The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-04-17

mon, but sticks, straws, brass rings, etc,
are thrown in heaps upon the table, and
the tate of the player hangs literally
upon breath. Tan" or q" Fun-tan,
literally meaning "the funds spread
out" is popular game, resembling faro
Among the boat people in China il Is
the custom to spread Tan layout,
printed on a hide, while q plscard an,
nounces To-day we spread the hide "
This sign is not infrequent in the streets
of the Chinese quarter There are more
than a hundred establishments under
the eyes of the police, some of them
employing private specials and paying
for the privilege OF secretly breaking
the law of the land. These h4unts are
seldom rsided by the officers of justice,
for it is almost
IMPOSSIBLE TO STORM THE BARRIERS
in season to catch the criminals in the
very act. To-day you approach one
gambling-house by this door; tomorrow
the inner passages are mysteriously
changed, and it is impossible to track
them without being frequently misled,
and meanwhile the alarm is sounded
throughout the building, and very speed
lily every trace of guilt has disappeared.
The lottery is another temptation. Most
OF the very numerous wash-hOuses are
said to be agencies for the sale of lottery
tickets. Enter one of the pawn shops
licensed by the city authorities, and cast
your eye over the motley collection OF
unredeemed articles. There are pistols
of every pattern and almost every age,
the majority OF them loaded dsggers in
infinite variety, including the ingenious
fan-stiletto, which, wnen sheathed, may
be carried in the hand without aIousing
suspicion, for it bears an exact resem-
blance to a closed fan; entire suits of
clothing, beds, bedding, tea, sugar, clocks,
Ornaments-someo of them possibly looked
for in vain by the white patrons OF Chi
nese cheap housekeeping in fact,
save only
THE PRECIOUS QUEUE,
without which no Chinaman may hope
for honor in this life or salvation in the
next, The numerous customers who
keep the pawnshOps crowded with
pledges are probably most of them vic.
TINS of the gambling table or the opium
habit. T ey come from every house that
employs them; your domestic is impa-
tient of ell delays and hastens through
his work in order that he may indulge
his darlingsin. Follow him some night
and see him at the playhouse or the
clubhouse, the gambling hell, the opium
den or st the window OF her whose paint
and tinsel dazzle and confound him. You
may have observed that he seldom stops
within doors when it is not absolutely
necessary fer him to do SO. You pay
him small wage and congratulate your
self upon obtaining help at so reasonable
g figure. His nightly diversions must
soon deplete his purse; whence come his
revenues? Look agsin at the pawn
shops; search for the articles missing at
home There is doubtless much petty
thieving among the COolie domesJics
There are, OF course, exceptions TO the
rule, but as class, the house lsbOrers
CAN NOT BE TRUSTED
with impunity. They are clannish these
Mong0lians; they feed the hungry and
clothe the naked at your expense. They
udN6 GuClI OuS VI WI
masses that swarm in the heart OF the
Chinese quarter. Small as the room may
be, crowded as it is, every cubic inch OF
it must be paid for. When Chinsman
Purchases real estate, he does dream OF
improving it; he hODeycOmbs the dwell
ings and multiplies its capacities by ten!
In dOrmitory eight feet square, without
light or air, q dozen men will sleep with
a resignation that has every appearance
of being bred in the bone. The Globe
Hotel, corner of Jackson and Dupont
streets, which was built to accommodate
200 guests, is now occupied by l 500 Chi
nese, Another building, but a little
larger, shelters 500; but it would be
no satire were the proprietors OF those
establishments to hang out the plscard
which is the pride of all managers
" Standing room Only!" But for his
opium dream, what lite would the
coolie lead Let US peer into the charmed
circle Of smokers and watch them as
they suck poetry and poison from their
flute like pipes,