Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-11-12
sHRewD c,.Nese sgRvANrs.
Iheir Methods of Appropriating Employ
ers' Household Belongings.

4
Their Methods of Appropriating Employ.
ers' Household Belongings.
"A former Detroit young lady. now mar
rieo and living at Vancouver B. c., is Wis
itlng relatives, and tells some interesting
as well as amusing stories of the Chinese,
| with which article of humanity Vancouver
is overrun. They are as numerous there
as are negroes in certain of the southern
| cities, and no one would think of hiring q
white servant, because they are not to be
| had. "tenderfoot" family, she says,
! ought to set the price of their first servant
| as moderate as possible, for, should they
| pay him twenty-five dollars per month to
start on, they will never be able to hire an
| other for a cent less
The Chinese servants of Vancouver are
not organized into a union They don't
| need to be. They all know each other and
all work together to the common end-to
get as much as they can of the good
things. The minute newcomer strikes
the town he is shown around. That. he
Will be told by his yellow skinned breth-
rem, is twenty-five dollar house; this a
twenty dollar house, and so on, and he
readily promises to do as the rest Go.
Mrs. McF- tells of servant she had
She had let former servant, to whom she
N,
go, and hired in his place celestial from
"twently-flive dollee'' house. The latter
was the incarnation of stolidity and stu
pidity. He could do only the simplest
tasks and cook only the plainest dishes.
Dlsgusted with him the lady went to see
ms former mistress, to whom she told ALL
HE has simply been fooling YOU" an
swered that lady. Ling was the best
servant l ever had-a good cook. who
knew all about the choicest dishes. willing
and active. But how much do YOU nav
him.n
Twenty dollars
"Ah, there's the secret of his laziness.
He is merely gauging his work to make it
commensurate with his pay-according to
his idea of the fitness of things"
Mrs. McF- raised his pay five dollars,
and now gets the latest dishes, etc. She
has come to the conclusion that the
Chinese, especially the servants, are not
fools.
They never steal, she says. But they
will lease the household belongings Just as
though they owned them. She went to a.
birthday dinner at "A friends house one
day and was astonished to see three of her
teaspoons and two damask napkins, all
handsomely monogramed, on the table
her friend fortunately caught her eve at
the critical moment, and noting the rising
flush on Mrs. McF-'s face, took her
aside and explained matters. She was sat
isfied and resumed her seat at the table.
once more marveling at the mixture of
shrewdness and independence in the Chi
nese character-and honesty, too. for these
things are all religiousy returned, cleaned,
to their rightful owners.
She had reason later on to thank her
stars that this was the Chinese custom.
She gave o'clock dinner in honor of the
visit of an eastern friend. She wanted to
invite thirty guests, but hadn't the reaui-
site amount of tableware from which to
feed them all ut a table. In her dilemma
she remembered the old trick and &C.
quainted Ling with the facts.
Alice light, me sabe. Me gettee him."
promptly responded that worthy
She and her guests entered the dining
room that evening, and of verify Ling
had kept his word, for upon that table was
the most varied assortment of knives,
forks, spoons, dishes, etc, she had ever
seen. The righteousness of the scene flashed
upon her, and, laughing outright, she ex-
planned matters o her eastern visitor, while
the rest of the company looked on and
laughingly nodded approval.-Detroit Free
Press