The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-10-22
EwYoRx's PIONEER cAINAMAN
An Ken Arrived from the Celestial King.
 dom Thirty. Eight YeArs Ago.


 An Ken Arrived from the Celestial King-
 dom Thirty.EiEht YeHrs Ago.
 No battle ships with their guns and thunder belching forth welcome greeted An Ken when he arrived on these shores; no one carried An Ken down the gang plank. The only police man whom An Ken met looked at him with suspicion and told him to move on, and move quickly. A few persons looked curiously at the first Chinaman to come to this city, and some children followed the stranger up the street, wondering what manner of man the yellow creature with the bright-col- ored jacket and loose trousers waa
 An Ken arrived in this city in 1858. Chinese immigration had never been encouraged, and the stranger was looked upon as an intruder. An Ken hired small, tumble-down house on Mott street and with what little money he possessed erected a street stand on Park row and began in the tobacco busi- Eess. He sold the choicest Havana goods, imported directly from Con- necticut and raised in Jersey, at the moderate price of two for three cents. Unlike the Chinamen of the present day, An Ken seldom smoked the paper rolled cigarette. He was slave to to- bacco, but smoked small cigars. He was seldom seen without one of these weeds in his mouth.
 From the time that An Ken started in business the prejudice that was feh against him began to disappear. Hi quiet, unobtrusive manners won him respect and esteem and his trade began to grow. An Ken wrote to China of the success with which he was meeting and advised his countrymen to follow his example. The other Chinamen began to arrive, and as they came they all seemed to meet with success under An Ken's guidance. Like An Ken, they went to Mott street to live, and soon there was score or more Chinamen in the city. The small settlement on Mott street began to be known as Chinatown.
 On their first arrival in the city some of the Chinamen established street stands, just ns An Ken had done; others opened laundries, and few who had some money opened stores on Mott street. One of the characteristics of the Chinaman is to attend strictly to his own business. This, together with their thrift, had a telling effect on the people of the city during the days of An Ken and the early Chinese residents of the town. They began to be recog- nized as useful citizens. Their laundry work was superior to the work done by the Americans, and the Chinese were soon in demand as laundrymen.
 An Ken in the meantime had amassed what to a Chinaman was small for tune. He had an excellent trade, but he seemed to long for more congenial surroundings. He sold out his tobacco stand and purchased small store on Mott street. In this An Ken was even more successful than he had been in the first venture. His countrymen regarded him about as the Americans regard Co., lumbus. His counsel was sought by the other Chinamen, and he became known ns An Ken the Wise.
 An Ken, in spite of his associations with the Americans. did not acquire any of the American habits. He stuck to his native dress and encouraged other Chinamen to be strictly Chinese.
 An Ken is now dead, but he will al- ways be looked upon as the founder of the Chinese settlement in this city, x. Y. Sun.