Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-06-23
CHINESE SEA GRUB.
COST OF FEEDING A PAGAN ON
AN OCEAN STEAMER.

see OF fnssengcrs-Ltttic Waste In Feed
ing-Profts.
Tho Oceanic Steamship companys Of.
fee was crowded tho other forenoon Inv
Cinnamon anxious to avail themselves Of
the reduced rate Of passage by tho Cana.
dian Pacific steamship Abyssinia. Two
hundred and forty took passage by her
and sailed about 10 o'clock. MANY held
OIL to the last minute In the hope that bet
ter terms might be made, but tho agents
were inexorablc.
Don't you fumigatc tho office after the
China steamer leaves3' asked q Hawaiian
dude. who struggled to the counter
through the jabbering crowd Of Cinnamon
70 secure passage to Honolulu by tho
Australia.
What ails your" was tho rctort. "You
should 10 familiar with tho essence Of
CAthay, as you como from Honolulu"
a. this"
"Good money. all the same. There arc
no deadheads in the Chinese passenger
tJAte, no round trip complimentary tick
esk Everything Is on basis Of United
States gold coin and no credit"
CHINESE SEA LAWYERS.
Happening along at lunch. tho lead
thus opened was followed. ''See tho
Abyssinia lot of Chinese9" asked tho dis.
iPenser Of hospitality at neighboring
lunch bar. ''Seem q queer lot. Give a
great deal Of trouble. most likely That
kind always do. There arc cripples and
broken down mon Of all kinds among
them"
"IIavo you had experience in that
trader I
"Yes, for years. have been employed
In the Chinese trade quite q long timo.
but l have quit the sea. These fellows
will have an armory with them. -T!hev
are quarrelsome and dangerous, and thero
arc always sea lawyers aboard to stir up
trouble. They tell the Ignorant coolieS
their rights, and II we wero not prepared
to fight at the drop Of hat II would be
oil up with us and the ship. Wo gen.
orally manage to keep them under"
"What Is the rate Of passage2" asked
o reporter who happened TO be present.
Twenty-Five dollars and whatever wa
can get for freight"
"Are you In for freight WARP
Cant tell. Know only what wo ara
doing"
Does S25 passage money pay tho
Canadian Pacific on thirty day voyage,
when tho old lines could barely manage
to get along with q $50 ratef'
IL should smile. But you Just sltirmish
around and find out"
-''What does II cost to feed Chinese pas.
sengersH'
II brought over 1 800 Of them ono trip
at an average cost Of four and three
eighths cents day per man. Yes, IL was
little pinched, but they had enough.
Up to 800 q fair average Of tho cost Is
ten cents per head daily above that tho
M ynr \ thipIt h. ID. fl
figures on twelve cents, but that depends
ON circumstances.
"What kind Of food do they get?"
"Chiefy rice. We tako twenty six diff
ferent kinds Of elbows. We take white
beans, brown beans, black beans, red
beans, green beans--every kind of beans;
orange peel, sauces. dried shrimps. dried
fish, dried abalone, although they get lit
Ito Of that. But the principal diet is rice.
Five pounds OF fresh beef will 20 as far
with 100 Cinnamon as with five white
men. They take big mess Of rico and
small piece of fresh meat, which thoy lift.
bite of q small morsel, and return to tho
dish. Then they pitch into tho rico with
their chopsticks and sample the sauces.
They are fond Of salt pork and salt meat
Fresh meat goes further. They should
never get sailed mest or pork"
MUST EAT on sTARvE ,-
"TIave you ever had trouble with Chi
nese passengers
"Often. ! remember once In the Peking
we had thousand Of them, and they
kicked about their food. l went down to
find ont what tho trouble was, and then
brought down tho chief officer. Tho rico
was not cooked to their liking.
"I will give youten minutes to begin
eating said tho chief ofiicerj after that
the rice will be thrown overheard
"We could not move. We were sur
rounded. Times up said ], calling my
boys to clear away. Over she goes Tho
Cinnamon looked sulky for minute or soI
and then sat down and ate the rice, and
that was the last Of It.
"We never havo any trouble coming
this way until after we leave Yokohama.
Up to that time tho coolio is busy filling
mp. and by the time he reaches Yokohama
he Is all swollen out with rice, cutting a
very ridiculous figure. with his spindle
legs and overhanging stomach. After
leaving Japan no Is In good condition, and
listens to tho incendiary talk Of tho Chi
nese high binder. II we backed down or
weakened In any way 1t would bo all up
with us. Cinnamon arc o hard crowd TO
handle on shipboard."
you have only to give tho Cinnamon
plenty to eat and you have no trouble,
said an attentive listener. II was in
Hong Kong when the Abyssinia came In
three trips ago, and she had trouble about
the food. She then sailed from Victoria.
The other vessels seldom have any bother
Of that kind"
"You think that ten cents per day
covers the cost of the food supplied on
shipboard to each Chinese passengerT
II A.