Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-12-08

POPULATION OF Cook CouSrY.-FoREIeS-
ERs.-THE CHINESE.

silent of late for the reason that your col
umns we're too full of politics for anything
else, scarcely, during the campaign. The
great question of who should govern this
land of ours, for the next four years. ex-
rebels or Unionists. absorbed the public at
tention and the public prints to the exclusion
of ordinary matters. Then, since the elec-
ton, you have felt so good that you have not
been able to fill up your columns with solid
matter, but with roosters and big guns, and
had Maine not been the. land of the teetotaller
we should have suspected that one reason
why there was such display of chandeliers
and dearth of reading matter was because
the good news had been too much for you,
and .sTangle-legs" had got you. But mind,
we don't accuse you of anything Of the kind,
and even were you to plead guilty to so abb
surd thing. we should willingly forgive
you, in consideration of the great cause of
rejoicing, the grand victory of our noble re-
publican party over the powers OF darkness
and the democratic party; victory of the
party of progress over the party of dead is
sues of the past: the victory of freedom
over slavery; of civilization over semi-bar-
barism; of the free ballot over the false,
of the whole country over a section. Once
again the curtain of time drops on the last
and most disgracefnl scene in the history of
a party whose acts should long ago have con-
signed it to political burial; party which
has been the apologist for slavery and Ku-
Lor rkor xrhn haa q
been the shotgun South and the mud-gun
North. The population of this Cook
county, as shown by the census is 607. 1853, of
which 242 40S are foreign born. ia Chinese,
and IA Indians. 1t will thus be seen that
the foreigners are over one third of our peo-
pie. and as a natural consequence each party
has to cater heavily to them. and the result
is not altogether pleasing to native born
American, for our offices are filed with
Scandinavians. Germans. Danes, and Irish,
who are there as reward for their services
in influencing votes. The Celestial is no
stranger on our streets, and the laundry signs
of Sam Wing, and Sam Sing grace the en-
frances to many of the Easements on our
business streets. In these Easements the
Chinamen-there are no China women here
eat, sleep, wash. iron. cook, and smoke
opium Several of them are opium dens
also, and are patronized by white men who
have formed that terrible habit. One day
during the late republican National conven-
ton here your correspondent accompanied
by another son. or rather father of Kennebec,
Capt. A. S. Richmond of Monmouth, went
down in a Clark Street China Laundry just
to see what we could see, and as we entered
we found a white man standing in front of
the counter and behind it a celestial with a
small scale in front of him on which he was
weighing out a small quantity of black gum
opium On one side of the room was a sort
of rude fiat settle on which the man as soon
as he had completed his purchase reclined,
resting his head on a block. pipe and a
small lamp was brought him. and knitting
needle thrusting the needle into the viscous
fluid opium he turned it around until piece
about the size of pea adhered, then hold
ing it in the lamp he burned it a moment.
The pipe used by opium smokers has a
wooden bowl which is nearly solid, having
only very small hole in the centre, about
the size of large knitting needle. After
burning the opium the smoker rolled it over
the surface of the pipe several times, forming
it into pill, and then he held it in the lamp
again until it burned, when he thrust it into
the hole in the pipe and inhaled and swallowed
the smoke. This was repeated until the
opium was used up, without producing any
Unusual eHeCt, vi tue sUohcI, IOI Hc was
dicted to the habit, and it only served as a
stimulant He told us that he formed the
habit in the East Indies and that he was a per
feet slave to it, he was good for nothing when
not under its influence. When he began
smoking he was out from under the influence
and was in profuse perspiraton. He said
he was obliged to go there five or six times
every twenty four hours unless he kept stim.
ulated in that way he could transact no bust
ness. He was evidently man of much more
than ordinary intelligence and had travelled
all over the world. He at first took to smok
ing Opium as a pastime and for the delightful
visions it gave him, but now the visions dom
come. but the desire does, and he has nc
strength to resist it, though he said he would
give anything to do so. The Chinese here
all wear their national costume and attract
very little attention. They walk the streets
and ride in the cars just as other people do
and go far as appearances go are neither
| better nor worse than other laundry
men. Most of them of course are able
to e. talk English after fashion
The entire ia in this county are probab
| ly all living in Easements, on three oil
| four Of our principal thoroughfares. One
| was set upon and killed short time since
by roughs who are now lodged in jail They
| wear their cues coiled around their crowns
lutN are very lc" IL any JdpAuest HeTc w 7
recollect of seeing only one on the streets
and he was dressed in our costume, which il
| generally adopted by the Japanese in this
country; but we have never heard of China
man dressing in American costume. There
| are no Chinese women here, and in
fact. very few in the United States, nearly all
of them being of the lowest grade and resid.
| ing in San Francisco. We remember being
on the China Mail Steamship Co.'S. Dock q
few years ago, when one of their steamers
was about starting. and we there saw, for the
| first time some Chinese women, who evidently
| had come there to see friends off for home
They were showily dressed in long gowns OF
tuncs and their hair was done up in an
agonizing manner a la Chinese. They glue
it together with shellac or the whites of eggs,
and it is made to stick out in fantastic shapes,
such as you have all doubtless seen in en-.
cravings. They were chattering away in
their strange tongue, like parcel of mag.
pies. These China mail steamers are officer.
ed by Americans, but the crews are all Chi.
nese and have been for many years, and they
make excellent sailors, being nimble,
obedient and contented. But have wan.
dered away from Chicago towards China with
telegraphic despatch. and being home again
will sav hon jogr CLAIMING