Arizona weekly citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Ariz) 1880-1901, 1892-01-30
SYRIAN CHATTEA
oriental serfs Who Are Really m Bond.
age to Padrones In This Country.

age to Padroncs In This Country.
The Syrian men, women and children
vino patrol the public thoroughfares OF
his city laden with religious emblems
and trinkets of semi barbarous design
are. with few exceptions, the victims of
social condition which can be hardly de-
fined from slavery.
They are the human cilattels of elias.
of importers of foreign birth who have
their agents and established headquar.
sers in every city of prominence on the
Pacific coast as well rs in eastern CEN
tiers.
These human chattels, who claim 20
be Turks to advance the novelty of their
personality in the eyes OF the purchasing
public, are the scum of Syria. Armenia
Greece and Italy.
There are several thousand Of these
serfs employed by their money making
fellow countrymen in the United States.
hundreds are annually added to the
number already employed. Ignorant of
their legal rights and but poorly versed
Ia the language of the country they
! tanely submit to their exacting master.
receiving only their food, lodging and
scanty clothing.
These serfs sell themselves to their
masters. hoping that in a new country
they will better their condition and be
At least relieved of the pangs of hunger
which beset them in their native lands,
Pledged to work either fer life or fol-
years for those who provide them with
transportation to the new land of prom.
lse, they are sent on their arrival in the
United States TO the cities where their
sabors will prove the most renlunerative
They have lately encroached upon
what 10 them is virgin 6eld-the Pa
ciic coast-and numbers are frequently.
every profitable point.
There have been as many as forty Oi
ifty Of these human chattels-men,
women and youths-engaged in making
street sales in this city. but they have
decreased until only twelve or fifteen
cover the trade of San Francisco. Seattle
Tacoma and Washington generally in
clude fifteen or twenty in their bounda-
ries. Los Angeles is favored with the
presence of ten or twelve. while Oregon
which, according TO their statements
Is proving to be the moro Wsnunerative
deld-has from thirty to kTy of these
terfs catering 10 the aessss,ds of theiI
peculiar line of trade. The state Of Ne
sada harbors ten or fifteen, while tn,
progress of Utah is marked by having
twenty or thirty.
Their residence at any place is poi
permanent, but, like the nomadic Arab
Of the desert. these slaves silently fold
their tents and steal away at the will OF
their masters, VI Ejch varies with the va
riatiOns of the trade. One CT the places
in this city where nom adic scrfs receive
their supplies and render their accounts
is IN Minna street. 1t is a supply depot,
and is conducted under the name o!
Joseph Sharbel s. Co There. in a roolr
crowded with Syrians Of both sexes, OF
all sizes and ages. is large stock of
.rinkets and religious articles stored in
pasteboard boxes of various sizes dis
played on shelves which run about the
room.
This apartment contains two beds and
Il lOUl1E, ana Tic LICK VI
ings is made compulsory by the space
taken up by the immense stock which is
dnled out to be sold by the stpet peddlers
in this city and neighboring towns. 10
seph Sharbel himself is bronzed AMI
brawny Syrian, much past the years OF
middle life He is the padrone who directs
the actions and labors of the dozen OF
composite nationalities OF both sexes ano
various ages who were gathered in the
room. He was rather reticent wheel
questioned by reporter, and while
claiming to be unacquainted with Others
engaged IN the same line Of business he
displayed a knowledge regarding the To-
cation of branch agencies and number
of his countrymen and women engaged
in the trade that was remarkable. Some
Of the supply depots in this city remit
regularly from 5000 to $4,000 week to
the east and Europe SIS payments for
shipments and invoices Of goods
Francisco Chronicle