The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-06-07
CHALKING CHINAMEN.
How the Custom House Agents Inspect The
Chinese.

FTNHE San Francisco Chronicle of a
i recent date says:
The landing of thousand Cinnamon
on the Pacific Mail wharf creates scene
of most amazing confusion and disorder,
and presents many curious studies in
life-studies brilliant only in physical
color; dreary and blank enough other
wise. The City of Toxic arrived on
Sunday with ] ,040 Chinese steerage pas
sengers, and having passed quarantine
was at once placed alongside the wharf
and commenced unloading passengers.
The Cinnamon are discharged from
freight port-hole down gang plank and
into an improvised pen, where their
persons and baggage are searched by the
Custom House officers. The pen begins
at the gangplank and includes a space
ON the wharf about one hundred feet
long and twenty-five feet wide, running
parallel with the length of the wharf.
On one side of the pen is the bay; the
other three sides are fenced in by an
iron fence, outside of which and at
distance from it of six feet rope is
stretched. This rope prevents outside
Cinnamon from coming too near the
pen and receiving contra band goods
from the passengers. In the end of the
pen farthest from the gangplank is
gate, guarded by two officers, between
whom the Cinnamon pass after their
backs and baggage are properly chalked
by the examining officers. Two hun
dred and fifty Cinnamon are taken from
the ship into the pen at time. When
all is ready they begin to crowd out of
the portfolio, which is so low that they
must stoop to pass through and on to
the gangplank. They crowd from the
inside so in their eagerness to land that
the portfolio is frequently blocked and
impossible, until after vast amount of
pulling and hauling one of the wedged-
IN mass is extricated, and the gorge
being broken, those behind fairly pop
out like champagne cork from the
impelling force behind. Each one has
his baggage lashed to either end of
bamboo pole and slung across his shoul-
der, which makes the work of breaking
a"deadlock" all the harder. Half way
down the gangplank each Chinaman is
stopped by special police officer, to
whom some kind of ticket is delivered.
At the foot of the gangplank coatless
and perspiring custom house officer
grasps the stumbling, overburdened
Chinaman by the arm or shoulder and
gives him an energetic push towards
the further end of the pen. Sometimes
the Chinaman is strong enough, or well
enough balanced on his feet, to retain
his equilibrium under the circumstances,
but generally he is not, and sprawls out
on the wharf and is buried under his
bags and baggage. This always gains
the officer round of applause from the
crowd around the outside of the pen.
AS they leave the gangplank officers
excitedly direct the Cinnamon to the
lower end of the pen, packing them as
close together as their baggage will
permit them to stand. Each Chinaman
carries his bedding, extra clothes, shoes,
hats, ETC.; his extra household goods,
including tin cooking utensils, dried
vegetables of various kinds, drugs, med
icines, smoking outfit, and strange
and varied assortment of articles of all
kinds and shapes, packed in baskets,
chests, trunks, bags, bamboo and straw
mating, and in every imaginable char
acter of baggage. AS the baggage is
tumbled and dumped on the wharf the
Cinnamon are directed to open it, and,