Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-20
CHINAMEN IN THIS COUNTRY.
An Interesting Paper Read Before the An
chronological Society.

An Interesting Paper Read Before the An
chronological Society.
How rHEY ORGANIZE INTO GUILDS FOR Busr-
NESS PRorEcrIoN-rHE LAUNDRY, IFS INITIAL
POINT AND TIE DEVELOPMENT TRAcED-MovE-
nKsr TO DIFFERENT CITIES ALWAYS PLANNED.
The Archaeological Society held its last
meeting Of the season last night in the assem-
bly, hall Of the Cosmos Club and listened to
four very interesting papers on widely divergent
topics. The first one was by DIR. Robert
Fletcher, on the "white Deer Dance Of the
Hoopa Tribe Of Indians, located on the Pacific
coast He exhibited some of the paraphernalia
q and photograph Of the dance.
The feature Of the evening. however, was the
paper read by Mr.. Stuart Culin Of the faculty
Of the University Of Pennsylvania on Social
Organization Of the Chinese in America" His
observations had the value Of being based on
personal investigations made among the Chi
nese Of large cities, particularly Philadeiphia,
and excited the keenest interest among the
members, some Of whom asked him many ques-
tions relative to his experiences DE spoke, IN
beginning, of the habit of the Chinese to stay
in profitable locations as long as there was
money to be made, and of their intimate &C
quaintance with the commercial advantages OF
the various cities of the country. They move
from place to place as opportunities offer for
improvement, but they never move on mere
chance. They make themselves sure OF success
before they go.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAUNDRY
At first the only element of society in the
Chinese Of q large city is the laundry, which de-
yelops, as soon as there are Chinese enough in
the neighborhood, into a shop or 3 restaurant
for the supplying Of the members OF the colony
with opium and other commodities OF Chinese
fraAa This in tur hacOmas II gam bling eSLaD-
hshment, all under cover OF laundry, or
possibly q shop and with this machinery the
colony grows and has form, and joins one or
the other Of the secret organizations that IN
clude most Of the lower classes in China The
speaker had seen the development Of such
colony in Philadelphia from laundry to res
taurant and a shop, and finally gambling
house that was the headquarters OF powerful
society. He mentioned, in passing, that among
the commodities kept in the shop was a stock
Of fossil crabs as a medicine for sore eyes
TEE sHoPKEEPER MAN OF INFLUENCE.
The shopkeeper becomes the treasurer, post
master apothecary and deacon Of the colony
and exercises great influence as a man of
means. He is usually employed by the society
at the munifcsnt salary Of $50 month, on
which he grows rich, or possibly gets tired and
returns to China, when another man takes his
place and holds the same sway over affairs
The rival societies stir up feuds that become
very DlIJcr anu frequently the mcfSHauto arc
obliged to form guilds to protect themselves
and to secure a truce for the purposes OF trade.
Meetings of these guilds take place whenever
any member thinks that he has a grievance,
and on the payment of a fee OF 81 for the pur-
chase of tobacco to be smoked at the meeting.
The meetings are called by means OF oblong
tablets of wood, about eight inches long, on
which are printed Chinese characters, which
warn members that fine of 81 will be col
lected for non-attendance-
ORGANIZATION IN WASHINGTON.
There is a certain resemblance in these or
CARNATIONS in this country to the conditions in
China, as the laundry, shop and gambling
house tax tn place Of the clan and village,
the secret society and the trade guild Of the
mother country. In Washington there are
about 100 Cinnamon, with two shops and one
restaurant, and all organized in two families,
the Moys and thel Wes- Almost all belong to
the political secret society but have no hall of
meeting, though they probably will obtain one
as they increase in numbers. The Chinese Of
the various American cities seem to reflect
largely the influences that surround them here.
For instance, those of Boston are very brisk in
their business and live in good houses in a
spectacle street. In Washington they are
tolerably well of, mnch better than they are
In London. where they are very much degraded
and Assimilate the bad effects Of the degrade
tion Of that great city. They speak strong
accent, much like that of the docks, and, in
deed, they seem to retain the dialects Of the
peoples among whom they live In Pennsyl-
vania the Chinese speak with the accents of the
Pennsylvania Dutch, and there are instances
where Chinese speak in strong Spanish
diAlects-
TREATMENT OF REFRACTORY MEMBERS
In response to question by member as to
what was done to preserve order among the
members of the colony by the Chinese them
selves Mr.. Culin said that the boycott was fire.
quently used. man offending against the
rules Of the colony suddenly found himself
unable to buy opium and other supplies or to
attend the restaurant and Is sometimes stoned
and generally made miserable. But the China
men are generally peaceful and instead Of these
methods Of compulsion a refractory man is
often treated with objurgation. IL there should
he no local talent to cope with a refractory
case experts in this business are frequently i'm
ported from other cities and often talk for
hours to the rebellious spirit
AMERICAN FOLK LORE RESEARCHES.
Mr.. W. W. Newell then told some interesting
facts in regard to the work of the American
Folk Lore Society and urged the form ,tiJn of
local societies in the various cities Of the coun-
try for the stimulation Of interest in research
Of this sort He gave definition of folk lore
which showed il to be Of very wide scope
and spoke Of the vast amount Of material that
exists here in America for interesting and val
udOlc utcrdturc luctc Is, lOI iustdnCc, an eX-
traordinary amount of superstition among
educated Americans and a collection of this
material has never been made. He mentioned
one such superstition an instance, namely,
that Of writing letter to the rats that infest a
house This superstition has been traced to
the beginning Of the Christian and exists
today in New England and all along the Allan
tic coast He told Of a letter which recently
came into his hands that was written by
farmer in Maine to the rats in his house. in
which he not only asked the rats to leave. but
offered them an abiding place in the barn of
neighbor. Such letter figured recently in a
law suit in Maryland over a will, in which the
sanity Of the testator was in question.
The secretary read paper written by Mr.. R.
l. Garner on the Simian tongue.
Jonadab Parade.
Empire Council, Sons of Jonadab, was Or
ganized less than year ago near the navy
yard and the early members promised that