The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-04-24


uDon a breath. Tan" or e Puritan
literally meaning " the funds spread
out" is popular game, resembling faro.
Among the boat people in ChinE It 4s
the custom to spread g Tan lay out,
printed on hide, while placard an
nounces " To-day we spread the hide"
This sign ia not infrequent in the streets
of the Chinese quarter, There are more
than q 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 haunts are
seldom raided by the officers of justice,
for it is almost
IMPOSSIBLE TO STORM THE BARK1ER5
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 mysteFiodsly
changed, and it is impossible to track
them without being frequently mislsd,
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 wssh-houses are
said to be agencies for the sale Of lottery
tickets. Enter ono of the pawn shops
licensed by the city authorities, and cast
your eve over the motley collection OF
unredeemed articles. There are pistols
of every pattern and almost every age,
the majority OF them loaded daggeTs in
infinite variety, including the ingenious
fsn-stiletto, which, wnen sheathed, may
be carried in the hand without aIousing
suspicion, for it bears an exact Tesem-
blance to a closed fan; entire suits OF
clothing, beds, bedding, tea, sugar, CLOCKS,
ornaments-some of them possibly looked
for in vain by the white patrons of Chi
nese cheap labor-eVeryt 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 gsmbling-Iable or the opium
| habit. T ey come from every house that
employs them; your domestic is impa-
tient of sill delays and hastens through
his work in order that he may indulge
his darling sin. 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
/
may have observed that he seldom stops
within doors when it is not absolutely
necessary fer him to do go. You pay
him small wage and congratulate your
self upon obtaining help at so reasonable
figure. His nightly diversions must
soon deplete his purse; whence come his
revenues? Look again at the pawn
/ shops; search for the articles missing at
home. There is doubtless much petty
thieving among the Coolie dOmesUics.
There ere, OF course, exceptions to the
rule, but as class, the house labOrers
il CAN NOT BE TRUSTED
with impunity. They are clannish these
MoDgolians; they feed the hungry ano
clothe the naked at your expense. They
have their friends out of work among the
masses that swarm in the heart OF the
Chinese quarter. Small as the room may
be, crowded as IT is, every cubic inch Q
it must be paid for. When ChiDamaT
pCrchases real estate, he does dream o.
improving it; he hoDeycOmbs the dwell
}, ings and multiplies its capacities by ten
In dormitory eight feet square, without
light or sir, a dozen men will sleep with
a resignation that has every appear anct
of being bred in the bone. The GlObt
Il Hotel, corner OF Jackson and Dupont
streets, which was built to accommodate
200 guests, is now occupied by ], 800 Chi
nese. Another building, but a little
larger, shelters 1890; but it would b'
no satire were the prOprietOrs of thOs'
esta blishments to hang out the piscaTC
, which is the pride of ali managers
Standing room onlyP' But for hi
opium dream, what a life would tn
coOlie lead Let US peer into the charme'
circle Of smokers and watch them q
they suck poetry and poison from thei
,, flute. like pipes,