Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-12-12
eeokEa ANo ctuNAmAr.
FAINT. of MoneoIhn Ftnaneiers In 81"
Francisco--A shr~wd Trick.

counting a guolly pile OF Ailc' va"
.hekels after a hard driven bargain Is 10
,.e the plp tailed stranger III hls most III
.mred moments OF commercial keehiiess'
Any day on Montgomery street III
brokers offices. OF where gold dust Is
nouqh, one can see the fine tnahclai
acutenee OF the Asiatic colonIsl d'sP'tye'
10 advantage An agreement Oh ''0
price OF the gold dust OF the rat OF ca
change is NOT easily reached Inc MON
eoiian is cautious 10 degree anu IL ~
when ne thinks that he has secured All
that is coming TO him that he closes nc
pot,atIons Then commences the I'M
portant task OF examining the lucre.
A white trader generally takes up his
handfuls of twenty dollar pieces or SILVER
dollars and careessly losses them INTO his
pockets or a convenient sachel with the
mos, cursorv examination. Not so the
suspicious colonist from Cathay Every
niece 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 Ill
spection The gold is fair to the eye out
the doubts OF a well conceived scheme TO
defraud him have not yet been quleted In
the Aslatlc traders breast. Ills ear mas
TO be satisfied, and he begins TO jingle the
pieces one after the other on the counter
till every coin has announced It's 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 wrangle with
the broker ensues. and the less perfect
| COINS have TO be exchanged for more
fauJtiess ones These substitutes have
also to I've counted and jingled, and when
the cautious Monaghan carries his shadow
outside the threshold OF the broker 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.
lie takes no COINS on trust as II were, but
scores them all, tor experience has shown
| him that the proverb of all beng fair In
love and wal 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 Monaghan Gus
toners, whose lightness OF finger he has
learned to regard with apprehension
Shophftne Is a fine art in Chinatown,
| I'd fNfh oh,
dant Almost anything from diamond
ring to an anchor, that they lay their
hands on disappears with magic promp-
tItude Ii Is a fine study to watch a
cautious l1ebralc broker, who has been
bitten few tunes as he does out the
shekels tC suspicious looking Mongolan
tinancier Every movement of the Celes-
tails long and deft fingers is watched,
and restraining hand put upon his
claws every time they wander too close
TO his ample blouse with 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 broker s
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 viii accept money by iamplight and
will only take his CON in the broad day.
light after an exhaustive inspection by
eye, ear and teeth The best Chinese
fnanclers RELY on their teeth to deter.
NINE the gepulneness OF a gold or silver
piece OF money After hanging sus.
pected com on the counter OF the side
walk If he be unable To decide whether
it liz good OF bad the Chinese tinancier
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 Aslauc customers.
A down town broker exchanged some
money tor two Chinese one day not long
since and IN the transaction saw that he
had lost two ten dollar pieces The Mon.
gollans protested violently that they had
not taken the money and when searched
readily turned their pockets inside out.
Then hats, Shoes and every corner of
their several coats were examined but
the money could not be found and the
broker finally let them 70, though NOR.
IL.
ing the afternoon he was bordering over
the ALTAR when an American friend who
had had considerable experience with the
Chinese IN Shanghai dropped in. The
broker described hls loss and recounted
how he had cunnmgly examined the
shoes and hats OF the suspected MoupoIi.
ans The friend from Shanghai laughed.
THE chances are, said he, 1.-THE
money IS stuck under your counter.
That's an old ;rlck IN China.
On looking Under the overhanpino
edge OF the heavy counter the missing
coins were found stuck to the wood with
some strong Monaghan glue One of
the rasraLs had rubbed on the soft glue
while parIeylng with the broker. and the
other fellow selzIng "A favorable oppor.
tunty had stuck the money under the
ledge, knowing that the instant it was
missed they would be seized and searched
The Shanghai man explained the trick.
Those fellows have confederate who
has been here before, SAID he, and will
oe around soon TO hook those $40 pieces
while he is giving YOU a fill about want.
ing 10 sell geld dust or something. You
. wait and see
The money was left sticking to the
/ counter 50 that when the confederate
/ came ~ he might he caught red handed
and ralroaded to the county iail.
> Every one IN the office which i. occn.
, p'eu 10y several persons besides the bro.
ker. set himself to satch the thief and
the unexpected result was that the money
vanished without any arrest. When the
broker returned aftera hasty flight across
the street tol cup of coffee he found