The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-03-20
aatalIigelIte!r,
THE EL ca CHINESE INFLUX.
How Jchn,s Attention was. Turned tor the
United States. Z =. - - $40

.gstsSf Isssss San FRANCISCO, feDEusII ls..
The Mongolian octopus has fastened
: its tentacles upon the Pacific Slope, and
is fast destroying its commercial and
social lie. The people of this region cry
aloud that they may be snccored in their
extremity. There appears to be but one
echo to the recent act of Congress, aud
sthalis, eSign the bill and free us from
the 'demoralizipg and degrading contact
) with the present coolie system; limit
the influx, Of Celestials, and protect the
industries, and health, and home-life OF
our people; lift the burden that has
borne Us down, and give to the progress
siye Inhabitants of this section an oppor-
tanity to develop its resources upon q
4 prosperous and compensating basis"
You have already learned by wire how
earnest and emphatic have been the pro-
Z tests against vetoing the Chinese bill.
Our people were never more earnest in
their lives. As this subject is being dis
cuSsed, it maybe interesting to consider
for moment how and when the Chinese
began Hocking to our shores.
.Ah Haw, who is with the Sam Yeoup
Company, on Dupont street, says the
I first Chinaman who came to America
was Chum Ming, native merchant OF
Nal Sang, q province of Canton. He
was an intelligent and enterprising man,
: and came over here from his home in
,1S47. Going from this point to the
mountains ne began prospecting, and
was successful liri finding gold. The dis
ceyery caused him to convey the intelli-
geice to q friend named Cheong Yum,
in lS4S, and this latter individual at
once prepared to join his former COM
panion in the new Eldorado. The news
was so good that Cheong Yum, before
setting sail from the fiowery shores of his
native Empire, broke the intelligence to
Z several of his friends, and the mining
;feyer at once broke outin all the viru-
lence ofan actual epidemic disease. The
present excitement East over the repu-
ted Leadyille discoveries was nothing
compared with the fever that prevailed
away back ia 1S4S amongst the popula-
tion of Canton over alleged '6nds" of
gold in the mountains of Cliafornia.
Means Transportation were not as per-
feet then as now there were no Pacific
! Mail steamers to bring them over by
thousands, and so they came out, like
Sir .Joseph's sisters and cousins" in
ssPinafors, 'sby the DOZENS" ON sailing
vessels.
When in 1S449 tho Argonants of the
East began flocking to this coast in quest
of the auriferous deposits of our streams,
the Chinese, population had ss YET
amounted to but an Insignificant feature.
Within four years following arrivals were
moe frequent. and in larger propor-
tions, so that by the. close of 1852 there
were perhaps 1000 Celestials on the
coast, and ofthis number about 2 600 we're
located in San Francisco. The iirst Chi
{ naman who settled in San Francisco To-
Gated on what is now Stockton street,
near Sacramento, and in that same re-
gion the tMongolians have ever since
I lived, and finally covered over what is
s now designated Chinatown. When it
became apparent that Chinese immigra-
.tion was settled fact, steps were at once
taken, through the native shrewdness of
the Chinese themselves, to control it,
and take care of their own interest. 1t
s was then that the Yeoung Wo and Kong
Chow Companies the first of the pre-
sent Six Companies-were organized
and began the business of aiding Chi
nese immigration. The Sam Yeo1p Com
pany was organized in 1857, and was
Joined to the first associations.
Later, when the influx of Mongolians
had greatly increased, came the forma-
ofthe Ming Yeong, Hop Wo, and Yam
Wo Companies, and the whole number
were consolidated as the famous Six
! Companies, of which so much has of late
!, been said and written. The immigra-
tion of the better class of Chimes the
merchants, it may be said, is sattributable
to the Sam Yeoup and the Yecung Wo
Companies. The. servants and lower
classes generally, who have since formed
1.-The most disreputable element of the
Chinese population,-now designated as
sshighbinders,"-were brought out by
the Ming Yeoung Company.
So numerous did the Chinese element
become that it drove out, before 1864
I the white population from Sacramento to
Il Commercial street on the east side Of
Stockton street, east on Commercial to
Dapont, and north on Dupont to Jack
son, and south on the same street to Sac
ramento. During 1864 they increased
! the territory. from Jackson and Dupont
streets, east Gu Jackson to Kearney and
.vnprth on Dupont to Pacific, and thence
east on that street to Kearney. Since
that time they have gradually encroach-
ed upon the white population, until they
occupy an area of eleven blocks, boun-
Z ded by Pacific street on the north; and
Kearney and Stockton streets on the east
and west. The area within these borders
is thirty-three acres, of which--deduct-
ing for streets and alleys-twenty acres
are covered with buildings of all des-
criptions, l.ickety one-story wooden shan
Z ties and four-story bricks. This once
formed the best part of the city, where
were located most of the high-toned ho-
tells ;;.bnt churches, residences and hotels,
have been forced further out by the on
marching Asiatics.
We find that the Chinese population
of San Francisco isabout 80 600, and they
follow the subjoined occupations in the
numbers designated, as nearly as can be
ascertained:
merchants and professional men.... ,OoV
.Laundryman. 1900
fCigarrnakers. 5000
Boot and shoemakers.. ................. 1000
Servants. 1000
Slippermakers.. =. ......................... 5000
Gamblers. .......................... 400
Clothing.makers.. s......................... 5000
PpddIers. 2, 500
Fishermen. ................. .............. 1000
Laborers. 1000
-O.her occupations. ns...................... $500
Women .................... 1000
Total. .............................. $4,000