Morning journal and courier., 1891-01-13
New York's Chinese Quarter.

lFToH haEItE $ heckly-
 Of all the settlements of foreigners in New York-and there are many of them the most picturesque is the Chinese quar- ter. The almond-eyed children of the sun are, it is true, scattered all over the city and its suburbs to the number of more than eight thousand. It is hard to find any neighborhood where there are no Chi nese lnundries, for they seem to have taken to that business almost exclusively in this part of the country. Nevertheless they have sort of headuuarters in the neigh borhood which they have taken for their own, and here goes on all the traffic-no inconsiderable volume-which they have among themselves Here are their tenn pies, their gambling houses -.nd their opi um dens all under the same roof in some instances. Here are their restaurants their grocery stores, their society rooms (for every Chinaman belongs to a society," their municipal government flor they have one of their own, their professional peo- pie, their artisans and their bankers. Here are several great Chinese importing houses, and here are the homes of many of them who could afford to live on Fifth av- enue if they chose to do it. As to any one of these, a long and interesting chapter might be written, but We are now consid- ering the colony as 8 whole.
 It is not healthful, an inviting, nor beautiful place which We are studying. On the contrary, it is squalid in appear ance, rickety, old and ill-preserved as to its buildings, badly kept as to its streets, and at the first glance seeming like the haunt of despairing poverty. It has, however, two advantages which, to the mind of the Mongolian, outweigh the dis advantages. It is central location, easy of access by the principal routes of travel from all directions, and the rents are cheaper than they would be likely to get in any other neighborhood equally accessi- ble. The Chinaman does not come to America to spend money, especially in rents. He comes to accumulate.
 The neighborhood which they have ap- propriated is small, comprising only about three city blocks in Mott and Pell streets just out of Chatham square, but their ideas about space are those which obtain in all the crowded tenement districts of the city, and some thousands of them are to be found here night and day. No exact statement of numbers is possible, for they are suspicious and secretive, and take re- fuge in their ignorance, either real or pre- tended, of the English language, when questioned by the ''Melican man." More over, this is the pleasure resort of all those who live and work elsewhere. When work is slack, or they feel inclined for 8 holi- day, they seek their companionship and their dissipations in the company of their compatriots. Here, too. they worship, naively seeking the aid and comfort of their religion whether they are bent on business or debauchery.
 They have built one house only, renting all the others they occupy. This one is a large double tenement house of ordinary New York fashion, and init, as said above, are temple, shops, homes, and gambling and opium dens. On every house in the district, however, are the queer-looking signs, hieroglyphically illegible to the Cau- casian, which indicate the business carried on within. The vista of the street with these projecting signs, handsome and gro tesque lanterns, and queer tinsel orna- ments, hung out apparently for decoration day, is so quaint as to be bewildering to the average New Yorker, who has not studied the queer sides of the city.