The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1876-05-17
: "JcHN CHsEAnaAN"


r.rrsN '"1oHM oAsNAnsAN" .,. .
The Peculiar, characteristics OF the
Mohgolfah as Merchant and MECHANIC.
lfur..l, r,gl u up-r-T7, nhU rflI ...
n San ,Framcisro Cor: Of the Cincinnati
Gazette. d. 20. -
y Aa compared with American,
u English, French or German mer,
i chants, the Chinese are, very in
fcriof. They exhibit none Of TINT
,wpnderful enterprise and boldncss
= which characterize tho Caucasian
i, race, and which 80 often result in
the = rapid acquisition. of great
/ wealth, The, .Mongolinn trader
will often make money, it is true,
but hG does it by the prnctice of tho
most rigid economy, eNpendins not
u dollar for h,x,tries and even deny
ing himself what among all civilized
nations, uro regarded as the neccs
sary comforts Of lif4 Speculative
ventures, outside Of those involved
in their gambling practices, they
never indulge ni::' Now and thon
a Chinaman who has recklessly
thrown off the proverbial caution
Iof his race, and become in manner
''Yahkecfed," will take a quiet
'sEy" III the stock market, but
those instances are rare. Go into
any of the leading stores of the
!; quarter, and you discover none OF
that bustling activity, that prompt.
ness and eayerness to supply the
wants OF customers, which is ono
of tho secrets of success with the
American merchant. On the con
trary, there is an apparent bu mess
apathy md indifference among
partners, clerks, and employees,
which, if exhibited Ill an y of the
stolcs on Market, or Kcalncy, or
Montgomery street, would in
very short time drive away all Gus
toners, and necessitate prompt pro-
ceedmss in bankruptcy. (. But,
viewed no "barbarians," our Chinese
traders are certainly f,,r in advance
tofany.of the -selni-civilizodo nations.
The Pcrsmns, Arpbians and tho
East Indians are not Mt all COMPARE
bic with the Chinese in industry, in
frugality and thrift. The China
man may accumulate money slowly,
bat it will come to him surely in the
long rm. In this city there
arc quite Il number who are rcputed
to be worth ....
FROM, 100000 TO 5000, 900.
But these are probably Leading
officials in some one or another of
the famous Six Companies. where it
is well known the opportunity for
making is not licking The
Chinese trader has Il system of
/ bookkeeping and accounts which
, wonl battle the most skillful
j.mathematician to unravol or explain
But it seems to answer the purpose
required, and is, of course, us nc
curatc as orr own. On every coun-
ter there is Il small computing cnse
consisting of movable balls OH
wires, not unlike the "cnsc box"
arrangement used in the American
faro game. With this n Chinaman
rapidly adds, multipies, divides. or
substrncts, but a Philadelphia
lawyer could not solve the process
i'll Il twelvemontl. Most of the
paper used by the Chinese is Of thin
papyrus material and of n light
brown color. A pencil brush with
a small point and India ink arc used
Mt all the desks and counting-rooms
Of the "puarter.' In none of the
stores is there particle Of taste or
. ingenuity exercised in arranging
Or displaying goods. Shelves arc
packcl / and crowded with mcrchan-
disc, no )attempt beirg made to
exhibit the quality or excellence of
my special commodity. a show
case, such az is almost sine guu
non in every American shop, is
rarely found in Chinese store, and
although many of the articles on
sale are of class which could be
most nrtistically arranged, our pig
tail merchants lack either the taste
! or the diapoaition; &sorr both, to
attempt anything like display. The
opinion entertained by not II few
that the Chinese are commercially
shrewd AMI sagacious, is fallacy
which is not borne out by facts.
The whole secret of their success in
l.laying up money lies in the fact that
they are the stingiest and most
parsimoni0ns race on earth. They
are onl y II remove or two from the
chanieleon-almost .subsisting on
air, and " terribly foul article ut
! that. l-t .E ~
1t. .is worthy Of remark that when
n Clnnaman IS able to purchase real
estlte in the "q,arter" he never
improves it, but he will "honcy-
comb" the, interior as much M
possible. making four or more
rooms out of one, and fitting them
up in such way as only II Mongo-
.h!Gan would endure, either for living
fortlaboring purposes.
TIE CHINESE AZ MECHANICS.
While It is 4 we'll known fact that
the. Chinese have very little of the
spirit of invention or Oririuality.