The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-10
The Doom Of Sing Low.
Chinese Tale of Love and the Vengeance The Sons OF
the Silver Land

thin, meek Chinese coolie,. toiling In
the rice fields dg the Roo-Chow province.
Insufficiently clad ana insufficiently fed,
| he had many times Been weary of life.
| and but for the Vows of HIS secret So
ciety forbidding would have put a sum-
| mary end to tia bubble quantity of
opium in the Pipe Is An easy way! But
Sing Low had perseEeked and starved un-
| til one day there was kn exodus of many
] OF ms own society In0w renamed Sons
| of the Silver Landry to the western coast
| of Mexico. With them journeyed Sing
Lee, for there veg Mmand for Chinese
colonists. and thk prof noters told it loud
~ that there was plenty of money to be
| made In the silver land" For once the
| truth had been spoken by promoter!
had you ten years after the exodus
| known the Chinatown of Madre de Dios,
| ana the restaurant and ''tea place" of
Sing Low you would better appreciate
| the fact. For the Chinese colonists had
MADE unto themselves place OF their
own In the westefn part of the city, out
beyond the marshes; many narrow streets
were filled with the shops of the Chinese.
VINO were no longer cotonists, but full
1edged citizens.
In the very center OF the Chinese civ
lilzation' and fronting view of hot, blue
gun water, Sing Lows name was blazon-
Gu IN gaudy Chinese script over a tea
snop and opium den, while uptown. whore
MeXlcans and mining men most did con-
gregate' another building. made Of vel
low ADOBE and pine boards, bore the
Iesend: Chinese Restaurant of Sing
Low American Pies" In front of this
restaurant generally sat Sing Low. but
not the Sing Low of the Soo- Chow rice
neius-Iar from it This was a very fat
f ana important Sing Low. in full and fow-
W6,,nd C dhese garments, pigtail neatly
'"ouAu ABOUT sleek and shining head
anu siiKsnod feet thrust into Tapping en-
oIoloereo slippers. large gold Ameri-
IAN watch dangled from his sash. and
yenoW mexican diamonds glittered on his
p1uS5 nngers-truly had Sing Low. head
Oh the Sons Of the Silver Land" nrosner-
GU ana Waxed fat In a far land
issue the RESTAURANT many. Chinese
w7iCers ana cooks rushed about. serving
Ill Sorts and conditions of men at the
MANIA covered tables. For Madre de
Dlos was steamer town, whence hides
ana silver and bullion were shipped to
Lower Cal11ornia and even San Francisco
ana many men OF. many sorts ate chill
con carne, and torttlas, and "American
pies III the restaurant Of Sing Low
mere were dirty greasers and swagger-
ing, bearmed Mexftans, who drank bot.
ties upon bottles afa fiery meseal and
calm, deliberate, mining Americans. who
consumed untold numbers of pies and
american canned beans, while Sing Low
smiled from afar, with a keen eve unon
collections. For twenty years had he
saved and taiied, but another year would
see the. end. Then. with Fay Lee, who
was now old and fat,Fand the 70, 600 Mex
lean dollars that they had made he would
go 10 San Francisco. Back to China?
No! Fay Lee had once timidly proposed
lt-for she had no children, and her heart
was sick for her native land-bnt Sing
Low said a decided No He had not
yet forgotten the rice fields And, be-
sides, in these American lands even
cooiie Of low birth could be as mighty as
mandarin; he, Sing Low, had been Of
no import in Chika, nor would even his
$2O00 make, him mighty man there In
other words, better to reign in he'll than
to serve In heaven, or ones native land
To all of which poor Fay Lee had to
consent, of course, Sing Low. being hus-
band of'no sraaaf persuasiyet power, par
ticularly whel aided with a bamboo
stick And he hesitated not to chastise
the wife Of htsNbosofl- when occasion
peeded. for did not even the laws of the
Christians say: wives obey your hus-
bands in the Lord?" Not that it often
became necessary to impress this latter
fact upon Fay Lee, for she loved the
fat, pompous Sing Low now, in the midst
of his prosperity even as she had once
loved humble Sing Low of the rice fields;
It is the way of many women. And,
though there were few friends, and no
children for her to caress with affection,
she was content to live the life that her
husband bade, er1broidering his costly
garments and waiting on him as though
she were his bonded slave, instead of his
wife. And during the long hours that he
spent in the opium house or in the secret
lodge Of the '1SShns, of the Silver Land"
she consoIed herself With many cups of
tee and admiring thoughts Of the brave
figure that her honorable lord" was at
that moment ofsa surety making as the
head Of his society. Poor Fay Lee!
I say poor Fay Lee" with purpose,
a you will find For, even as the best
laid plans of ml1e and men go astray, SO
did the plans and hopes of Sing Low and
his wife vanish into naught-through the
fault of the NAB, of course. Sing Low,
TO make ioagSStory short. fell in love
one bright day. 1t is thing that Celes-
tials are not given to, for which reason
Sing Low made bad mess Of it, and
loved far more d@sperately than any other
Chinan1an on reqDrd-at least, 50 his sigh
ing protests to the lady in the case ran.
Not that he could be, blamed over much,
fer Felipa wasS the iprettiest girl, out
and out, who haEt ever been seen in Madre
de Dios-as Welt as one Of the naughtiest.
Her brother Ga gambler from Mazatlanl
had used her many months as a lure
and more than one hapless Mexican had
come to grief for her sake, but Sing Low
was the best game that she had ever
caught.
There Is Spanish proverb setting forth
the same sentiment expressed in our own
There's no fool like an old FOOL and
never was there an old fool so deeply in
love as Sing LoW,-who soon became the
laughing stock Of the entire very mixed
population Of Madre de Dios. Fay Lee,
OF course, knew nothing, and supposed
that her lords frequent absences were
due to secret society meetings TO be
sure, All Toy, the sprightly Young wife
Of Sam Lung, had considered 1t her duty
to go to the deceived and neglected wife
with fuH description Of the dolngs and
mlsdoings Of the faithless one. But Fay
Lee had first laughed apprenticeship st
what she considered a joke, and later
believing the tale a. malicious lie. had
turned her sister Celestial out of the
mouse, with calmly. expressed convictions
as to the tate In store for liars and scan
oaihongers who could lift tongue against
such an honorable and noble man "a her
lord and husband, Sing Low. Wherefore
An Toy had departed, giving expression
TO many naughty. words and tearfuIlv
'SaV1nS-Just as a civilized woman lnighf
nave zone under similar circumstance
ne next time She-neddled in the at
tempt TO open a<deeefwed wires eyes',-
Flacldly indignant, yet somewhat
amused Fay Lee went back to her en-