The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-06-28
BROKER AND cHINAMAN.
Feots Of MongoIian FinaDeierS In .
FraneiscO-A shrewd Trick

reputation IN California for shrewdness.
To observe the Monaghan in the act OF
counting a goodly pile OF American
shekels after a hard driven bargain 10 to
see the pig tailed stranger In his most in
5pired moments Of commercial keenness.
Any day on Montgomery street in
brokers offices, or where gold dust is
bought, one can zee the fine financial
acuteness of the Asiatic c~olonist 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 q degree, and it is
when he thinks that he has secured all
that is coming to him that he closes ne
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 c~olonist 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 a 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
tie broker ensues, and the less perfect
coins have to be exchanged for more
f~aultless ones. These substitutes have
also to be counted and jingled, and when
the cautious Mongolian carries his shadow
outside the threshold of the brokers' shop
he is morally certain that he has avoided
deception by the exercise of what he re-
CARDS as ordinary business sagacity.
The broker on his side, if in the habit
Of dealing much with Chinese, Is unusu-
ally cautious and alert. If the money be
passing from the Chinaman to 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 or the coin is only excelled by
the attention he gives his Monaghan Gus
toners, whose lightness Of finger he has
learned to regard with apprehension.
Shoplifting is a fine art in Chinatown,
and sleight Of hand performers are album
dant. Almost anything, from a diamond
ring to all anchor, that they lay their
hands on, disappears with magic promp-
titude. 1t is a fine study to watch a
cautious Hebraic broker, who has been
bitten a few times, as he doles out the
shekels 10 suspicious looking Monaghan
hnancier. Every movement Of the Celes-
tails long and deft fingers is watched,
aud a restraining hand put upon his
claws every time they wander too close
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
|WtGICWiL lbs JUL bIlONtu dClOOo JllG
counter and all is safe, that the brokers'
c~ountenance 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 by
eye, ear and teeth. The best Chinese
fnanciers rely on their teeth to deter
mine the genuineness of a gold or silver
piece of money. After banging a sus-
pected coin on the counter or the side
walk, if he be unable to decide whether
it is good or bad, the Chinese financier
places the metal between his teeth and
leaves the verdict to molars and palate.
Brokers who do an extensive business
with Chinese tell some curious stories Of
the cunning of their Asiatic customers,
A down town broker exchanged some
money for two Chinese one day not long
since and in the transaction saw that he
had lost two ten dollar pieces. The Mon
golians protested violently that they had
not taken the money, and when searched
readily turned their pockets inside out.
Their hats, shoes, and every corner Of
their several coats were examined, but
the money could not be found and the
broker finally let them so, though NOR
ally certain they had robbed him. Dur
ing the afternoon he was bordering over
the affair when an American friend who
had had considerable experience with the
Chinese in Shanghai dropped in. The
broker described his loss and recounted
how he had cunningly examined the
shoes and hats Of the suspected Mongoli-
ans. The friend from Shanghai laughed
1.-The chances are" said he, ''tht
money is stuck under your counter,
That's an old trick in China"
On looking under the overhanginG
eslge of the heavy counter the missing
coins were found stuck to the wood witt
some strong Monaghan glue. One o.
the rascals had rubbed on the soft glu,
while parleying with the broker, and thu
other fellow, seizing a favorable oppor
tunity, had stuck the money under TIN
ledge. knowing that the instant it wa
missed they would be selzed and searched
The Shanghai man explained the trick
'.Those fellows have a confederate VIII,
has been here BEFORE" said he, land viii
he around soon to hook those $40 piece
while he Is giving you a fill about want
ing to sell gold dust or something. Yol
wait and see."
The money was left sticking to tn
counter, 30 that when the confederat
came in he might be caught red handle
and railroaded to the county Jail.
+ Every one in the Office, which Is occu
pied by several persons besides the bro
: ker, set himself to catch the thief, an
d the unexpected result was that the none
vanished without any arrest. When th
broker returned aftera hasty fight acroS