The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1879-04-26
Letter from an 60 Occasional - Corr
respondent i'm China.
To the Editor of the CARBON ADVOCATE;


respondent i'm china.
To the Editor of the Carbon ADVOCATE:
DEAR srR,- Surprising your numerous
readers, who have not been in China, might
be interested, venture to intrude on your
space with a few remarks on
SAMPAN LIFE IN FOO CHOW.
To the majority of readers the name sam
pan sounds like Greek, perhaps but 1t is in
reality pdgin English, and is a corruption,
by the foreigner, of the Chinese word Soong-
yan or boat ships child.) 1t has been esti-
mated by competent persons that there are at
least 0,oO0 Of these sampans now floating up
on the Min river, in the vicinity Of the city Of
Foo Chow; and to person unacqualnted
with the manners and customs Of the boat
people Of China, 1t is a matter of much curi-
osity how thoy manage to obtain food and
clothing and money, without ever leaving
their little floating homes.
An ordinary sampan is about twenty. eight
feet long, and six feet broad at the broadest
part. They are round.bottomed and are so
built that they draw but little water, yet can
carry heavy load, say about one ton weight,
if necessary.
The planks are of China Pine sewed togeth-
er with long wrought-iron nails, and the seams
and nail-holes filled in with white putty or
chundm. They are never painted but kept
beautifully clcan,by constant scrubbing. The
timbers are of camphor-wood, and form par
titiOns in the boat, so that it is in separate
compartments which, being rendered water
tight by the wonderful chundm, efTectually
prevents the laundering ofthe sampan in case
of collision or danger from running under the
"Chow-Chow water" or breakers in the tide
rips.
There are four oars or "culocs," used in the
same manner as in the Venetian gondola, /. G..
the operator stands and shoves the oar for
ward. A large stecring-oar nearly as long as
the boat, working on a large wooden pin, pro.
jects from tho stern, and causes the motions
OF the sampan to be under the most perfect
control SO that it can be turned round, ccm-
pletely, in its own length, or forced to hold up
in the teeth of the strongest breeze as If the
boat had wheel, (Which it has not).
A mat of bamboo and grass covers the sleep
ing apartments, arching over the boat in such
n manner that one can stand quite upright on
the floor of the sampan without touching the
ceiling of the mat
The mast is of bamboo and is so arranged
as to be taken down and slung alongside the
boat in a moment.
The sails are of coarse Chinese cloth, some
what akin to drilling, but colored brown or
dark blue, according to the caprice of the
owner
The cooking is done in q little earthen stove
in the stern compartment and is invariably
attended to by the women, usually the oldest
one in the family. The focd consists princi-
pally of rice, of course but there are many
little delcacies (?) which are obtainable for
a few "cash," which help to make the people
quite satisfied with their fare.
The river abounds with great variety OF
fish, and as these are easily captured, there
is always a chance for a fresh mess in case the
rice runs short.
| The variety of uses to which the sampans
are put, and the multitudes of trades in which
! they are employed, causes marked difler-
| ence in their occupants, so that an experenc-
ed eye can tell fish-man from tea-man, and
a passcnger-man from n stone-man. &C., by
! tho appaarnnoo nr thsir clothing and skin
the fsh-man having black skin and no cloth
ing, while the tea-man is fair and has good
clothes. The passenger-man wears straw
hat and a pair of English pantaloons. while
the stone-man has a ragged and dirty breach
clout but no shoulder covering.
shall describe only those varieties of sam
pans and sampan people, that have come from
day to day under my immediate notice.
To begin with my own house-sampan-The
,,ilv aop ststs nf rbpp AIinU and his wife
Juree and his wife, (Chee Ming and Juree are
half brOthers) and the mother of the two men
sold Mrs. Chee Ming" us L call her.
These five people, (Oh forgot little Hoo
Deah, the daugher of Chee Ming), these six
persons live in a sampan by day and by night
were born in sampans, and will die in sam
pans, and yet they are happy.
They awake at earliest dawn of light and
proceed to eat, after which they make up a
doubtful species OF tollet, and iii is a holiday
they wash themselves.
Strange TO say, that though their boats are
very models of neatness and absolute purity
externally, the people are hlthy and are apt
to leave residents upon unwary travellers IL
their floating domiciles
Eating is persisted in for at least four times
during daylight and twice more before retir
ing, with snatches of sleep between, so you
can't really say that they keep regular hours
pay this sampan man Of mine fifteen ISIS
Mexican dollars per calendar month, and hC
deyotes his entire services to me and my bust
ness. lfa steamer comes up, he is supposed
to notify me, and to have his sampan ready
to take me of to her, to get the mails, (usuai
/ ly opened on boardl,
I'll want to visit friend on the other side
of the river, at night, he must always be on
hand AMI IL l have to 20 u miles up the river
/ to Foo-Chow- foo, or 10 miles down the river
to Sharp Peak, at any time Of night or day
in any weather, they have to be on hand. This
family is a sample Of many others, employed
| By the month in foreign hongs.
Another class Of sampans are those employ
ed entircly-by the Chinese junks, to aid them
| in their slow and tollsome passages up and
down the Min River. Tney are smaller, and
poorer paid than any other, and have harder
work and longer hours. Such dirt and filth
and disease as is exhibited by the occupants
Of this class Of sampan, / never have seen
equalled in any part of the world, and you
/ know l have travelled far.
Nv iblhAllNo aiN HNhSAhAlg ulhlosNh VI Alil
most aged and infirm people, and the young.
est, tinicSt and weakest of little bTats Of both
sexes. The people of middle age are probab-
! ly employed in their own sampans in the tea
districts, leaving their aged parents to subsist
upon the miserable pittance given them by
the junk men, aud their swarms oflittle ones
dependent on the old folks for food. The duty
of these sampans is to pull the head of the
junk around, while she is "shlvering in the
wind" preparatory to tacking as the river il
so narrow that the junks must turn short OF
else run ashore.
There are about u or "a sampans to each
junk, while in the river, and they are paid
about 20 cents each per day while on the pass
age to or IRON the mouth of the river. Imag
inc, If you can, a family Of Elk or eight per
sons, subslstiug, or rather existing on such q
stipend as 20 cents per day!!l
Its hard scratching for a common cooli,
living on shore, to keep soul and body togeth
on 81 a month Tut the rate falls far below tha
where six persons have TO live on the proceed