The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-16

Glimpse 1T q Boardlng-House In Mott
Street, New York.

street, New 1orK'
In the Chinese boarding-houses OF
New York the thrift which is national
characteristic rules pre-eminent In
location every thing is sacrificed to
economy. The cheapest floor in the
cheapest house that can be found is Sc
lected. The proprietor, or, as is usually
the case, the firm of two or three mem
bers who run the boarding fence
off a little room with boards for pri-
vate apartment for themselves, and
often two or three small rooms will be
made in the same way for boarders who
are willing to pay little extra for pri-
vacy, but the rest of the floor is one
large room, which serves for sleeping.
cooking and eating, and is used for
general-sitting-rOom as well. These
rooms are furnished scantily. There
are rows of hunks along the walls, a
large table in the middle of the room, a
cooking stove at one end, and a number
of stools. On the table are two tea-pots,
filled respectively with hot tea and cold
The hunks resemble those on shipboard,
and are built in tiers. Little knees Of
wood on the upright posts form sort of
ladder for climbing to the upper rows.
Instead of mattresses, each bunk is pro-
vided with a carpeting Of Canton mat
ting, and the pillows are of wood
either log-shaped or made of board like
a footstool. The bed-clothing is some.
times of blankets but the Chinese who
have not grown accustomed to American
ways prefer coverlet stuffed with cot
ton. They also take advantage of the
fact, so we'll known and SO seldom util
lied by Americans, that paper is an ex
cellent non-conductor of heat, and they
frequently line their bed-clothes with
it. Over each bunk is small shelf, on
which the boarder is expected to place
his bed-clothes on arising. There the
clothing remains during the day in g
neat cylindrical roll. Some person OF
the household washes the mating and
woodwork daily, for the Chinese are, as
rule. exceedingly clearly. Three
daily meals are prepared. For breakfast
their favorite dishes are rice, tripe, fish
and meat balls, but they may be said tc
live principally on rice. A Chinaman
will eat, on an average, probably half a
pound of this day. Dinner consists OF
rice, pork, fish and usually some
Chinese vegetable stewed with meat
OF poultry, and soup, which is served
last The pork is seasoned by being
soaked in strong sauces like Wor
cestershire, and the fish is commonly
dried. All food is cut into convenien
morsels to be picked up on chop-sticks,
for the Cinnamon will not do at table
the work of carving, which, he insists
belongs to the kitchen. The supper Is
very light, consisting Of the inevitable
rice and one or two small portions OF
meat. The Chinese are sociable and ex-
ceedingly hospitable. always inviting
their friends to meals if they are around
at meal-times, and are fond of social
visiting outside Of business hours
Their hospitality, indeed, is often Law
ish. 1t is a frequent occurrence for one
of the boarders to provide for the whole
household a special dish to supplement-
or take the place of the regular fare al
| some meal. They devote their evening"
generally to social pleasures, visiting
and playing games Of dominoes or cards
for trifling stakes, Nearly all are
smokers either of tobacco or opium
~ Y World