The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-10-27
CHINESE COOKS AND PEDDLERS.

A year in no other place can afford
more amusing incidents than twelve
month in Utah. Mormonsm is the first
object of interest to strangers, but it is
too serious subject to long yield
amusement, and one soon turns from
its study with loathing to find diversion
and novelty in the incidents occurring
through the Chinese and Indians scat
tered in numbers throughout the Terri
tory.
To use the word Chinese enormously
implies both sexes; there are only men.
Many of these keep tea-stores and
-china-shops, but they are principally
engaged in laundrying and gardening.
Some few find situations as house-ser-
wants in private families, and most of
the hotels employ Chinese cooks; but
any hotel engaging them in this capac-
ity tries to conceal the fact. And if
guests catch glimpse of them in the
kitchen, and inquire in what capacity
they serve, the steward probably re-
plies that they are only solutions. The
prejudice against them is so great that
mine host fears to injure his house by
acknowledging them to be cooks.
This prejudice is not political, but
arises from a suspicion of their cleanli-
illness.
If Chinaman is well taught in
the start he makes an excellent cook.
With them it is, ''Like master, like
man; if badly trained when first taken
into service the Chinese can never cor
rect the faults they are led into; their
initiative powers depend entirely upon
first impressions.
The wife of a hotel-keeper in Idaho
went one day into the kitchen to teach
her new Chinese cook how to make GER
tain kind of batter-cakes. The recipe
called for dozen eggs She broke the
firstintothe mixture, then the second, but
the third was stale, and she dropped it
into the slop-pail, the Chinaman watch
ing her intently. She supplied the
place of the stale egg, broke a dozen
into the mixture and had excellent luck
with her batter-cakes. The next morn
ing the Chinaman made for breakfast
cakes equally good by her recipe, or
example, and continued to do so
through the winter. His mistress COM
mended his skill and entirely forgot the
stale egg until one morning, passing
through the kitchen before breakfast,
she noticed that zee Sing, making bat
ter-cakes, broke into them one egg.
then two; a third, also good, he broke
and threw into the slop-pail. His mis-
tresS rebuked his wastefulness, remon-
strated with him and explained that she
had merely thrown away the third egg
when teaching him because it hap
pened to be bad; that the ceremony
was not part of the recipe; that each
third egg was not necessarily stale.
But Yee Sing could not understand it;
example being stronger than precept
he persisted in always throwing away
the third egg. He did more; he would
hold the doomed egg critically for u
moment to his nostril and then avert
his fiat nose with look of disgust, as
If it had offended by its odor, before he
dropped it, pure and clear, into the
slop-pail. He seemed convinced that
an exact copy of his mistress tactics
upon that occasion was necessary to the
success OF the recipe; and this in place
where eggs sell at Lenten prices the
year round.
10 those of them who learn our al
phabet our poverty of letters seems
very amusing. Instead of saying: Il
know my a b c's," they make the state
ment and then run through the whole
twenty-six letters at a breath, not so
much to prove their statement, as
because the twenty-siX letters seem like
mere short sample to them, as they
have in their own language three thou
sand characters to learn.
They have thirst for information.
and are often more grateful for bits of
that than for bits of coin This is say
ing much, for they are naturally ava
ricious.
They are successful as peddlers, and
sclatter about over the wooden side
walks in the Western towns, making n
patter III their queer wooden shoes,
stopping at every door to sell vegeta-
bles out of picturesque pannier-shaped
baskets, which hang at their sides from
each end of pole, as the scales are
represented on the statues of Justice,
only the Cinnamon carry this pole
across the back of the neck. bending
the head slightly forward to hold it in
place.
One day, one of these vegetable ven
ders, while selling some cabbages at -
kitchen door, spied calendar hanging
against the wall. He went curiouslv
up to it, examined it closely (for any
thing laid off with mathematical regu-
larity interests them greatly,) and at
length he asked its name. The cook
repeated slowly and distinctly the word
calendar until the Chinaman could pro-
nounce it, and then took out purse to
pay him for his cabbages; but Aim
shook his queucd head and grinned, say
ing:
ME no tak-ce pay-ee; you teaeh-ee
me hard word-eo," and he refused the
money, thinking himself well paid by
the requirement of u new word.
When the vegetable season is over,
during the mild winter on the Pacific
Slope, they peddle wares they bring
from China and Japan; lacquered trays,
fans of ivory, sandal wood, feathers
and paper, carved boxes, parasols,
puzzles and shallow porcelain cups
,cased in wicker, which they say is 10