The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1893-08-26
sHREWo CHINESE SERVANTS.
Their Methods Of ApproprIatiug Employ.
ers' Household Belongings.

AHblF VI n
ers Household Belongings.
A former Detroit young lady, now mar.
ried and living at Vancouver, y. C., Is y5-
iting relatives, and tells some interesting
Hs we'll as amusing stories OF the Chinese,
with which article Of humanity Vancouver
Is overrun. They are as numerous there
Us are negroes In certain Of the southern
cities, and no one would think Of hiring q
white servant, because they are not to bs
had. A "tenderfoot" family, she says,
ought to set the price Of their, first servant
a. moderate az 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 10 the common end-tO
get as much as they can Of the good
| things. The minute a newcomer strikes
the town be Is shown around. That, he
will be told by his yellow skinned breth-
ren, Is a twenty-five dollar house; this
twenty dollar house, and 50 on. and he
readily promises TO do as the rest DO.
Mrs. McF- tells Of a servant she had.
She had let former servant, TO whom she
was paying twenty-five dollars per month,
go, and hired in his place a celestial from
a ''twently-five dolce" house. The latter
was the incarnation Of stolidity and stu
pidity. He could do only the simplest
tasks and cook only the plainest dishes.
| Disguised with him the lady went to see
his former mistress, to whom she told all
"He has simply been fOoling you" an
swered that lady. Ling was the best
servant | ever had-a good cook, who
knew all about the choicest dishes, willing
and active. But how much do you pay
himf"
Twenty dollars"
"Ah, there's the secret OF his lazinesS
He is merely gaugng 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 az
though they owned them. She vent TO 4
| birthday dinner at friends house one
day and was astonisLrf4 ~ see three Of her
| teaspoons and two damask napkins. all
| handsomely monOgramed, on the table.
Her friend fortunately caught her eye 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 religiously returned, cleaned,
TO their rightful owners.
She had reason later on to thank her
stars that this was the Chinese custom.
She gave 6 o'clock dinner in honor of the
visit Of an eastern friend. She wanted to
invite thirty guests, but hadn't the requi-
site amount of tableware from which to
feed them all at table. In her dilemma
she remembered the old trick and ac-
quainted Ling with the facts.
"Allee light, me sabe. Me gettee him."
promptly responded that worthy.
She and her guests entered the dining
room that evening, and Of a 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 ludicrOusness of the scene Ec5hed
| upon her, and, laughing outright, she ex-
planned matters to her eastern visitor, while
the rest of the company looked on and
laughingly nodded approval.-Detroit Free
| Press.