News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-04-19

even teeth and shows them often. for h
smiles frequently. An admirer of his rt
marked to me: "When Martins nos
comes down to meet his lip, and his Ii
goes up to meet his nose, and those teet
of his glisten and shine, why look out
He means business" l was waiting fo
the accommodation train to leave tn
''end of the track" when I formed his &C
qUaintance. He is man of intelligenc
and thoroughly informed on the subjec
Of Chinese character peculiarities. H
speaks the language Huently and can de
cipher the hieroglyphics on ''washee
washee" bill at sight.
While We were talking, the foreman o
the track-laying gang came into the car
"Ah, Martin, - he said, 81 have been
looking for you. One of those fellows
who deserted last month has returned
and the interpreter says that he has in
! ,.-,.--.i "1It til men to quit and 90 across
the aonStrv to-tne Sunset Extension. He
/ Is down among my gang now"
J He IS. is hep" quoth Martin. and tAe
| peculiar falling down OF nose and flying
up Of lip disclosed his white teeth. 'Tn
fix him"
He picked up a heavy billet of wood
as he finished speaking, and invited me
to go along and ''see the fun" went.
The obnoxious Chinaman was in the
centre of an excited group Of his compa-
triots, volubly discoursing on the supe-
rior inducements held out to the laborers
on the other road. We were close upon
him when one of the group caught sight
of Martins white teeth and uttered q
warning cry. The crowd scattered, and
the chief cOnspirator turned to flee. Too
late. The billet of wood flew through
the air, struck the deserter between the
shoulders, and he fell fiat in the dust.
Martin bent over him, still smiling, and
by way of resuscitation, kicked the pros
trate Celestial several times. The Con-
fucian groaned and raised himself to a
sitting posture. He was ordered to
stand up and did so with some difficulty.
The foreman produced a stout rope, and
the smiling Martin requested two of the
track-layers to bind his prisoners foot.
He assisted them by administering to
each sundry kicks and cuffs, which
tended to quicken their movements con-
sidelably. When the conspirator was
securely fastened, he was ordered to
march forward to the car. We followed
Il don'trcckon there'u be any desert
ers from this gang" observed Martin,
and he administered a lusty kick to
water carrier who had stopped to look
after the prisoner.
"These Cinnamon are terrible cow
ards. DO you know that every one Of
those fellows carries a pistol concealed /
under his blouse? 1t is a fact. That
euss ahead has one. saw it when he
was lying on the ground There are up
ward OF six thousand of 'em here, and
-et [ manage them without difficulty.
+ it was among any other race of people
ly life wouldn't be worth two bits. "
IT.. prisoner had reached the car and
.uva ls-,fa tna -ton rrvinu ord eoL.
sing II- captor kicked him several
fnts~. aaa Ao mrraged to scramble to
the platform, although he had no use Of
bis hands or arms.
We followed him into the car, and |
Martin reached his hand under the pris-
oner's blouse and drew therefrom large |
Colt revolver.
'Now if he had been a white man lie
would have shot me on sight"
He cooked the pistol, and, as though |
by accident, pointed the muzzle at the
Jhinaman's head. The wretch fell OH
mis- knees and began to beg piteously. |
Martin seemed to enjoy the poor fellows
misery, and smiled upon him benign
antly.
cit is hop die with you, anyway, |
John, was Martins consoling observa-
ton. eff I shoot you here, it is all |
over. If [ carry you back up the track,
you'll be hung"
The Chinaman continued to pray for
mercy, and after drawing bead on his
head several times Martin put the pistol
in his pocket, and we walked out on the |
platform.
''That seems like cruel treatment" " he |
said, "but it is the only way to manage
'em. Make 'em fear you. Why, when
I first began on 'em they were deserting
at the rate of fifty a day. If the COM
pany had not backed me up there would |
not have been a Chinaman left on the |
line. You see, sir, out here there is
really no law. The company contracted |
to carry these fellows back to Frisco as
soon as the road was finished, and every
one who deserts is 50 much loss to them,
for they are under heavy bond to return
them in good order There is no telling
how much damage this one might have
done if 1 had not stopped him."
"What will you do with him?" I !
asked
"Oh, I'll carry him back up the road !
a couple of hundred miles and drop him. |
He won't come back.
There was something significant in
this latter sentence, but as the speakers |
toet' v.-- .',rIning 1i5 rot demand .
moro explicit information.
Vino .,- at ready tr move out the /
Chinaman was locked in an empty box
car. That was the last [ saw of him.
One of the train hands told me the next |
morning that he was dropped alongside |
the track during the night. When | |
asked what they were shooting at about !
he replied:
"AntcIoper' p
Every mile or two we passed a China
mans grave. They bury their dead |
above ground in wooden boxes, over
which a thin layer of dirt is thrown.
Each one was marked by headboard,
covered with hieroglyphics. Some of
the graves were newly made. and the |
little piles of paper money, which the
dead mans friends had placed there to
pay his expenses in the other world, had |
not yet blown away On some of the
graves were bowls of rice and baked /
Dead Cinnamon are always
with provisions for the long
Journey. L remarked on the great num-
Der of graves to the brakeman.
eyes, he said sit is a sickIy coun-
.rv-for Cinnamon p
That fellows irony was incompatible.
All the sections are worked by Chi
1pse IabOrers At one of tbe section