The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-22
CHE TOOK THE OATH!
A Thrilling ChinO-American MelO-
drama ENACTED.

|
The Scene; Yard Near the Columbia on
Congress street-A Synopsis of the
PLAY and Brief Criticism of the Per-
Torrance.
He took the oath; in Prologue, Two
Acts and an Epilogue.
PROLOGUE,
On March 4th, W. G. Toy, proprietor
of the Chinese Laundry on Myrtle street
was attending Sunday school at the
Second Parish church-During his
absence his laundry was entered, his
trunk broken open and S35 stolen-Chin
Yaen was absent from Sunday school that
day and suspicion pointed to him.
ACT L.
Chin Yaen, an employe of the laundry
in the old Redlon house, who formerly
washed for Toy, is arrested-His Ameri-
can friends interceded-To refuses to
prosecute him, hoping hs will confess
and repent-He protests his innocence
and demands $50 wages--Toy demands
that he take the sacred oath Of innocence
in the matter and he will then pay him
Chin refuses and retains VIM. <. Neal,
ESQ.,, as counsel-The latter calls on Toy
and gets his ultimatum-"Theo oath or no
twenty p
ACT H.
In the door yard, off Congress street
Laundry-Present: Toy. Chin, Mr.. Neal.
nu merous Cinnamon, lighted joss sticks
and a live hen-A big Audience
A Chinese ora tion-The incantation-
1.-The Oath"-Death of the sacred hen.
TABLEAUl
EPILOGUE.
W. K Neal takes home the hem
presumably to bake.
The Performance,
People going up Congress street about
p. M. last evening were attracted by
smell Of burning fuse, which suggested
fire works, but which upon closer in
vestigation proved to be some twenty joss
sticks burning and smoking and emitting
peculiar odor, suggestive Of opium.
Several Cinnamon were rushing. about
making preparations and arranging
rude altar.
Mr.. VIM. X. Neal soon appeared bear
ing mysterious basket, and the audience
became intensely interested when he
took from the basket live hen, and
lusty squeaker.
Then the star actor appearer.
He was very pale and detected look
ing Celestial. who cast furtive glances at
the hen and sacrificial altar and probably
wished he had never left the sunny land
of peanuts and tea. His face became
CHASTITY moment later, when knife
was placed in one of his hands and the
hen in the other. The "lines' he had to
recite, were evidently a little too heroic
for him and he made one or two efforts
to escape, but they were fruitless and he
was pushed to his knees.
Summonning all his energy, he weirdly
chanted some sort of incarnation and
with slash of his big knife he severed
the head of the luckless hen. There was
a hasty exit of all the dramatis personae
then, except Mr.. Neal, who gathered up
the larger portion of the hen, and re-
turned it to his basket and announced
the performance over. Some OF the
audience thought from the latter incident,
that it was souvenir performance, but
no more hens were forthcoming, SO the
crowd reluctantly dispersed and the scene
of the thrilling melodrama was marked
only by the smouldering stumps of the
sacred joss sticks.
The dramatic critic of the PRESS has
toyed with Shakespeare and grand OPERA
but never tackled anything quite so deep
as this performance, and sought the
assistance of Mr.. Toy in the laundry
opposite to help him to an intelligent
criticism.
The latter gentleman said the perfor m
ance was in every way satisfactory, al
though it's successful production had cost
him some twenty dollars He had agreed
to pay Chin Yaen, the star OF the piece,
that sum, being wages due him, if he
would take the sacred Chinese oath, that
he was not the party who had stolen s35
from his trunk. He further said that he
had been ever since March last trying, to
GET Chin to perform this ceremony, that
il was not till tonight that Mr.. Neal had
succeeded in getting his client up to the
necessary pitch. The nature of the oath
is virtually this; IF I tell the truth I
will be blessed-If am lying T will be
punished p
So everybody is happy, Chin has taken
the oath and will get his $50, Toy is
serene in tho thought that if Chin has
lied he is cursed, and Mr.. Neal scoops the
hen.
Clothes will continue to be washed and
and dispatch
THE MUNICIPAL COURT.