The times., 1898-09-06
Chinese ON LABOR DAY
They Celebrate the Occasion
With Due S0lemnity.
CHOP STICKS AND sUEY
OricntaIs Have an Original Way of
Maintaining Trades Union Or&an-
nations, and Crepe Figures IN
Their Ideas of the Price of Toll
Their Unique Assembling Place.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Chi
namen is an alien and is himself as fully
aware of that fact as any of the law
makers who make him so, he takes
thoroughly American interest in every
thing American. especially If it comes in
the shape of a holiday, and yesterday
was no exception to the rule.
On the Fourth of July John is the most
enthusiastic celebrator of the anniversary
the meaning of which he knows little or
| nothing that can be found. The fire.
works, the noise and the general jollity
furnish occasion for revel which he
never misses. 1t is the same way Christ
mas, washington's birthday, Thanksgiv-
ing, and Labor Day.
The average Celestial, especially if he
be a laundryman, dependent upon the
| purely physical for his livelihood. is one
of the strongest advocates of organized
labor in the world. They have their Ia
Dor organizations and much more effec-
tive than Boycott is the means they
adopt TO break up ''seabs" or cut rate
rivals.
When a laundryman is found underbid-
ding his competitors he is favored with
/ visit from a select committee and nou-
! fed that he must either restore the rate
| 10 that in general vogue or contract for
a sufficient amount of crepe TO go around
among his relatives. If he refuses the
crepe becomes a real necessity.
Yesterday among the Chinese there was
a general, though transformations obsery-
ance of the holiday devoted exclusively to
/ the men of Drawn. Their restaurant was
the place TO observe il, for 1t was full all
| day of chattering, Gathering Cinnamon,
talking over the ethics of the labor ques-
ton, the imminent peril of their beloved
land of flowers, and other topics which
might be supposed TO interest China
man.
They did not hire any brass bands, or
| participate in the street parades Fire
crackers being barred, their ideas of eel
ebration were limited to the consumption
of the choicest of Hong Fer Lows vi
ands, and the social communion which
the day brought about.
And even more interesting than the
unique personality of the alien citizen is
the resort where they come together to
enjoy the companionship of each other
or TO celebrate any especial occasion.
1t is in Chinatown that strange, mys-
ticaI section of the city where the pungent
perfume of burning joss sticks mingies
with the less grateful fragrance of the
opium pipe; where the robes of the peo-
pie are as loose as their clatterlng tongues,
and where everything seems at variance
, | A &c cir tod ono nf
the most unique and prosperous eating
! houses in Washington.
Its proprietor, oily and unctuous, and re-
joicing in the name of Hong Fer Low,
| sits around in the dining room, smoking
| gurgling water pipes and cigarettes, fill
| ing the place with the fumes of Chinese
| tobacco; the walters, clad only In the
| lightest- of Chinese pajamas, patter over
the uncovered floors in their bare feet,
smoking cigarettes incessantly and shout
ing their orders back TO the kitchen, from
whence come so many savory odors
| in shrill, incomprehensible jargon; its
| patrons sit around the tables on low
! stools, their clicking chops sticks in and
/ out of the strange dishes with clattel
frequently lost in the noise of smacking
lips as particularly toothsome morsel is
fshed up.
chinatown" comprises that part of the
city lying along Pennsylvania Avenue
from Third to Four-and-a-Half Streets
and extending block down the latter
street. The restaurant is situated in tbs
very center of the peculiar section, ovel
the principal Chinese grocery store il
this part of the country, that of Quons
Sang Lung. Two dining rooms and
! kitchen comprise all that is visible o
the place but there are other rooms il
the rear. whose uses are mystery.
On the third floor, above the restaurant
81, Ii
| Chinese wife. of whom feeting glimps
is occasionally obtained as she passe
] | through the kitchen of the restaurant il
her queer little slippers, and a couple o
Chinese relatives. On the upper floor /
j the joss house, sacred 10 mystery. Onl.
Chinese or the American who is fortu
nate or unfortunate enough to be a mem
ber of the Chinese Masonic society, ha
l | ever been allowed to enter it.
Within the past year the restaurant has
, | become quite well known among Ameri
| cans who spend their time down town
! and il has acquired q liberal patronage
On the front door is a sign assuring
| Americans of an attentive welcome, and
recently the proprietor has branched ou
in his ideas to the extent of having a bill
of fare printed, partly in English, partly
in Chinese.
Chop suey, a savery ana delicious stew
of rice sprouts, celery, veal chicken
dried fish, mushrooms, and onions, is The
most popular dish. After it comes We
quo nein, thin soup of noodles of in
terminable length and bits of chicken
Fou Young Dun is most wonderful ONE
let, with meats and vegetables mixed
with the egg, and there are a dozen othe
dishes.
Rice wine, which is Chinese whisky, Il
I sold in the place, and one of the most in
[ teresting sights is half a dozen China
men sitting around a table drinking Th
whisky is decanted from the bottle int,
: a large bowl, and each drinker is given ;
tiny bowl, holding about a tablespoonful
: They dip the little bowls into the large
I vessel and sip 4, with the greatest ap
parent enjoyment growing more loqua
cious after each dip.
Occasionally some attache of the Chi
nese legation takes a trip through China
Z town and stops in the restaurant. The
everything is hustle and excitement. H
is given the front room while the hum
es bier laundrymen are crowded into tn
as rear, and dishes not on the bill of far
and beyond the reach of the laundry
men and the knowledge of the Ameri
can patron are placed before him.
= Dirt reigns supreme in the dining-roon
q but the kitchen is scrupulously clean an
!. the cooking is done with great care
: Nearly every Chinaman can cook an
= Hong Fer Low employees several, all ia
Z and good natured. The employees of tn
: restaurant make much more than Amer
: leans engaged in similar work, even til
: walters getting from $40 to SIS week
1. Hong Fer Low recently came to the nc
!. tice of the District officials owing to til