Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-06-13
BROKER AND cHlNAMAN.
Feats of Mongolian Finapciers In sar
FrancIsco-A shrewd Trick.

The Chinese have a wei Established
reputation in California for shrewdness.
To observe the Mongolian in the act of
counting goodly pile Of American
shekels after hard driven bargain is to
see the pig tailed stranger in his most in
spired moments Of commercial keenness.
Any day on Montgomery street in
brokers offices. or where gold dust is
bought one can see the fine financial
acuteness of the Asiatic colonist displayed
TO advantage. An agreement ON the
price of the gold dust or the rate Of ex-
change is not easily reached. The Mon
golian is cautious to a degree, and 1t is
when be thinks that he has secured all
that is coming to him that he closes me-
gotiations Then commences the inn
portant task of examining the lucre.
A white trader generally takes up his
handfuls of twenty dollar pieces or silver
dollars and carelessly tosses them into his
pockets or a convenient sachel with the
most cursory examination. Not so the
suspicious colonist from Cathay. Every
piece is closely scrutinized and passed
from one hand TO another. The edges are
scanned and the color Of the gold noted,
until the whole pile has been observed
closely This is only the preliminary in.
spection. The gold is fair to the eye, but
the doubts Of well conceived scheme to
defraud him have not yet been quieted in
the Asiatic traders breast. His ear has
to be satisfied, and he begins to jingle the
pieces one after the other on the counter
till every coin has announced its true
character. The result in all probability
is that some pieces have been found that
shows signs of wear or fail to ring with
the clear metallic sound so characteristic
of the Incompatible twenty dollar pieces
fresh from the mint A wrangle with
the broker ensues, and the less perfect
coins have to be exchanged for more
faultless ones These substitutes have
also TO be counted ald jingled, and when
the cautious Mongo ian carries his shadow
outside the threshold of the brokers' shop
he is morally certi in that he has avoided
deception by the exercise Of what he re-
CARDS as ordinary business sagacity.
The broker on his side, il in the habit
of dealing much with Chinese, is unusu-
ally cautious ard alert. If the money be
passing from the Chinaman 10 him, the
broker goes through the same formula.
He takes no coins on trust as it were, but
scores them all, for experience has shown
him that the proverb Of all being fair in
love and war has been extended by the
disciples Of Confucius to money matters.
The scrutiny which the careful broker
bestows on the coin is only excelled by
the attention he gives his Mongolian Gus
toners, whose lightness of finger he has
learned to regard with apprehension.
Shoplifting is fine art in Chinatown,
and sleight Of hand performers are abun-
dant. Almost anything, from diamond
ring 10 an anchor, that they lay their
hands on, disappears with magic promp-
t.ude. 1t is a fine study TO watch a
cautious Hebraic broker, who has been
bitten few times, as he doles out the
shekels TO a suspicious looking Mongolian
fnancier. Every movement of the Celes.
tials long and deft fingers is watched,
and restraining hand put upon his
CllNH tNtIl NltN "dllhtI NlOct
TO his ample blouse with a load Of half
dollars. 1t is only when the final stage
of the barter has been reached. and the
"wherewith" has been showed across the
counter and all is safe. that the brokers'
countenance assumes its normal quietude.
1t is considered so much the correct
thing in China to overreach another in a
monetary transaction that no sensible
man will accept money by lamplight, and
will only take his coin in the broad day
light after an exhaustive inspection 10y
eve, ear and teeth. The best Chinese
fnanciers rely on their teeth 10 deter
mine the genuincnpSs of a gold or silver
piece Of money. After banging sus-
pected CON ON the counter or the side
walk, il he be unable TO decide whether
il is good or bad, the Chinese linancicr
places the metal between his teeth ami
leaves the verdict 10 muiars aud pa}aie.
Brokers who do ln extensive business
with Chinese tell some curious stories Of
the cunning of their Asialir customers.
A down town broker exchanged some
money for two Chinvse one day not long
since aud in the transaction saw that lac
had lost two ten dollar pieces The Mon.
golians protested violently that they lad
not taken tine money, and when searched
readily turned their pockets inside out.
Their hats. shoes, and every corner oI
their several coats were examined. but
the money could not be found and III,
broker finally let them 60 though NOR
ally certlin they had robbed him. Dur
ing tie afternoon he was pondering ovel
the affair when an American friend VIII,
had had'considerable experience with IN,
Chinese in Shanghai dropped in. Tn
broker described his loss and recounteC
how he had cunningly examined the
shoes and hats Of the suspected Mongoli
ans. The friend from Shanghai laughed
.'The chances are" said he. 18th,
money Is stuck under your counter
That's an old trick in China"
On looking under the overhanging
edge Of the heavy counter the missing
coins were found stuck TO the wood with
some strong Mongolian glue. One OF
the rascals had rubbed on the soft glue
while parleying with the broker, and the
other fellow, seizing favorable oEpor.
tunity, bad stuck the money under the
ledge, knowing that the instant II wat
missed they would be seized and searched
The Shanghai man explained the trick
.Those fellows have a confederate whC
has been here before" said he, "and vii
be around soon to hook those $40 piece
while he is giving you n Gil about want
inc 10 sell cold dust or something Yot