort-that 5 to say, it is comfort
for them, though it would Kill any other
people in a month.
But no matter how they live, they do
their work well. The Chinaman will
take your shirts and bring them to you
with n finish not attainable elsewhere;
aud your collars shine like new ten-cent
pieces. And he is reasonable in his
charges, too, his bills averaging about
half the New York rates Most of the
families in San Francisco who do not
keep servants, have their washing done
by Chinese laundryInen on the score of
They eau afford to wo=k
cheap, for
THEIR LIVING Is VERY CHEAP
The Cinnamon always board them
selves One of their number cooks for
the rest, and remarkably cheap is the
fare they thrive on. Cabbage is a favor
ite Ingredient in their dishes; rice is the
staple, and they consume for meats the
Iivers, pluck and neck pieces-I don't
know wehther the horns are eaten or not.
They import immense quantities of n
dried fish from China, and a
great many other articles of food, the
nature OF which 1 could not ascertain.
Pork is n staple, though you may be sure
they get none Of the best pieces Their
markets are as nasty as nasty can be;
and Chinese butchers stall is about
the most unsavory place have ever Of
Tended my nose with. Rathernice about
their persons, they have none of the
European or American fastidiousness
about their eating arrangements. One
thing seems to be as good as another to
them, so that it supports life. Their
DRESS
costs them very little, for there is no
change in fashions, and a garment stays