Telegram-herald., 1890-03-28
4 pagsrlcg nUlFoaO leTTEa.
Fss Picture of ths s2a FE-Helsos cAsDsss
2aaFts1.

years ago / thought myself pretty vel
acquainted With this town: bur today
good desl Il i. has grown uoS only oar u
ny remembrance bat grown since my
remembrance. For instance, the Chi
nese quarter Is t~o-thir3s larger than Ia
1870, when / left Architecturaily II Is
greener. more dragon ike. more oriental
The stores are larger aid more prelen-
tiou& Most u them are neat, or
derly and well arranged. They use
the large window panes. They hang
out signs both in English and Chinese.
Thus, "Yung Suen, dealer ia clans
wong H0r, manufacturer Of white
shirts Long Suen, manufacturer Of
brooms, New York branch" Hung
Tso, Fancy Goods. Step Ia and examine
for yourselves. They keep ready made
clothing In pattern American and Chi
nese. In these shops l observed white
men bargaining for pantaloons- They
have invaded and monOpolized street
after street, where none u their race
dwelt and carried on business twenty
years ago. They stretch along these
thoroughfares for miles. When you look
up a street and note in color mixture
Of green. yellow and gilt spotted with
red hieroglyphics you may know the
Chinese are there in force. Green
and yellow seem their favorite
colors for house fronts, especially
green. The Chinanan paints only such
part Of the house as be occupies. The
rest Of the front he leaves in the original
hue. In San Francisco this is usually
dust or mud color Their six months Of
, dry summer weather gives the dust time
| TO settle, drive itself into the wood and
leave its tinge thereon. San Francisco
is largely as yet a wooden city. IL the
Chinaman occupies a second floor, he
streaks its front green or yellow and
leaves it sandwiched between the un-
painted first and third stories 1t is sug-
gestive of boys play when they have full
access to paint pot. Ii is on his large
restaurant fronts that he most piles on
paint, gliding, carvings, verandahs from
bottom TO top, glass globes, colored
paper lanterns, large and small. and
diminutive statues. His displays in this
ftopcCt dIt lOscNhhit. Cul-
| ture. of course, condemns his taste. |
like it, Itisnovel. if glaring, and breaks
| the monotony of our American dull hued
streets. Ii is like the big sunhower in
/ bed Of pinks, or spotted leopard in
| flock of sheep. San Franciscos China
| dom is an open street show, a museum
of curiosities in things displayed in the
l 4 L.,t
man knows the use, and things to eat in
| his provision stores which, if abominable
to us, are curious. He has open air
stands OF hardware, tools, ETC., like the
/ New York outbreaks of such wares in
! Vesey street. His fruit stands abound
with long stalks of sugar cane. The
Chinese little boy, arrayed in fashion
| Just like his father. but in color more
| luxuriant. is also far more numerous
| than in "'70."
These seemingly little old men go about
| in pink or red silken loose trousers, up
| per garments of red or yellow, a red or
! blue button on their hat like head gear,
embroidered Chinese shoes, and youth
! full pigtail extended into silk braid. So
| attired they race about the street and
squeal sportively in their lingos as our
! BOYS squeal in theirs. Females at night
may be seen chattering on the pavements,
gorgeously dressed in robes of pink
/ trimmed with many colors. If you are
! in certain neighborhoods at night, the
Chinese man will dog you for blocks
and pour most serious suggestions into
/ your ear regarding the possibilities of
/ seeing oriental female society. John is
1 not at all good man. He seems in cases
/ corruptible, but how much he was cor
rupted before he came here, and how
much he gained in corruption after, is
more than | know.
! This glare and color is confined to
what seems the fashionable center of the
! Chinese quarter. Reaching far beyond
/ on It's outskirts is block on block, reach
ing high up the hills on which the city
I is built and far down TO the wharves on
| the level made land. all filled with China
men 1t work. Buildings which wealth
and fashion once occupied are full of
| them Ramshackle sheds rotten with
1 decay are full Of them.
Tie air reeks with the peculiar odor
| of a Chinese population. What makes
/ it | don't know. 1t is not as fragrant as
/ q rose. neither is it so pronounced as the
/ whiiTs New York gets when the wind
/ blows from the Hunters Point coal oil
/ refineries. | am not defending China
dom; bat in seeing and being very much
alive 20 the faultso OF other races, il seems
! 10 me that we do yet strain at some gnats
/ and swallow few camels.
4 drunken Chinaman is rare. An un-
/ clean one in person ditto. Look at their
/ hands and finger nails and compare
I them with those Of some other races
among us. He was the first washer
man California had, something a little
T less than forty years ago, and she then
( needed him badly. for dirtier popula-
( tion has rarely been seen than that in this
i citv in 1852. Il was sort OF forced un-
! cleanliness. There was hardly time TO
wash. There were few conveniences.
I The pioneer hotel often ran but one towel
f for a horde 0f guests II paid better to
+ buy a new shirt than expend an hour in
I washing it. But under these circum-
sta you can imagine bow long some
men would wear some shirts. At this
E juncture the Chiuamsn came. jun ped
{ into soapsuds and cleaned tbe people
( az least outside. PRENTICE EULFoRD.
Lady Psane>fot..